"Masi mojo: Objective or Subjective?"

so what gives here?
since this list is comprised of sycophants with classic
and/or vintage bicycle obsessions, myself a die-hard
from among the masses, let's try to examine the seedlings
that 'grew' into these interests that consume us. what IS
behind all the emotion we attach to this hobby?

my version:
as far as the 'masi' threadology goes, while i had heard
the name and seen the bicycles nearly 4 years prior, my
interest in the brand was galvanized (crystallized?) after
reading the june 71 road test in bicycling magazine. it was
written by m.t. hamilton (Mount Hamilton. get it?!) which
was the nom de plume, or perhaps the coup d'etat, of a
fellow named frank pabian. he raced for pedali alpini and
came clean with me about the details of the article when i
met him at the 79 red zinger international stage race.
his article, the text, the phrasing...these were all lifted and
used as ad copy for most of the catalogs for the u.s. made
masi bicycles, though he was 'testing' an italian model.
regardless...
that article was so ingrained in me for a generation that i could
not accept that any bicycle could surpass masi in terms of mojo.
fwiw, i do believe the italian bicycles were overflowing with the
stuff. i completely bought into the lore and the history of the
multi-generational firm. i did/do believe that they were the
progenitors of the perfect racing frame, artisanly speaking. it
was the bicycle industry equivalent of fashion's 'haute couture';
the irreplaceable petite mains (manes?), 'little hands', doing all
the chores necessary, often at a loss on the balance sheet, to ensure
the quality of all aspects of the assembly were without compromise.
that's what i believe(d). that's the fantasy i had about it all...
as it goes, with the passing of time as well as owing to various
machinations within the industry, the veils of fantasy were slowly
peeled away.
i still hold my memories of all this close to my heart, but the reality
of it is that, as the bicycle boom of the 70s took shape, the rose
colored glasses would need stronger and stronger lenses.
e-RICHIE