Shakedown ride: 1978 Masi Gran Criterium retro-mod

Just finished a shakedown ride on a project I’ve been working on for a little over a year. This post is on the long side so feel free to scroll down to the bottom if you just want the specs and not an origin story.

It all started when I decided I wanted to buy a Masi Gran Criterium. It has been my dream bike since I was a teen. My uncle rode a GC in “breaking away” red, and I always thought it was the coolest thing. I ended up riding steel bikes through high school and college. Always wanted a GC but was never in a place where that was realistic financially.

Fast forward, and I’m a grown ass adult who can buy toys. Decide to look at GCs on ebay. I found one from 1978 that was clearly a repaint and it was missing wheels, but my budget was still limited and the price was dropped somewhat accordingly. Not a steal by any means, but not what you’d pay for an original paint job with correct wheels.

I took the plunge and bought it. It arrived, I unboxed it, and everything was good. I decided to take it to Wayne Bingham at Velo Classique to talk about getting some wheels.

Get there, and hand the bike off. He starts looking it over, and I go take a look at the wheelsets he’s got in his shop.

Well, turns out the frame was out of alignment. Not terribly, but a wheelset wouldn’t fit in the fork, dropouts weren’t centered, etc. No visible dents or cracks, but definitely out of wack.

While I was at the shop, I saw a “retro-modern” Pinarello he had built up with a campy 11 speed group and decided to test ride it. That’s the first bike I’ve ever ridden with brifters — the Davidson I’ve been kicking around on for over a decade has down tube shifters.

Well, it turns out, brifters are pretty cool? They felt great, the bike felt great, it was kind of crazy how smooth everything was. The frame was a bit small for me though, so I went home while I decided what to do with the Masi.

After thinking it over, I decided to ship the bike off to Franklin Frames to have the repair work done and get repainted. And while he was straightening the frame, he agreed to remove the brake bridge, re-space it to 130mm, and reinstall the brake bridge so it could fit a modern wheel. And Wayne would build it up for me like the Pinarello he had.

While it was at the shop, I got to sourcing parts. Well, I decided that it’s vintage, so the parts have to be silver. And it’s a Masi, so I guess it has to have Campagnolo. And I guess if it’s getting Campy, you might as well get record. And down the rabbit hole I went. And off the rails my budget went.

This is the end result. I really appreciate the help Wayne put into overseeing the project and building it up, and the work Jack at FF put into the frame and paint job.

Took it for a shakedown ride today. Still deciding on what saddle to put on, and the color of the tape on the final build will depend on the saddle choice and if I go with black, brown, or honey. I’ll circle back when it’s in its final form.

Anyways, if you got this far, thanks for reading.

Here’s the components:
Frameset: 1978 Masi Gran Criterium, 59cm (ctt)
Drivetrain, brakes: Campy record 9 speed (1998)
Wheelset: h plus son tb14 rims, Miche hubs
Bars: Nitto
Stem: Soma Sutra
Headset: cane creek
Pedals: MKS
Seatpost/saddle/tape: still TBD, pictured with a swallow but currently has a brooks pro on it that I’m liking.

by Joe_Climacus