Masi Gran Corsa Bellissima women's specific design road bike from Interbike

Comment

Comment by Josh Boggs on December 31, 2009 at 5:57am

Yeah... you want to see changes in the brand, the best person to talk to is the brand manager... Good conversation, here.

Comment by Heather Bender on December 30, 2009 at 5:07pm

Awesome. Wish you the best!

Comment by Tim Jackson on December 30, 2009 at 4:23pm

Heather- agreed; no feedback = bad news, feedback, good or bad = good news.

The line will continue to evolve and change- including the colors. We'll keep chipping away at it and trying to come up with products that will appeal to as many people as possible. We're not arrogant enough to believe we'll hit home runs with each swing of the bat... but we'll keep swinging anyway.

Comment by Heather Bender on December 30, 2009 at 4:13pm

I'm glad to see you guys are trying, and have had a mostly positive response. The first go-round of
a new line up for can be nail-biting. However in my experience any criticism is good criticism. The
customer needs a bike fitted to them, not the customer fitted to the bike. However many big and
small bike manufacturers who are not meeting womens expectations. Not everyone wants to ride a pink,
light blue, torquoise, yellow, or purple bike. I couldn't agree more about feminine flowers, and other
embellishments...it's like they are making bikes for 7 year old girls. There have been a few good looking
womens bikes out there and they sold pretty well. However, bike companies will not sell womens bikes
in great numbers until they realize that it is about looks...and performance. With that said, how about some
red, black, white, orange, charcoal, etc... At least they would look fast and guys wouln't mind riding a
"girls" bike if the fit was right. Another positive is at least you would be able to find more clothing to match
your ride!

Comment by Tim Jackson on December 30, 2009 at 9:46am

Heather- sorry to have missed the mark for you.

We have 3 levels of bike, admittedly we don't go all the way up to Dura Ace or Red, but this is our first foray into the category and we're cautiously waiting to see the response to the bikes. So far, of the modest few that have made it out into the world with riders, the feedback has been positive. Is it possible to have the perfect bike to meet all rider needs? No way. BUT... we obviously like our approach. It's similar to what some other brands we respect have done.

Our approach to fit is built around the concept that you don't need to reinvent the wheel to fit a woman or any other smaller rider. Any good bike shop can take a "men's bike" and fit it to a rider. Radically changing geometry of the bike and compromising comfort and bike handling wasn't what we wanted to do. Admittedly, for some riders- male or female- "WSD" bikes do fit better... but that's also why there are so many custom frame builders too- not all designs fit all riders. We acknowledge that our "style" won't work for everybody, but that is part of what makes the world go round... diversity.

As for the colors and graphics, we wanted to keep things tasteful and not just "shrink and pink" our bikes or add flowers and kittens. Again, some people think Picasso is a genius and others think he needed glasses. We spent a lot of time researching the colors and graphics and the majority of people (women) we spoke with were in favor of keeping things similar to the rest of our bikes, rather than changing things up with scrolling ivy or other "feminine embellishments". Again, admittedly that is isn't going to be what works for everybody... but we're hoping it works for more people than not. Besides, we're also hoping that men with fit issues might consider the bikes as well.

Hopefully that all makes more sense than not. Hopefully.

Tim Jackson
Brand Manager- Masi Bicycles

Comment by Heather Bender on December 30, 2009 at 7:09am

I'm not trying to hate on Masi, but it appears to be the same old thing...more boring paint schemes, entry-level components. These bikes are not for everybody. Basically take whatever mens frame you want, put a
short stem, narrow handlebar, and zero setback seatpost.....and wow, you have a bike you
would actually want to ride.