repechage

On your way as you want then. Nice to have options.

This thread made me prompt to review a few of the Carlsbad bikes I have. One sits as a frame set, has the unfortunate primer/sealer.... really don't know what to do with that one, original transfers are intact.
It has a bit too much exposed steel, beyond warhorse, closer to apocalypse survivor class.
Brian was willing to review and potentially mask even, but I did not get to him in time. He was a very talented fellow.
I have two of the original downtube transfers. The alternative is to use one as a basis of a repaint. An earlier bike with the twin plate crown. My personal favorite.

Bad Lag

This is a friendly bump for an AWESOME! bike.

cdeasuk

Beauty! Almost as good as the view from the garage, wow...

bikingshearer 

Stunning. Simply stunning.

I personally would not want to own it in the same way that I would not want to own the Mona Lisa or a Rembrandt. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy the heck out admiring them - or that Louvre-worthy Masi.

BlueDevil63 

Promised, obligatory garage door photo:

bikingshearer 

Oooo, that's nice. Very, very nice.

repechage

they Are just bikes. More Masis running around than Cinellis, so prices are not Cino Crazy.

there are 7 bikes I would have a hard time selling- three of them are Masi. ( that three does shift around- I have them stockpiled being honest)
I would sell the Cinelli. would now prefer an older one- early 60’s or late 50’s - that is not going to happen.

bikingshearer 

Don't be so sure about never finding that old Cinelli. Five years ago, I thought I would never find a pre-Columbo Cinelli in my size. Now I have two mid-60s 64cm (ctc) examples. (I added the second on about a month ago.) And I wasn't actively looking for either one, they both just sort of appeared. It could happen to you, too. The price may be stupid steep, but that's another issue. Or, since I ended up making trades for both of mine, maybe you could swap one your Masis . . . .

Of course, I've never owned or ridden a Masi. Obviously a gaping hole in my cycling life.

repechage

before the pandemic there was an interesting Cinelli Sprint frame and fork sitting on ebay... fortunately someone else eventually bought it.
Matching road and track bikes was a SoCal junior thing way back. Would have cost a bunch more to reassemble it.
To find that elusive Cinelli in my size today would be equal to winning the lottery.
Does not happen that often.

bikingshearer 

Give up the search and the universe just might pleasantly surprise you. It happened to me. Twice.

repechage

I am Not searching. Full stop on that.
i am trying to attend to some projects.
I have a number of wheels to build.
of course, all the spoke lengths I have are just a bit wrong. Headsets to install, bottom brackets to assemble.
As that is happening- Two Bikes have developed a creaks when I am laboring up the steep way home. On one It was the lever against the bar. on another I need to pull and inspect the cranks, double check the pedal tightness.

omijay 

I just ran across this thread. I almost positive this restoration was done by a friend of mine and not by CycleArt. The only thing CycleArt did was the repaint. I have pictures of it when he finished it several years ago. The only difference I can see in the photosI have versus your photos is the bike originally had a black Brooks Professional saddle on it. I do not usually post here so I cannot post photos or I would let you see what the bike looked liked freshly renovated with the Brooks saddle. The original restoration also included Clement tires. II am not sure they are still on it. When he finished the restoration, he gave it away a father of a friend of his sin Minnesota as a gift. Beautiful bike.

repechage

I forgot about this thread.
definitely a nice bike.
not too long after this thread dropped off the first two pages I found a '75 in my favorite color and size. Total harmonic convergence, I saw the CL advert minutes after it was posted.
made arrangements to see it that evening.
done, paid asking.
much was goofy, some downright unsafe.
shift cable housing for the brakes!
goofy wheels, 7 speed stuffed in a 120mm frame...

repechage

for most I think, restoration is the refinish and the chrome if required.
the rest is the purview of the mechanic. Not minor and worth more attention that it receives.

cyclart is the spelling of the now sold and absorbed business.

omijay 

You are right, it really takes both to make a quality restoration. Typically the person you are labeling as the mechanic has the idea of which parts will go on the bike, as well as what the color scheme will be for the frame, brake cable housing, handle bar tape and toe straps. So, even if the painting is perfect the rest of the buildup still needs to mesh together and this is usually the result of the so called mechanics ideas and attention to details. Some bikes seem to just have that "so called" wow factor, which I would argue this has more to do with how the whole package was organized by the mechanic than simply the paint job and installation of decals (Of course a lousy paint job kills everything because it is so obvious to the viewing audience). The bias towards credit to the painter is largely the result of the fact that the painting is more of an art form and specialized. The reality is the typical garage bike mechanic restoring bikes for fun does not have access to a facility or the equipment needed to do a high-quality painting, so they elect to pass it on to the specialized painter.

repechage

In the USA the percentage of vintage lightweight owners who sublet the assembly work is pretty modest.
Owners do assign tasks to others, headset, bottom bracket service, wheel building a larger number but complete sourcing of parts and assembly, not that many.

