I was looking at this Masi Special on German Ebay and was wondering what it might go for. It looks like it might be Mr. Engert's size

https://cgi.ebay.de/Rennrad-Echte-Rar...item4153d426d1

It needs a general tune-up and cleaning, new tires, the rear wheel needs truing or perhaps the replacement of the rim...

BTW: given the state of the bike and apparent lack of overall knowledge as to what the seller is offering, it wouldn't surprise me if some sleazeball tries to buy this before the auction finishes, so if you are interested, make it know to the seller.

Too big for Joe. Unless some Mario guy made it. The seat tube bands don't look original to me.
Fun bike, upgraded over the years, with no regard to the fashion of the time at least in the brake department.
Too big for me too. If it was 2 cm smaller I would have more trouble just smiling and waving.
Thanks for sharing, I don't look at the foreign language ebay sites, just more temptation and I chose the wrong foreign languages to learn some of.

Normaly it should have been mine in 2 hours.
I contacted the guy yesterday and he agreed to sell it to me for 750 euros. I should have go pick it up today at 2 pm.

Unfortunately the guy didn`t want me to pay via paypal because of the fees.

And then, this morging I wake up and check my mails. The guy messaged me that he won`t sell it to mee. Apprearently some ebayers told him the bike is worth a lot more and he should finish the auction. Too bad for me. Would have loved to have this Masi added to my collection.

from the "sleazeball"

Precisely! You could have at least bid on the bike. Had you followed the ebay rules and had them end the bidding at that time, it would have been yours, but you tried to circumvent the rules.

No, the bidding started yesterday. I contacted him after 5 minuted that the bike was online. Ebay rules? I asked him if there was an option to buy it directly and for how much.
He told me a price and I said I was ok with it. I don`t feel bad with that. I asked him to make it over Ebay but he wanted to avoid fees.

Also, I knew if I wait a week till the option ends there are so many guys from asia who saw the auction that I have not the financial possibilities to compete with them.

wow. that is my size and i would love to get my hands on that. thanks so much for posting this. i wouldnt have a clue how to handle the transaction. anyone out there speak german? i wonder if someone on forums could handle this. how much is the price any who? thanks again. that is a beauty.

I can handle it for you if you would like since I guess that the price will be out of my league now. Even if it is also exactly my size. I spoke with him and he know wants to finalise the auction no matter what.

I was thinking the championship stripes on the down tube looked odd. What is it about the seat tube decals that looks off?

I am presently the high bidder on the bike, but am well aware that the bike will rightly sell for more than I am willing to pay for the bike. The bike is a mish-mash of different things, but appears sound overall. The brakes are Mafac Competition gold. The rear derailleur is a 1st generation Campagnolo Super Record. From the front derailleur clamp band, it appears that the front derailleur is a 1978 Campagnolo Record with 4 hole cage. The hubs seem to be correct but with newer skewers. The BB has been replaced or overhauled but seems to be OK. The cranks likewise seem to be the correct 144 BCD no date code version from teh late 60's however with later replacement chainrings (post 1978). The bars and stem could be original, teh headset could be original, the pedals could be original. The seatpost seems to be a cheap and simple tube with clamp on top. The owner has "decorated" the bike to his personal taste by putting tape and extra decals all over the frame.

When I go "sleazeball" I always offer to pay all the auction fees.

Joe- How is a 58 cm Masi is the correct size when a 58 cm Confente was by your own account a bit big? By about 1 to 2 cm, based on the size of your other bikes. And that Confente basically measured the same was as Masi did?

As Citoyen mentioned there are added "graphics" tape and what have you, all over the bike. the Seat tube bands I would expect to be the earlier simpler style with no graphic box, wider overall, with a white band above and below the WC stripes. In the white fields are MASI MILANO and a note on championships won.

https://bhovey.com/Masi/MasiBits/STPic.htm

No Kidding - you couldn't pony up the fees? $30-$40 extra bucks was a deal-breaker?

I believe that Confente measured C/C whereas this one is measured 58 from teh BB center to the tip of the seat lug, so the equivalent of about a 56 cm C/C.

I even would have paid 1000, he just didn`t want the paypal stuff, even if I insisted. Told him I could for ex. pay him 100 or 200 in advanced over paypal so he removes the auction. He didn`t want. Strange ebayer, my bad. There was a guy who wrote him that the bike is a real treasure and that he should in no case remore the auction. It is displayed on the bottom of the auction. I guess he believed this kind ebayer and canceled our deal.

I can advise you from direct experience with a number of bikes that he used the "masi measure" center of the bottom bracket to tip top, (and sometimes that was generous).

i will go to the doctor and have 2 inches added to my inseem to ride that bike. actually now since citoyen is bidding on it i wouldnt bid against him. i really couldnt afford it. i was thinking about all i could go is 1500.00 and from what everyone is saying, it is worth quite a bit more. i just get excited when i see something like that. thanks again for posting that fantastic bike. i will keep dreaming. ps good luck with your bidding

Be careful Joe, in China they do that operation, but more like just 20 mm. Kind of scary actually.

Not my style.....


BTW....any seller can end any auction early for any reason. Its in the rules.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/end_early.html

I'm still the high bidder, but can guarantee that I won't be the ultimate auction winner. If I am, then I got a deal. I welcome anybody and everybody to bid against me. I already have my Masi Special.

Well, almost any reason. From the fine print in the link you sent:

"Sellers are not permitted to cancel bids and end listings early in order to avoid selling an item that did not meet the desired sale price. This is considered to be a reserve price violation. Although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, abuse of this option will be investigated."

You are just asking for early bidding activity in an effort to either drive up the price to make your example to be of documented or assist the seller in obtaining a better price than would come from the local market. Nothing wrong with marketing. But call it what it is. This bike has plenty of merit to fetch a handsome price without extra effort. Which brings the inquiry, why bid when you know you will be surpassed?

Yeah, I am not sure why you would "out" this auction and ask people to go for it and then bid on it which just makes it more expensive for the eventual winner, and you don't even want it. Why?

The last Masi Special that I bought off of German ebay was for 400 euros and the bike was considerably nicer than this one. So who knows what will happen this time. Perhaps my offer will stand. I am interested in this for one sole reason, to use as trade bait for a friend's bike. The bike I want off of him is not for sale, but I know that his long held dream is a Masi Special... This bike is perfect for him. Another Masi Special that I have lined up in Italy is one cm smaller and hence just a tad less interesting to him, but would also be acceptable. He has however said that he would trade the bike I want for either this one, or the one in Italy, if he can get his wife's approval to spend the required amount to bring either of these bikes up to spec. His wife will never allow him to buy either bike outright but a trade might be possible. My bid reflects what I would be willing to pay for the bike that he has that I want. It would also certainly not hurt in convincing this friend's wife of the desirability of the Masi Special to see this go high. As long as the auction comes to a "natural" end, I am happy, in my dreams, I hope to win the auction but I am too much of a realist to think that this will happen.