Since very shortly after my inception into the bicycle racing world in my mid teens, the name on the frame, “Masi” irreversibly etched its image into my mind.

As time went on and I learned more of this (even at that time) long standing builder, Faliero Masi would reign as my supreme racing bicycle creator.  I would challenge anyone to come up with a legitimate contender. His  attention to detail, passion and devotion to the fast bike world is unsurpassed.

An enormous number of the champions of the sport rode his bicycles. Most times the bikes they rode would have another name painted on the down tube. Fausto Coppi rode a Masi painted as a Bianchi. Eddy Merckx rode Masis painted as both Peugeots and with his own Eddy Merckx name in the Faema years. Then there was Gimondi with his Chiorda (Salvarani) and Van Looy….the list goes on.

This is the bike I had Masi build as my replica to Eddy Merckx’ Faema bike. I love those colours. This is now in the Fritz Durenburger collection. Note: I didn’t do the weird taping job on the bars…it ain’t a track bike.

These riders all knew his attention to detail was not just with fit and finish but the importance of the correct fit for the rider. He did not just take into account the riders anatomic dimensions but also their physique so that the riders power could best be applied.  In addition he would consider the terrain on which the cycle would be largely used ie flat lands or hills.

As a bike builder in an age of marketing bicycles with hype instead of practical intelligence, I often feel like a voice from a vanished era when I constantly harp of the importance of perfect frame fit for one’s ultimate performance. So many riders today spend more time and money on fancy bits for their bike when they are on a frame that may as well be used by their dog.

In spite of the enormous reputation Faliero  Masi carried, he remained humble and passionate throughout. For many years his small shop was located under the banking of the Vel Vigorelli (the bike track in Milano). During my last visit there in the Eighties I quietly smiled to myself as I watched this absolutely revered icon of the cycling world and my all time hero of bike fabrication, sitting at his bench spoking a wheel, all the time cursing the fact that the only he spokes he could ‘get these days were junk’. Imagine some executive from Trek or suchlike even getting their hands dirty in a shop…not bloody likely.

Masi was always looking for what he thought would create the best there could be. His desire for durability was huge. Inspite of obviously being Italian, he used tended to use Reynolds 531 tubing very often as its manganese content gave a more durable frame. At times he would use Columbus in a fork and/or seat stays as the chrome-moly configuration of its make up gave a stiffer, snappier ride.

Interestingly many classic bike fans put Cinelli as the pinnacle of the field. Having had many Cinellis myself and having seen many without paint, I can assure all, that Masis were always finished to a higher degree. Faliero Masi was the quintessential hands-on builder where as Cinelli did it for his pleasure. Masi for a time, even served as a directeur sportif to gain a closer relationship to the racers.

Sadly today, as with so many, the Masi name has vapourized into a marketing name for yet another group riding on a name built by someone else. Some months ago as I looked in a bike shop window at some sort of stupid ladies commuter bike emblazoned with the Masi logo AND the Faliero Masi signature, a lad from the shop came out just as I was shaking my head in a mix of sadness and disgust. A couple of words from him allowed the fact that he knew nothing of this great name and after my retort that “this was about the same as Enzo Ferrari producing a minivan”, he could only comment that, “the world goes on”.

For my part, I will always produce and deliver bicycles with the same type of focus on detail, performance and durability as my late hero. There a lot of better ways to make money in this world than messing about with bikes, so I figure I better really do it because I love it or there is no point. If ever I should take the attitude of lad outside the bike shop, “Martha, pass me the razor blades…I’m done.”

Hope all had a good New Year and that adequate libations were ingested and that ALL rode their bikes on NYD just because you had to.

Anyways, likes I wuz sayin’ about those lovely bikes in Fritz collection, another very rare piece is a 1983 Pinarello Prestige we had ordered for a special customer.  Our fortunate working relationship with Pinarello allowed us to bring in this lovely custom geometry (try that now) example with a Campag 50th group, resplendent with 24K gold plated forks and stays and jet black paint.

Some of the original parts have been changed but it was great to see it emerge in this collection. Giovanni Pinarello was always so accommodating and the bike came exactly as ordered and flawlessly finished. It would have been one of the earlier bikes painted in his then new factory. Until then the top frames were painted at his brother’s house in a farm area outside Treviso.  Only visited there once but it was so interesting to see such nice work coming out of such simple, almost garage/barn type facility.

Of all the bikes we sold at my old shop the one that remains (to my mind at least) the absolute coolest was a very special Colnago.  I had a chance in 1980 to acquire three of the team bikes he built for the Boule D’Or team he was sponsoring at the time. While two of them were simply just very nice Supers (with Mexico labeling) the third was built for Mr Paris-Roubaix himself, Roger De Vlaeminck. I can tell you when we got that bike everyone in the shop wanted it…but nobody rode a 57, either too big or to small.

Through the late Sixties and early Seventies RdV was probably about the coolest guy in the pro peleton. While his nearly 300 victories weren’t in the crazy Merckx league, they would thrash anyone’s total in today’s pro circuit. The ‘Gypsy of Eeklo’ seemed to float over those treacherous cobbles that brought down countless others. As well as being a great Classics rider, he also was competitive in the major tours with numerous stage wins and points jerseys.

I apologize because this photo could have been better but you can see the the foil decal on the chain stay that denotes Mexico but in fact the bikes were Supers with cast bottom brackets as per Mexicos of the time. In the photo below you can observe the RdV stamped into the dropouts (they appear in the rear as well). The builder had selected the components for the frame so as to be a perfect as possible for their star rider. I love this sort of detail and as a bit of an advert for my current Cunningham frames I’m happy to say that every part of every frame is as close to perfect as I can see…and I’m pretty picky. In fact after assembling hundreds of these wonderful, (now)classic bikes I can tell you the alignment of these newer units is even better than these older frames.

How cool is this?

I must say had I the op to buy it today, wrong size or not, I’d get it. Hindsight huh?

I’ll do one more little installment vis-a-vis the classic thing here and it’ll be largely about the man/bike I consider the absolute pinnacle of bicycle passion, design, beauty and performance (of the day).

Until then: go riding.