I would be surprised if there are 10,000 vintage enthusiasts in the USA.

omijay 

In looking through other threads here, I see you know just about everything about Masi bikes (and others). So I was wondering if you would be kind enough to give some advice about a Masi I own. Over 30 years ago, I purchased a late 1972 Italian Masi (Stamped V60.5) with a CyclArt repaint the same color as the 1975 you show in the picture above. I am estimating that the bike was repainted and modified sometime in the early to mid 1980s. The alterations included guides on the top tube for the rear brake cable, cutting out the Masi M on the bottom bracket (I guess to lighten the bike), installing super record derailleurs (pat. 1983 rear), installing a Galli headset, replacing the saddle, adding super record pedals and adding yellow detailing to several of the components. I contacted CyclArt around 15 years ago to see if they could provide any more information about what they did, but they said they had kept no records of their repaints/renovations. This was done pre-computers so that was a bit understandable. Although I have used the bike regularly, I have maintained the bike carefully (No riding in the Montreal snow) and it is in very good shape except for a few minor scratches to the frame and the pedals. I have all the period correct parts to undo the component modifications. My question to you is what should I do about the brake cable guides on the top tube. Is it best at this point to just live with them or is it worth having someone remove them and repaint the bike? There is no way that these were part of the original frame. So, I am guessing they were added on by CyclArt during the repair. Was this a common thing to do?

satbuilder 

The M cutout in the bottom bracket you mentioned started in the later part of 1971. The Masi I have was built late in that year and has it.

omijay 

What I am saying is they cutout a square where the M use to be. In short, the M is now missing so there is essentially a square hole in the bottom bracket.

omijay 

Actually, once the center of the Masi M is cut looks more like a fat version of the greek letter Iota

satbuilder 

Oh! That’s too bad. If that’s the case you may want to just keep it that way. That’s an expensive repair.

omijay 

That one is not visible until you turn the bike over, so I will probably continue to live with it. However, it is bit of a mystery to me as to why one would do that to such an iconic symbol. I cannot imagine the change in weight was that much.

Doug Fattic 

omijay, I am curious about 2 things. 1st what is the date stamped on the inside of the steerer? Of course you have to take the bike apart to read it so that may not be realistic. I have a 1972 Italian Masi with its steerer stamped 9 - 72. So it must have been made in September. 2nd, is your fork crown the twin plate model?

Are you aware of Bob Hovey's Masi website? Lots of information there including a registry.

I can also explain how to carve an M in a piece of metal to repair your BB shell if you are interested.

repechage

there was a time when these 1970's frames were just old race bikes. Cyclart would do what flowed the dollars in - my view.
You need to hang in there and pass the minimum post count to attach images.
I have seen a few bikes with over cut BB ports.
I will measure the width of mine so you can determine what it needs - the serifs of the M were blocky- hopefully not opened up all the way.
what to do really depends on the whole and what you want to have when done.

restoring a bike, even a Masi is rarely has a return on investment. But you can end up with a nice bike. Get ooohs and aaahs at the coffeehouse

omijay 

Sorry for the slow reply. I was trying to build up my post number so I could attach photos, but they also restrict you to 5 in 24 hour. This is a tough crowd!!!

To answer your two questions:

First: I had taken the steerer off several times before and it has always been a bit confusing to me. Based on what you wrote, I took a look at again today and it is still confusing. So, the steerer is actually stamped B608 in the metal in the typical place you would expect right above the crown fork, which is what has confused me in the past as this would not correspond to any typical Masi dating I am aware of. However, on closer inspection and with a good wiping down of all the grease on it, I also saw it was labeled with the number 970 or 972. That said, this is not stamped on the steerer like B608 is, but rather it was written with some sort of marker (Think thick sharpie). The last number is hard to see completely and if I had to vote I would say it is a zero. This is confusing in light of the response to the second part of the question.

Second: Yes, the fork crown is the twin plate model. I contacted Bob Hovey probably close to 15 years ago and he was a tremendous resource and help. He was the one who informed me the M on the bottom bracket had been cut-out. I was also confused by the stamp above the bottom bracket. I was reading it as V60F which made no sense to me based on everything I had read. He was the one who explained that there were also half sizes of some frames and the F was actually a 5 and there was a point in between. Thus V60.5. This was hard to see because of the repaint covering things a bit.



I guess this may very well not be the original fork, but something that was added on during the repaint. It is a twin plate that I can assure you. However, I have no clue where it comes from given the stamping.

I would be interested in trying to fix this back to original form if possible, just because. So, I would appreciate it very much if you could explain how to carve the M in a piece of metal to repair it.