Is there something about a Masi that makes it more special? I certainly thought so when I got my Gran Criterium in the fall of 1972. Masi sent me this body measurement chart which I filled out and sent back and the result was a V58 all Campy bicycle that cost $350. The 58 stands for the frame size from the center of the bottom bracket to the very tip top of the seat lug (it's center to center measurement is almost exactly 56cm). The V migh t stand for the place - Verona - where they were subcontracted to be made. Since Mario Confente worked for Masi and had a shop in Verona there is some speculation a V Masi might be made by him but mine does not have his USA signature 4 vent holes in the seat tube going into the top tube. It does have a twin platted fork crown.
Comparing it to frames made around the same time period shows that Faliero really wanted to distinguish his product. His chain stays are nicely flattened all along their length so they don't have those ugly indents for wheel or chainring clearance. On the freewheel side, both the chain stay and seat stay have a scallop by the dropout to give more chain clearance. The lugs have those cutouts as well as the "M" in the bottom bracket shell. The seat stay cap is fluted. What is most impressive is that the lugs are thinned. Everything about it suggests the details were thought out and refined and it all fits nicely together as a whole.
But the question remains, does it have some quality to it - like a Stradivarius violin - that makes it superior to frames made in any era? I thought I would investigate it's design and see if any secrets could be revealed. Of course I am a framebuilder so I can check it out more accurately than most can do with home tools - and that also (for full discloser) makes me a bit of a skeptic to finding anything out of the ordinary beyond it's rather nice details.
I do remember my first ride on it which I thought was wonderful and somehow faster than the straight stays Hetchins I bought in 1969. Part of it I'm sure was the thrill of getting something new. Later it seemed more ordinar y but still good. Like I said, this last week end I thought I would put it o n my design fixture and see if there was something special about it's dimensions. Here¹s the scoop:
Bottom bracket drop = 75 mm V58 seat tube length = 56 mm center to center Seat angle to horizontal (ground) = 7240¹ (72 2/3) Seat angle to top tube = 7330¹ (73 1/2) Top tube length = 563 mm Head tube angle to horizontal (ground) = 7255¹ (5 minutes off of 73) Head tube angle to top tube = 73 30¹ Fork rake = 50 mm Top tube slop off of level = the center of the seat/top tube junction is 6 mm higher than the head/top tube junction Chain stay length = 418 along the side of the chain stay from the center of the bottom bracket to the center of the rear wheel where it would be positioned if the screw adjusters where stopped at the end of their travel with the back nut Front wheel center = 595 mm Wheelbase = 1001 mm
The interesting thing to me is that it is off quite a bit in the level of the top tube and that is what introduces error in what angles it was supposed to have. This could be because the fork is shorter than it was designed to be. Or what I think is probably the culprit is the position of the bottom of the head lug. This is established often by trig or some othe r abstract means and as a result doesn¹t agree with the finished fork length. In other words, the fixture used doesn¹t have a front wheel center point (mine does which is one reason I like it) to measure from so that introduce s the chance for inaccuracies. I have heard that Masi used a built frame to set an uncalibrated fixture and who knows what or how that master frame was designed. I do remember seeing a flat plat fixture in his shop in the Velodrome but I wondered if that was a jig in use at that time (1978).
I would be interested in what was his real design intentions rather than what mine ended up to be. The most intriguing aspects of the design as I look at it now is it's slightly lower bottom bracket drop (which would give a bottom bracket height of around 10 3/8") and more fork rake than usual fo r a racing frame with an almost 73 head angle. It is also interesting to me that his frame dimensions are still close to what I currently use many year s later (expect I like a more laid back seat angle a lower still bottom bracket).
So, one of my beliefs is that this Masi of mine is nicer than most of the competition of it¹s time but is not as well made as what is typical of Americans today. The errors in how level the top tube is illustrates this. I doubt that was intentional. While nicely filed, I can see file marks and unevenness that would eliminate it as a candidate of best of show at the NAHBS. Even so, that thrill I had when I took it out of the box and rode i t for the first time still resonates a bit when I look it over now.
Doug Fattic, slaying (or perhaps just wounding) sacred cows in Niles, Michigan USA