# Masi Evoluzione Review



## Goodbarsix (Aug 5, 2009)

*Masi Evoluzione Review - Now with final thoughts*

Demo of the Masi Evoluzione with Dura Ace 9000 and Mercury wheels

A little about the rider and goal:
I am 30 years old, am 5’ 11”, weigh 195lbs, and would describe myself as your typical enthusiast cyclist. I have raced somewhat successfully in CAT 5 (1 first in a crit, one 2nd in a crit, one DNF in a road race), got a first place and then a 7th place in the MTB division of a local 100 mile gravel race, and have done several “bucket list” rides including the Triple Bypass in 2010. 

I am a bike geek looking for his next road bike and have been languishing over choices for several months. I currently ride a 2011 Masi Grand Criterium (lugged steel with Shimano 105 and Boyd Vitesse wheels) which I chose after about 9 different bikes which I test road including some carbon bikes. Ultimately the Gran Criterium fit me like a glove and just felt right. 

Currently I have demoed a 2014 Specialized Tarmac SL4 Pro with SRAM Red and a set of Zipp 404 carbon clinchers on my Gran Criterium (who doesn’t want to know if $2,700 worth of wheelset will change their bike). The good folks at Masi and Greenstreet cycles have set me up with this incredible demo Evoluzione with Dura Ace 9000 and Mercury wheels. 

The goal is to keep my Gran Criterium (would recommend this bike to just about everyone BTW), and supplement it with a lighter and more importantly stiffer bike for racing and spirited group riding. The bike I get must have the following:
1)	Hot: the bike must look the business. Let’s be honest folks, if you are spending a healthy chunk of change on a 2nd road bike it better be as seductive as Grendel’s mother from Beowulf.
2)	Stiff: What I really mean is power transfer that would make CEO’s of merging companies jealous. Also, a frontend that can corner on a dime and make change.
3)	Light: HA…if you read above you know I am no Andy Schleck in my stature. I am fairly muscular, but most of that is lard that the soap manufacturers would love to get ahold of. Still, my 21lb Gran Criterium does tend to feel a touch less active at times.
4)	Something special in both style, and riding character. Experienced cyclists probably know what I mean here, but certain bikes just feel like you want them to feel. I am sure frame geometry is a significant factor here, but some of us just glaze over when frame geo numbers are thrown around. I know enough to get a bike that will fit me, but how 2 degrees in a forks rake changes a bikes feel is beyond my simplistic brain. Hence demoing several bikes to get the feel.


The bike in question:
So I had actually requested any Masi Evoluzione with the higher-end carbon frame, and expected the 2013 Ultegra model which would have been fine. Instead I was sent this amazing MRI Monster Media green frame Evoluzione with Dura Ace 9000 and Mercury carbon wheels. My jaw dropped to the floor when I picked this up at Greenstreet Cycles. Ever since the MRI Monster Media green frame started showing up in their racing photos, I have had the same tingle in my loins that I had when I first saw a built up race-ready Datsun 240Z at an autocross event. Something that is instantly recognizable as a race machine with amazing personality. Well done to the designer of this paint job!!

This 56cm Masi has a 53/39 crank with 11-25 cassette, Ritchey WCS cockpit (120mm stem that is a touch too long for me) and saddle, Mercury carbon clincher 30mm front wheel and 50mm rear wheel with Kenda Kountach tires.

So far I have put in a 54 mile ride with a stronger head wind on this bike and my initial impressions are good. As I have learned from both the Tarmac and Zipp demos, initial impressions are just that: things can change once you get over the earliest notions of a bike or your fantasy of how it should feel. I have a very spirited group ride scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday the 13th), and hopefully another ride on Thursday before I give the bike back.

More to come. For now a photo of this very handsome bike (wish I could post attachments to post more ) 
Tyler


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## Goodbarsix (Aug 5, 2009)




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## colnagoG60 (Jun 27, 2013)

The carbon Masis (Masae? plural?) look alot like the Focus Izalco...only say because I have an Izalco, and Carbon Connection sell both the Evoluzione and Izalco. I wonder how close they are in feel/handling...if I hadn't picked up the Focus (Foci...since I bought two) I probably would have got the Masi on price. Plus, I always wanted a steel Masi. Either way, hope you enjoy the switch to carbon as much as I did from Italian steel. 

:beer:


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## BigPoser (Jan 11, 2013)

Such a beautiful ride! I have a Evoluzione as well (Apex version with a Force RD, since it's my first roadie), and I frickin love it. I've upgraded a few things including the wheels and it just got better. I would love to be able to compare the two. Have fun on the rides, and please post more.


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## Goodbarsix (Aug 5, 2009)

Just got done with a great group ride on this bike. Wow....impressions are still looking oh so fine. This thing can SPRINT! Climbing might not be it's best suit, but that could also be the gearing it has right now (or my lard butt). Lovely bike thus far. Also, my take on Dura ace 9000 is changing quite a bit (SRAM fanboi here). More to come later, but thought I would post a quick update.

