1969 SC, Chromed

This chromed SC, which came chromed from Cinelli, has a sell date from Cupertino Bikes of April 18, 1969. The first photos are as found, the last photo shows the progress of the build.

 Photos courtesy Jim Merz.

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

SC

George Ferrier's Cinelli SC,  came in chrome.  Believed to have been purchased through Spence Wolfe. Bike is currently being restored by Jim Merz. Note oil port, no holes in lugs indicating pre-1968ish.

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

1953? Cinelli SC Restoration

Bob from England writes in with, "I thought you might like some ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of my 1953 SC. The frame was retrieved from someone’s loft here in the UK where it had been since the early 70s when the owner stopped riding.

He bought the bike secondhand in the late 1950s and even though it has braze-ons for Simplex JUY 53 and JUY 51 mechs always rode it on a fixed wheel, the Simplex rear gear hanger had been sawn off. He hand painted the frame in the late 60s. I assume from the semi sloping fork crown and chrome bands on the seat tube (I found when removing the paint) that it may be a SC Lusso although it doesn’t have a seat pin clamp.

The frame is considerably lighter than my 1958 SC and mid 60s Mod B. I am collecting the Simplex equipment to build it and will send photos when it’s finished."

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

SC 4757

Randy writes, "This is my bike that I bought new from Oscar Wastyns in Chicago around 1971 . The serial # is 4757."

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

Cinelli SC Restoration

James writes in with, "I wanted to share some photos of a recent restoration project – my first vintage bike project. The frame was a tired pre-loved 1972 SC with several coats of new paint but very sound. I embarked upon a period-correct restoration and the frame was completely stripped back and refinished with new chrome and period-correct paint and decals – the latter specially made by Cyclomondo based on research for a 1972 bike. At some point I perhaps unwisely got the idea to use only NOS parts and the next 18 months were spent sourcing the parts needed – quite a learning curve for someone unfamiliar with the variations that occurred in Campagnolo and other componentry in this era. I tried to ensure everything was accurate right down to the date on the hub lock nuts. The smell that comes out of original packaging when opening is addictive and the handmade parts of this era are like stunning pieces of jewellery. After the bike was assembled and these photos taken by Andy White at FYXO I thought my journey was finally over with a beautiful result. However since then several helpful vintage bike collectors have highlighted minor inaccuracies which have been progressively attended to in my quest for accuracy. Recent changes have included the seatpost clamp bolt (now version 2 instead of version 3), saddle (yellow text instead of silver), rear hub (no stamping on freewheel landing) and front derailleur (no-circlip) – there is one part I know to be still needing replacement which I am searching for and probably a few more than I have yet to learn about but there is plenty of time for that. I have learnt to accept that this Cinelli will remain very much an enjoyable work in progress which provides a focus for enjoyable dialogue with fellow passionate collectors and opportunity to exchange knowledge and stories. Of course being a Cinelli the opportunities for good stories are many. I hope you enjoy."

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

U.S. Internaples & Cinelli

My thanks to reader Fillipo who sent two wonderful photographs of the U.S. Internaples cycling team in Naples from the 1950s. They all have Cinelli bikes (you can click on photos to enlarge):

The following photograph is of rider Mimi Milano with an SC frame. Filipo believes the photo is from 1953/1954; note the combination of the first generation logo type on downtube, fast-back seatpost, full sloping fork crown and four chrome rings on seat tube:

Futher information about the team, its riders, etc., is welcomed. What year do you think this frame is from?

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

Mike Sinyard's Cinelli

This Cinelli is the personal bicycle of Mike Sinyard, founder and chairman of Specialized. It hangs in the Specialized museum at company headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. Sinyard sold Cinelli frames and components in the 1970s.

Photo, used by permission, by Jim Merz. Jim Merz, framebuilder of Merz Mfg (1970s to 1982) in Portland, Oregon, maintains a Facebook page here.

Reminder: I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com  

2012 Super Corsa, and Serial Numbers

A reader sent me this photo of his new Supercorsa, made with Columbus SL. It has a serial number of Z012.

I'm told by Cinelli that this serial numbering system was implemented in 2010 in which the first letter represents a year and the following numbers represents the frame number for that year. Z corresponds to 2012 so this would have been the twelfth frame in 2012.

btw, the reader is recovering from a back problem so hence the build for now.

I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. Thanks for stopping by. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com 

Supercorsa, 1963 with Reynolds tubeset

My thanks to Siegfried for sending in photos (click on them to enlarge) of a friend's 1963 Cinelli SC with an original Reynolds decal. We don't see many of these.

I happen to have some images of a 1963 Ron Kitching catalog in which it indicates the Supercorsa is made as having the main triangle in Reynolds 531 and the fork and stays in double butted Columbus.

I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. Thanks for stopping by. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

Cinelli SC, early 1970s, no. 1821

Many photos here.For sale at the time of this post.

I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components. Thanks for stopping by. I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

1970 Cinelli Super Corsa

Thanks to owner Robs for photo and this information:
Date Sold: 1970
Serial Number: 5153
Model: Cinelli Speciale Corsa Type A

Comments/Details: 60cm, silver, full Campy Nuovo Record groupo, recently restored, original paint and decals, period-correct, handlebar shifters, other Cinelli components where they ought to be, ordered directly from factory through Spence Wolfe of Cupertino Bike Shop, August, 1970. Full provenance.

Click on photo to enlarge.

I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components.

Thanks for stopping by.

I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

How Lucky Can You Be?

A reader, lets call him Mr. X, wrote in with this:

"My name is X. As soon as it is warm enough up here I start to commute. It was -7C on Tuesday and that was warm enough. Anyway, my neighbor is always shaking his head because of my bicycling, but it really paid off. He was dropping stuff off at a good will place and noticed an old 10 speed sitting there and picked it up for me. When I came home from work and saw this old bike on his walkway I thought, "Great a 1970's 10 speed, just what I need." Before I was off my bike he was calling me to see if I could find a home for this bike. Not wanting to hurt any feelings I said sure I will find a place. As I walked up to it I noticed it had quick release hubs. The front wheel was off the bike so I grabbed the top bar and lifted it up which made the shift levers about eye level and noticed the embossing. I started to realize this may not be just your average bike so I googled it and guess what. I think I have a 1971 Speciale Corsa. I am sending you some pictures and asking your help in dating it. I have the wheel in at the bike shop being trued and tired. You will notice that there is no chain. I was wondering if you knew how many links were used on these bikes."


I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components.

Thanks for stopping by.

I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com

Cinelli SC at 1979 NYC Bike Show

A Cinelli SC on display at the 1979 New York City bike show. Note rollers and pedals.

Photo courtesy of Dale Brown, owner of www.classicrendezvous.com

I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components.

Thanks for stopping by.

I can be contacted at veronaman@gmail.com