What do you guys think of this bike.. was thinking about purchasing one.. good for beginners ??

https://www.masibikes.com/cycles/speciale_fixed.php

IBinbeforethemassestellyoutosearch.

Bianchi Pista

I dislike the promo copy. In particular the (actually meaningless) "downtown metro freak flag fly" reference to an awesome song. There also seems to be a lot of fork rake, tho that might just be to my eye. And 48x15 is going to be quite steep.

Looks to be on a par with all the other off-the-peg, entry-level "fixies."
Components are alright. Could be upgraded, but they'll do you just fine.
Frame is a decent piece of steel.

What's the price tag? If it's cheaper than a Pista or a Langster or a Fuji Track or a..... then go for it.

Cable guides, slack geo, straight-blade unicrown. I'd pass.

It looks better in person than on the internet. If you want hipster track geometry, you won't get hipster cred with this bike but if you just like the looks and feel of it, then by all means go for it, hipsters be damned. If I hadn't already gotten a San Jose, I'd be riding the Masi now.

I'm guessing this is your first fixie; if so, then swap the 15T cog for a 17, 19, or even 20T. Try that for a while, then decide if you want/need the smaller cog.

How much are they?

Get this one:

piratelove is absolutely correct. if i was gonna get an aluminum frame, it would be that one. masi is quaaaaaality, although i can only assume that the steel one posted above is pretty much on par with every other entry level steel track bike (ie: what skinnyland said).

Didn't the character Dave Stoller in "Breaking Away" ride a Masi ten speed? Then in the climax scene Dave races on a track bike. If you are a fan of the movie, this bike might have some nostalgic meaning.

Refund!?!....Refund!?!

the modern masis have nothing to do with the old ones.

the thing that made me really dislike the especiale fixed is that out of the box they come with a seatpost shim and a seatpost thats too small for the tube. how cheap is that?! at the shop i work at we sell a few of the pistas, san jose/freemont/etcs, low end giants, and the masi's and even though im throughouly sick of seeing chrome pistas around everywhere, i think they're superior bikes, and steer people to them rather than the masis.

"speciale fixed" silly name. just a name, I know--
has nothing to do with the bike--but it should read
"grab market share of this whole fixie thing."
still a decent bike though.

steamroller complete
khs flite 100
IRO


good bikes.

About the only thing the new Masi's have in common with the old is the font. Kinda sad.

why do all the neo prefab fixxxies come with ergo road bars?

and

i like how we've moved beyond it being cool to be the first to respond with "use search function" to it being cool to be the first to post about how you're posting before the first to respond with "use the search function"

recent discussion here

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/314825-kilo-tt-vs-masi-speciale-fixed.html

and here

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/260084-masi-speciale-fixed-anyone.html

wow! That's really weird/****ed up.

That's really bizarre, especially since the correct sized seatpost shouldn't cost any more than the wrong sized one. I hate seatpost shims. What size post do they come with, and what size SHOULD they come with?

Because they are better for everything except track racing and not even that plenty of the time.

honestly i've never taken a caliper to em. ill try to check tomorrow when im at work.

Even at the track, ergo bars are probably used on half the
bikes racing, at least in my experience.

Yeah, i seem all them time on the track. In fact i'd say its rare to see drop stems and the like as well.

Sorry I'm late to the party again- been busy trying to find the next urban-hipster fad to exploit...

Ok, on to the questions/ comments...
Alonso22- it's great for beginners, depending on what you want to do. The geometry is designed to be great on the road- meaning not too twitchy or nervous feeling. But, the overall ride isn't so laid back that it's like riding a Winnebago on the track if you decide to put it on the banking.

Scoober- I actually came up with that line all on my own. I honestly had no idea I was ripping off a song lyric- what's the song? The fork rake isn't too whacky- 43-45mm depending on the size. That is more than the 30mm on the Coltello race frameset, but it's because we didn't want a bunch of toe overlap when being ridden on the road. It's a good compromise because very few will actually see the track- like 95% of steel "track bikes" being sold these days. The newer models coming out will have a lugged, curved leg fork, but the rake will be the same. The gearing might get changed. I kind of followed what some other folks were doing with their bikes, but I might go a bit smaller- again, very few of these will be ridden on the track.

