Recently I was doing some research on the Team 3V from the 90s and saw some things which I wanted to see if anybody out there can shed some light on. Apparently by the mid-90s, Masi had a frame called the Team 3V which was first made in California and then subcontracted to Modonico and Billato in Italy. Does anybody know if the quality of the Modonico built 3Vs were as good as the Californian or the Milano originals for the Volumetrica? Lineage wise, I am sure the Mondonico or Billato wouldn't technically be considered a 'real Masi'. Since I found that Faliero Masi specifically was against the 'fastback seatstays'. Supposedly the earlier 90s Team 3Vs were very much the same if not exactly the same as the original volumetrica. What about the later Modonico built Team 3Vs? To clarify, it's not the purple one with all the advertisement decals on the top tube. Nothing on top except the signature.

Also, does anybody know about the tubing? I think the Californian with the sponsor decals on the top tube is actually made of Reynolds 753, so it's super easy to dent. What about the later Modonico/Billato made ones without the sponsor decals?

Thanks!

I have a Team3V. It's great! My read on it is that Mondonico and Billato both built Nuova Strada at various times but only Mondonico built the Team3V, never built in California. 3V's were only built by Masi and Masi California. Easy to tell cos the Mondonico builds will have the "M" in the serial number.

I openly admit that is only JMO based on Bob Hovey's fantastic research and the few Masi USA bikes that I've seen. Nobody seems to write much about the Italian contract frames and so I could certainly be misguided.....

Of the three that I have I can certainly say that they have exceptional build quality and I have absolutely no problem keeping them. As good a ride as would be expected from an Italian bike AFAIC

Mondonico was (and maybe still is?) a top-drawer builder. There are plenty of Mondonicos out there that are badged as such. If it was Masi-designed and Mondonico-built, I don't think that makes it not-a-Masi. (Same for a Billato-built Masi-designed and badged bike.) A number of Italian (and other) frame makers contracted their designs out to other builders to build. In a few cases, the result was inferior build quality. In most cases, the build quality is equal to that of the builder whose name is on the frame. Occasionally, the build quality was better. Unless there is a known issue with a contract builder turning out an inferior product, I think worrying about whether it is a "real" Masi or whatever is a rabbit hole best avoided.

Full disclosure: I buy (well, bought) my frames to ride, not as collector pieces. I was/am kind of particular about what I want (mostly what I lusted after as a teen and couldn't afford then), but I like to play with my toys as well as look at them. Clearly, a collector will value a frame with proven provenance that a Whatzit frame came out of the Whatzit factory - and better yet, was built by Giuseppe Whatzit himself - over one that was contracted out to Biamazetta or Billato or any of the other good contract builders. For a rider, I seriously doubt it makes a difference in the vast majority of cases.

Was not aware MASI (USA) farmed out production on their USA (Cal) product line which spoke to four separate models. Beyond their USA (and Vigorelli) 3V, the usual suspect Grand Crit, were the Gran Corsa and the exceptional Nuova Stada. Alas, regardless of whosoever torched that turkey, the Team 3V was an utterly sad and then some attempt at pushing the name MASI. Beyond coyote ugly too, with all the contributing cheap advertising stickers, cheap lugs.

That's certainly an interesting take on the Team 3V ! You'll have to forgive me for not seeing those issues in the one that I have.

I cannot speak to the Team3V, but I have a Mondonico built Torelli and it is beautiful. Mondonico was such a tiny operation, I would guess all their stuff is great quality.

No restraint of opinion there. I am not clear if the Nouva Strada is exceptionally good or just uncommon from your sentence.
Not all Team3V received added sponsor graphics on the top tube. The one I own is devoid of them.
It does have "fastback" seat stays. Brian Baylis wrote long ago on the bikelist CR email list that he rode his Eisentraut A to work at Carlsbad and Faliero frowned on that design. But no explanation provided.
Alberto did later send out Masi bikes from the Vigorelli that did employ that fastback style. So it goes.

The tubing type is a mystery. the only telltale on some are the tubes with the string of pearls embossing, those proclaim special Excell sourced tubes.

There's always that mystique of getting to know the in and outs and then trying your hands on one of the 'greats' to see the difference. This was a case in point on my Ironman. Had I not done the research, dug deep into the history, and learned to look for an Ironman to feel the difference, I would have probably thought a post '15 Walmart Schwinn with Home Depot tubulars was smooth as cream and good enough!

That was me about 2-3 years ago...

I think he must mean the latter, as I have a Nuova Strada that I bought for the parts and, while there is nothing wrong with it, neither is there anything special about it. I'd say it's a half-step up from a 1970s Motobecane in quality. The most interesting thing about it for me is that I also have a Torelli Corsa Strada, which was their budget Italian road bike, and the two frames differ only in tubing, with the Masi being Columbus and the Torelli Oria. All the details such as seat stay attachment, stay ends, braze-ons, etc. are identical, leading me to conclude that they came off the same assembly line. Torelli was a small-time US importer and their better frames were made by Mondonico after Torelli's first few years in business, but from what I've read their lower-end frames came from other contract builders and, by extension, I propose that the Masi Nouva Strada did not come out of the Mondonico factory. Whether or not Masi used multiple contract builders for the Nuova Strada and thus some were better than others, I cannot say, but there seem to be so few of them out there, I wouldn't think they would have had to go to multiple sources.

I figure at some point I will repaint the Nuova Strada and pass it along to someone who wants a decent. classic frame that says Masi on it. I've got two California Masis and enough nicer Italian bikes that I don't have any desire to ride what is essentially a generic.

I found the Gran Corsa more intriguing. Those are even more scarce, nicer head lugs to my eye.
The subordinate models struck me as just curious overall.

There was the "bad batch" that Masi/Torelli did not accept and sold them off along the way, perhaps that was an attempt to expand the contract builder roster. Rumor was Euro-Asia painted them up somehow and sold them off.
they show up most notably with an outline M on the "melted" sloping crown shoulders.

Gran Corsa Ad_02 on Flickr

I found one for sale awhile back. Here is a discussion on the appraisal foru.
Masi TEAM 3V - 2003 10v - Bike Forums

I'm a bit late to the discussion, but I thought this might provide some clarification regarding the 1994 Masi Team 3V frames. Below is a screen shot of the 1994 Torelli catalog with a description of this bike. It reads that the tubing is "special Masi/Reynolds 753 tubing developed especially for use in the special 3V design".

I recall that 1994 was when Torelli was managing the business and there was an auction over a decade ago for some correspondence between Torelli and Masi of the Vigorelli regarding the meager royalties flowing to Italy.

One thing that turned me off on trying to find a Masi 3V or Volumetrica is they seem to have a tendency to rust quite badly. Combine that with the mediocre paint quality (In terms of durability.) that Masi applied. It becomes hard to find examples without the tin worm problem.
I suspect that it also has to do with the alloying spec of the 753 tubing. As I have seen a good number of 753 framed bikes from other manufacturers that have rust problems......
I'd still consider though, owning a Volumetrica, if I ever find one that's in really good condition......

Below are photos of my Team 3V. The paint is in great condition and holding up well.

Pretty sure the Team3V’s were contract built in Italy and painted here. Fastback stays.
I have one.

also have one of the “Barcelona” Olympics Greek typography examples, I bought it for the over the top graphics package.
there are subsets of these bikes, two different fork crowns and a smaller number came with Los Angeles spelled Los Angles.

Modonico from 1990 probably

Well said.