Masi on e-bay

[Ozz]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3668922741&category=22681&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWA%3AIT&rd=1

It will be fun to see what this goes for:

15 bids and it is only up to $280

PS - I am not seller. It is my size and wish budget allowed for bid.

[dbrk]

It's been repaired and I suppose that that will dissuade bidders and make some wary. I mean, my Rivendell LongLow was pretty much destroyed in a crash but Curt Goodrich's repairs make it far, far better than new. This Masi will undoubtedly ride nicely and it has many of the "typical" Masi features that brand the bikes as such. In the case of Masis folks seem particularly impressed with who built the bike which is certainly sort of odd. No one here asks who built their Serotta, or IF or even their Colnago, DeRosa or Cinelli. And as we all know it's not Alberto building those new lugged Masis either, but that doesn't make them less worthy even if it makes them less valuable in perception.

dbrk

[Duane]

It's not just a bike to ride...Masi people like to study them as art, and know that each artist who worked on them had his own style. Collectors very familiar with them can often spot who attached the seat stays, or filed the head lugs.... It's not odd to enjoy seeing the work of Mario C, Brian B, Mike H, Dave M or Dave T, especially knowing it was their early work. These guys all made VERY cool stuff under their own names and for other companies, as well as for Masi. (I'm still looking for a couple of those names in my size!) Oh, and take an old Masi for a ride.. I love mine!

[dnovo]

I agree with Douglas' assessment here, and the price it sold for confirms his astute observations. The repairs, without listing them as being done by someone who really knew and worked on these rare framesets (such as Brian Bayliss) was a red flag. Plus, ebay prices, with rare exception, have been pretty soft of late. Several factors contribute to that, including a raft of materials pouring out on the system which tends to bury the rarer items, and the higher incidence of scams and gross misrepresentation of items with little or no real policing by ebay despite its claims.

I buy vintage photographic items on ebay, usually from sellers with recognized and established 'stables' in the area. So far, while I was only burned by one sale which was an overdescribed Canon Rangefinder camera, which was simply in poorer shape but salvagable, not a rip off, I had one clown try to sell me a rare Leica screw mount lens. When he declined to send it and said it was 'in transit', I got suspicious and stopped payment. He then relisted it at a higher price with a reserve this time, changed the description, and then when that didn't sell, relisted again and came up with a third description. While I didn't get fleeced as I saved my money, ebay 'investigated' but said, 'insufficient proof of intent' and did nothing. In short, we encourage sellers to lie through their teeth as long as they send us a percentage.

Buyer Beware indeed. Dave N.

[weisan]

eBay is basically taking a cross-section slice of the society that we live in and hook it up. I always tell myself, whatever I see in the outside world, good or bad, it's going to transfer over to eBay. And so, I should treat it no differently.

[rwl]

Dave,

The end price seems quite fair, in my opinion, and actually quite a bargain for a wonderful ride.

The repair was by Richard Gangl, who is a fine builder. I suspect theres an art to repair, as their is to framebuilding. It wouldn't surprise me to find that there isn't a complete overlap in those skills, so I don't know who I'd go to to replace a tube.

Rick

[victoryfactory]

I had a beautiful mid 70's Masi, One of the California frames, I believe, Blue with yellow decals ,all Campy super record. I sold it to a friend for $250. in 1982....

It was stolen from him a few months later

As I remember it rode smooth as glass, but became very soft like a noodle under heavy acceleration.
Took the money and bought a Benotto frame from Conrad's in NYC.

Sold that one to another guy in about 1985 who had it stolen...

VF, boring but true

[amg]

VF,

I'll make sure never to buy a second-hand bike from you. ;)

Antonio