Skinnyland- It sells for around $700 (depending on the retailer). The idea was to create a bike with usable product and not be too expensive. Most people will change it up and make it their own anyway, so I didn't want to make it too expensive. The tubing is good steel and actually has a very nice feel to it. Mine is currently built up like a Kilo bike, so I can train on the road for Kilo, Pursuit and TT's without having to actually go to the track (not enough time in the day/ week). I stand behind it- it's a quality bike... I promise.

Andypants- Don't knock 'til you ride it... it's a fun bike to ride. Depending on what you want it to do, of course. If you're looking for a steel Keirin frame... try Japan. (And then let me know when you find a 60-62cm...)

Bbattle- How come no hipster cred? It's cool. My mom says it's cool. She would know too. She's cool. The San Jose is a fun bike- Sky Yaeger did cool shtuff at Bianchi.

Piratelove- You rock! Well, I'm assuming you do, anyway. That frame was a major labor of love for me and the former product development manager here. That frame and fork was designed with all the years of racing I did at the elite level in Sprint/ Keirin. I can honestly say that it rocks out! Admittedly, the bias is a little on the Sprint side of things, but I've done a few Points Races on it and it isn't unpleasant at all.

Goldenskeletons- You rock too... thanks.

Chromepista- That movie, honest to God, is why I got into cycling. Running this brand has more than a little "nostalgic meaning" to me.

Onetwentyeight- Dude, why the hate? The shim is there because of the steel we chose to use- it's a better steel than the 27.2 steel we coulda used, without costing as much as the Reynolds tubing. Honestly, it's a good compromise. As for the seatpost being too small- have you contacted our warranty people? This is honestly the first one I've heard of like this. I'm not saying it didn't happen and I'm not saying it can't happen... but I don't know of this as being a problem. Sorry you feel we make a crappy bike. I can honestly say that I haven't had any complaints- to me anyway. Maybe our sales folks or warranty people are hearing stuff, but I've been getting nothing but positive comments. And you're right about the fact that we're a different Masi now than in the past. What with Faliero being dead, it's kinda hard to be the "old Masi". That said, we do fight very hard to preserve some tradition and hold on to important things like ride quality and overall fit. Call me a fool, but I think that is better than letting the brand vanish altogether...

Keiju-velo- Honest to God, it isn't a market share grab at all, not like you might think. I race track, I ride fixed, it's a bike that is important to ME as a cyclist and I fought hard to get it into the line. Not because I wanted to throw another fixie on the market, but because I thought we could do a good one that I would want to ride. I stand behind that- 100%.

Cynikal- Brother, it ain't just the font. I promise. Faliero handed the reigns of the brand over to Ted Kirkbride and we worked with Ted in the beginning to create the bikes we have now. We also work much harder than anybody can imagine to keep the bikes true to the heritage. No, I don't personally measure people and shape my own lugs and weld up the frame myself. Richard Sachs is far better at it- or Brian Baylis. My job is to create bikes that sell and have a good enough appeal that the people who sign my checks will continue to do so. But, Masi is very important to me on a very personal/ emotional level and I fight very hard to preserve the brand. I'd rather see it exist in its current form than simply fade away into history.

Danish- As others have noted, very few of these will be on the track and many, many track racers now ride with ergo bars. Hell, at the recent World Championships, you'll see more ergo than non-ergo bars.

Sakae Custom- I can't remember the last time I raced and saw anybody with a drop stem. Most riders now have frames with shorter headtubes, so they actually use stems with rise instead. Salsa steel stems are hugely popular for that- with rise.

Others- Again, sorry for the delay in getting onto this thread. I try to monitor things when I can, but man has it been busy with all kinds of things going on. Seriously, feel free to email me directly at tjackson(at)masibikes(dot)com. It might take me a few days, or longer to answer your question or address your comments/ concerns, but I swear I try.

Ok, back to it...

Tim Jackson- Masi Brand Manager aka Masiguy

Check the picture. It has two brake levers and one brake?

It's a dummy lever so that you have an extra hand position on drop bars.