For the Strava nuts:
First day Strava file (solo) Bike Ride Profile | Masi Evo demo day 1. SW wind. near Omaha | Times and Records | Strava
Group ride Strava file: Bike Ride Profile | Masi Evo demo day 2 near Omaha | Times and Records | Strava


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## Goodbarsix (Aug 5, 2009)

The second ride in the books was my usual Tuesday club ride (Greenstreet Velo). My brother and I do this together, so we meet up at a specified location and ride to the start together. I posted the Strava link earlier for folks to get an idea of what type of ride it is, but in general it has some excellent rolling hills and some fun sprints!

The beauty of this group ride is that it always pushes me slightly (often times WAY) outside my comfort zone. So, what did I take from this ride on the Masi?

This week we found about a mile of our route had been dug up and turned into a temporary gravel road, so the demo Evoluzione got some impromptu gravel grinding testing (sorry Masi!!). I am very familiar with gravel riding, so I knew how to handle the bike, and I have to say the Evoluzione did just fine.

I had a couple of opportunities to sprint with some faster riders than me on this ride. The first was after about 5 miles of chasing (one of the riders on the team wanted us to give him a head start and then chase him down…badass made it all the way to the destination before we almost caught him), we were on some rolling hills and my heart was pumping from the chase that I had been working with another much better rider than I. We got to one of the final rollers before that section of route flattens out, and yet another faster rider than I sprints up the hill. I give chase and start gaining behind him, try to pull to the side and just did not have the poop to pass him. A few miles later after some nice long pacelining down a flat section my brother jumped out of the group on an attack. I jumped out of the group and sprinted to catch on his wheel. A bit later a few riders caught us and passed, I jumped on to one of the passing riders and sat in his slipstream for a bit. A couple more riders passed and started sprinting. I caught on to the wheel of one of the sprinters and was spinning hard to stay on his slipstream. I used the momentum to launch my sprint in-between the two and just barely pass them both.

The sprinting confidence this bike gave me made me feel like the Hulk in the Avengers movie when he is ramming through the air fortress after Agent Romanof. Sounds dorky, but watch that segment of the movie and you will completely understand. Jumping from rider to rider catching their slipstream was ridiculously fun and easy with how stiff the frontend of this bike is.

Climbing felt OK, but not quite on par with the Tarmac. A lot of that feeling could be that the Evoluzione has a 39 – 25 as the “bailout gear”, and the Tarmac had a 36 – 28 “bailout gear” which makes a high cadence climbing style easier. Also could be because I am still coming back to the form I had before a few weeks off the bike. If I were to describe the difference in a measureable term, I would say the Tarmac is a polar bears hair faster than the Evoluzione when climbing. 

Hoping to get another ride in, but I can already tell you I will miss this Demo bike quite a lot. More to come.
Tyler


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## Goodbarsix (Aug 5, 2009)

Welp, two more rides in the book and it is time to give this demo bike back and finish up the review.

40.5 Recovery ride on the Evoluzione (after a Criterium on my Gran Crtierium): Bike Ride Profile | Recovery ride on the demo Evoluzione near Omaha | Times and Records | Strava
Just under 18 mile ride on the Evoluzione to squeeze in some last miles before cleaning her up and giving her back: Bike Ride Profile | Had to squeeze a few last miles in on the Evoluzione near Omaha | Times and Records | Strava

So I would like to split these final thoughts into “bike” and “components”, then a summary.

*Bike:*

What can I say; I really fell head over heels for the paint job on this bike. C’mon Masi, you better bring this paint job to market!! After 164.9 miles on this bike I can honestly say I am also very happy with how it performs. So let’s go down my original hit list to see how this stacked up:

Hot: Oh you bet. That paintjob mixed with the frames strong yet not ridiculous lines, mixed with the Mercury carbon wheels…Mmmmm oh baby. I could look at this bike all day long. My wife and 8 month old boy agree.
Stiff: Absolutely. You can course correct mid-turn, and hammer to your sprinters hearts delight. This bike does not feel like it is flexing, even if it is not the stiffest bike I have demoed. The stiffness is where you want it, but it still flexes a bit to help give it that character that the likes of a SL4 Tarmac ignores. 
Light: Light enough to make me laugh when I go to pick it up and carry it over the car in my cramped garage. And let’s be honest, this is not a weight weenie build.
Something Special: Absolutely. Got plenty of positive comments when riding this on the group ride, and every time I look down I just smile. I could get my a$$ kicked on this bike and not be too depressed. The ride quality is what I expect in a road bike….there is some character there. For comparison: Tarmac: A scientist using a scalpel. Evoluzione: That quirky Italian artist painting your Wife in a way that makes you pissed and amazed at the same time. 

