Originally Posted by
oldbobcat
And that's exactly why I love them. In the '70s and early '80s they were the tool of countless US amateurs who needed to support their racing habits with day jobs. For some of us they were our first (and often last) taste of what a good continental road bike was supposed to be.
And an excellent tool they were.
I think there are any number of Italian name brand racing bikes of the 80's and beyond that could fit the critique of CdM. De Rosa, Pinarello, Colnago, Gios, all had the guy's with the name still running the show, and maybe even designing the bikes, but there were no revolutions in design really, evolution and by the middle 80's one could say even stagnation with the steel bike.
F. Masi and S. Pogliaghi were a bit older than the others, and one could say missed the boat on the volume production ride. Faliero sold production and marketing rights for some markets, a move for a time that probably helped the actual quality of the brand. He handed his son the keys to the Vigorelli shop, but there were no top tier pro team supply contracts for Masi. A retirement for Pogliaghi also brought changes, the name living on.