Masi Main

MASI
Italy

Updated 1/15/2006

Click on images to see larger version

Faliero Masi, and now his son Alberto, are an intrinsic part of the Italian romance with racing bicycles. Although never the sponsor of a major Pro team, Masi has been whispered to be the preferred builder for many stars in the Pro peloton. In the original workshop beneath the famous Vigorelli velodrome, the Masi family has produced sought after bicycles for 50 years.
In the early 1970s, Masi USA was established a production facility that has spawned many well known North America based frame craftsmen, including Mario Confente, Brian Baylis, Jim Cunningham (CyclArt) , Mike Howard, David Tesch and the Medici marque, among others. Around that same time frame, business dealings transferred the "world wide" rights to the use of the Masi name to the USA. Alberto continues to produce bicycles in Milan, which have been imported to the USA under the "Milano" nameplate.

January 2000

Faliero Masi
passes away

Faliero Masi

Renowned bicycle artisan, Faliero Masi passed away on Tuesday, January 4th. His world-famous atelier under the curve of Milano's Vigorelli Velodrome had created some of the greatest racing bikes of the 20th Century. Masi learned his trade with Gloria in the thirties, building bikes for some of Italy's champions, and after WW2, he branched out on his own. Masi was predominantly a "servizio corse", building less than 1000 frames per year, mostly for trade teams and racers.

Notable Masi bikes were the Superias ridden by Rik Van Looy's "Red Guard" in the '50's and '60's and the Faema bikes Eddy Merckx rode from 1969-1972.

With the worldwide bike boom of the '70's, Masi's creations like the elegant Gran Criterium became famous around the globe. Eventually, Faliero Masi sold the rights to his name to an American company, who made Masi bikes in Southern California.
Perhaps Masi's most important contribution to bicycle design was his early use of oversize tubes in his early '80's Volumetrica design. The steel bikes, which were light for the time had innovative internal lugs. Masi Volumetrica's were used successfully in many international races by the Leningrad Lokomotiv / USSR team of Alexender Kuznetsov.

Masi Italy bike registry