So I guess you could say the Evoluzione checks all the boxes on my wish list. I would not hesitate to recommend this frame to friends, relatives, business acquaintances, and fake bums (you know, the rich folks that dress up as bums for fun). 
*
Components:*

Mercury carbon clinchers:
If I were to never have to brake in my life, then I would say these are the best wheels I have tried on a road bike yet (I have demoed Zipp 404 clinchers BTW). These wheels are stiff, responsive, fun when climbing out of the saddle, and look the business. Honestly Mercury, you have a good thing going here!! 

EXCEPT

FIX THE FREAKING BRAKE TRACK! Seriously, I do not know what the deal is – maybe wrong brake pads, maybe the brake track is not worn in yet, whatever – the braking with these wheels can be described as “scary”. After about 3 seconds of braking these wheels start to squeal like a neglected machine shop, and then they grab all sudden like and try to lock the wheels up. I almost dumped the bike on a descent (hard right corner by a stop sign in a group ride, so no closed road) when I braked slightly into a corner. There has to be something wrong with the setup, OR Mercury cares more about their tubular wheels than clinchers. Whatever it is please tell me or fix it as I have drank the Kool-Aid on these wheels performance. Seriously, better than Zipps. 

Dura Ace 9000:

Once again let me restate that I am a SRAM road fanboi here. Love love love SRAM Red on the demo Tarmac I had. 

Some of you retro freaks (I know about you…my other Masi is Lugged Steel) will say that all you need is 6, 8, or 9 speeds in the back. WRONG. 11 speeds really does give you that little extra gear for the road freak that has to find the perfect cadence while still having an “OK” bailout gear. Really starts to turn the corner on needing multiple cassettes for different pursuits (climbing versus Criterium). Kudos to the big three for all coming to 11 speeds in the back. 

Ok Shimano, here is what you need to do to make this groupset something a SRAM fanboi would consider:
1) have the shift engagement start much earlier in the shift lever stroke. When I am completely shredded and holding on for dear life in a hard group ride, I want to be able to move my hands the least amount as possible to shift up to a different gear in the back. Get rid of that half an inch of play in the shifters! Seriously!
2) Front shifting has been greatly improved, yet Shimano still sticks with a trim function versus something as easy to use as the yaw derailleur in the SRAM group. The front trim function was really annoying when shifting down to the small ring (39). I would hit the inside lever once, and it would trim but still be in the big ring. Hit it a second time and it would finally drop to the small ring. Was it setup correctly? Not 100% sure, but this trim functionality was pretty annoying. Time to steal from SRAM here Shimano. Make a rotating front derailure with no trim and call it something like “Automated rotational Trim” or “ART” for short. The marketing practically writes itself: “Look how ARTfully the front derailleur shifts!” Otherwise the shift to the big ring is like booze to a new relationship: facilitating. Makes me want to “big ring it” and hammer down the road. Nice work there Shimano. 
3) Rear shifting is amazing. No hesitation at all in any gear combination. Nice work here Shimano (minus the lever movement).

Ritchey cockpit:

Ritchey WCS C260 stem, Carbon Evocurve handlebar, Carbon seatpost, and WCS Streem carbon saddle.

Stem felt nice and stiff, looks sharp, and did not fall off or break: Sweet.
Evocurve handlebar is made for folks with smaller hands (I prefer a long flat section like a 3T Rotundo), but was nice and stiff.
Seatpost did not break, and my taint did not develop an angry disposition towards me.
Saddles are so very personal that I hate to comment. I’ll just say that this one did not make any noise or move on me, but my downstairs mixup did get numb a few times. Your mileage may vary. Looks cool.

*Summary:*
Overall this bike really won me over. I finally had a connection to a carbon bike similar to what my lugged steel Gran Criterium is, but much faster. Nice work here Masi. If I were to offer an opinion on how I would like to see this bike offered:

Frame and fork: Please please please make this MRI Monster Media frame color available. DROOL
Wheels: You folks seem to have a relationship with Ritchey, use some of their carbon or aluminum clinchers. The Mercury’s would also be welcome if the break track was figured out. Just please do not cheap out here…some of us do not want to throw away the stock wheels.
Cockpit: If you must stick with Ritchey, then fine use the WCS classic bend. So nice in the drops! Otherwise consider 3T! Italian (yes I know you are not really Italian any more), and an awesome bar in the Rotundo.
Drivetrain: SRAM Force 22. 11 speeds, and SRAMs awesome performance at an excellent price.

Anyhow, thank you again Masi and Greenstreet for setting this up for me! Consider me a happy camper.
Tyler


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

Glad you found a bike you love. I'm sure the Masi is a great crit bike as I see the MRI Monster guys race them in Socal. But personally I know at least 1 guy on that team who is a snobby ahole on the road, and because of that I'd never want to associate myself with the name Masi.


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