ericbaker

I told a good friend about it, of course only after I made him promise not to snipe me or tell a soul. Even still it became very clear to me in the final 5 minutes that he would turn his back on me, he had a plot that would trump the high bid i had told him about and then I'd see the bike under a sheet in his garage at the super bowl party. I watched as the clock ticked down cursing his name, and my own for telling him and ruining our friendship. :05... :04.... :03.......:02.............gah!.......:01.... SOLD. 1 bid. I had won. Phew. I called my friend to appolgize for berating his good name. He of course had barely remembered I told him.

Haha, these things get ya a little crazy sometimes don't they

spdntrxi

never celebrate to you have bike in hand… had many friends get an email the next day with some crap story on how it's damaged/stolen.. whatever. Basically some asshat contacts the seller and offers more money then you...

lotekmod

Nice score, I've wanted a Masi since I started riding in '88!

I picked up a set of DT disc hubs for my mountain bike last year for something like $40 shipped because they were listed by (I think) an 18 yo on a smart phone. The listing was titled something like "Bike parts- hubs" with no mention of the manufacturer anywhere. I could barely make out the DT symbol in the photo.

ultraman6970

Big difference between ....



Sporting Goods
>
Cycling
>
Bicycles




and ...




Collectibles
>
Transportation
>
Bicycles
>
Bicycle Accessories


Did not even know that bikes were in transportation... congrats... good find.

gaucho777 

Congrats on your Mazi! Nice catch.

crank_addict

....ha, but at least they had the pronunciation correct in the title

to the OP - congrats and enjoy!

Velognome 

Not wise to celebrate too loudly....I hope, for your sake, the seller does not read Bike Forums. Did you read all the feed back on the seller?




I hope she likes your offer!

Daveyates

On the note of celebrating too early i would in future not post about a bike until you have received it.
This thread has had over 600 views and i have learnt in the past some people can act very strange.
i.e If somebody really wanted that bike then you have already given the details of the seller for the world to see.
Also when some people see a very good deal that they missed they could very easily tell the seller the true value.
In this crazy world of vintage bikes you get all kinds.

But i hope you receive the bike and are happy with it.

ericbaker

I fully understand the risk i was taking by "outing" it before i have the bike in hand. And if it falls through, it may well be my own fault. But its more fun to share in the excitement. If she sells it to someone else Ill sure be disappointed, and I'll lose a little faith in the community here, or humankind in general, but there's always another bike around the corner.

jeirvine 

I assume you're on the road to pick it up as we speak?

repechage

Hopefully so, perhaps the high starting price is the tolerable price floor for her.
If she figures out that she has goofed up the listng, that might change things though.

As to the "correct" price of the bike, small frames often get a steep discount unless they attract multiple bidders as with any item.
I bought a '72 Colnago Super in a similar size (50 cm) and was the only bidder at a tick below this price while an example my size was purchased for double.
Size matter much. The Tall and the Small get the deals.

thinktubes 

Nice.

I would drive and get it vs. shipping.

ericbaker

"Correct" price is fun to discuss as it really is "worth what someone will pay" there is a purple 50cm GC frame/fork that got bid to $1400 and a very small red complete that sold for a best offer from a BIN of $3250 which i cant imagine was any less than $2000.

The tall and small have tend to have less interested buyers, but also tend to have less availability. In my experience, a premium brand thats high in demand will be so regardless of the size.

Daveyates

So Eric have you bought it as an investment or do you ride a small frame?

ericbaker

I will be putting proper wheels on it and it will go on display in my shop alongside some of my other top tier bikes. No plans to sell, but no it wont fit me unfortunately

Velognome 

Your a greater man than I Eric Baker....... owning it and not being able to ride it would be worse than not owning it at all IMO.

gomango

Then a solid remarketing plan will give you a tidy profit a couple of years down the road.

In the meantime, you get to gawk at it any time you choose.

That's not such a terrible predicament.

ericbaker

Bike in hand and its FAR better than hoped.

I drove the 5ish hours to pick it up and then about an hour more to visit RHM for the changing hands of another old bike (the old Alvin track bike that's been discussed here). He showed me some of his saddle making techniques and before too long I was off on the third leg of my journey, another hour to Philadelphia for a visit with Curtis, owner of VIA bikes (a vintage trove). It was sunday so the store was closed, that gave him plenty of time to answer my endless barrage of questions about his 3 floors of top notch vintage accumulation (1st floor is public/storefront and the rest is private collection). Its a place to go to see things you've never seen before.
www.bikeville.com Also great place to source parts, send 'em an email if you don't see it on the site.
Curtis cooked me some dinner while I played hide-and-seek with Curtis Jr. Then we BS'd about bikes, scores, swaps, and more over a glass or 2 of Bourbon. After thanking him for his great hospitality, it was back to MA I went. A 26 hour day all said and done, Whew.


But back to the Masi, Louanne and I chatted for a bit, she is moving and couldn't take it. She recalled Her husband had it repainted 4 years ago "in California because that's where Masi was from", Take from that what you will, I wish she knew because its really fantastic work. No decal from Cycleart or anything like that. She opted for clincher rims at that point as well. She also mentioned (after I asked about any addition things)that she may find the original receipt when she unpacks from the move. She's got my address.

Its Carlsbad Masi #756 (serial #731 ) and the repaint is in the original color (did I mention how nice the paint is?) 50cm ctt

Many of the original parts appear to have been replaced by NOS period correct during the restoration and never or barely ridden again after that... pedals at least, perhaps cranks, BB, headset, ders? I might have thought the whole bike was generally unridden before the repaint but the front mech shows significant wear. Its all very interesting.

165 cranks too

ericbaker

ericbaker

himespau 

Pretty.

bconneraz

congrats; it looks amazing.

bibliobob

Glad that it worked out well. Congrats!

repechage

Great color match to the original at least on my screen. Probably repainted by Baylis. The giveaways to me are the slightly darker yellow in the MASI lettering with the graphics and the signature on the drive side.
From the stamped lug period of Masi Carlsbad.

Well found and bought.

I have two from there. One has uncharacteristic terrible paint, I am still deciding about what to do with it.

The components should clean up very well where needed and the bike will look terrific.

miamijim

Complete Campy groups from that time period, pre-CPSC, go for $900 +/-....

Eric's in it for $900...the cost of the group, so look at as if he's getting a free frameset, bars, stem and saddle.


Very, very nice indeed. The paint doesn't look heavy enough to be cycleart... 99.5% of all cyclists wouldn't know its been repainted.