Giotto Cinelli Frame and Fork (£1250 with 4 days to go)

[Citoyen du monde]

If anybody is interested in a real restoration project, here is an interesting frame.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190638760504

For those of you that are not aware of early Cinelli history, Giotto Cinelli is one of Cino Cinelli's older brothers and is the one who first started making handlebars and stems back in the late 1930's. His older brother Arrigo helped him with the production. The production and their shop were located in Florence. When Cino "retired" from racing in 1944 (when the hostilities shut down all racing in Italy), he set up shop in Milan as a sales rep to a variety of brands. Among other things he was the Benotto sales rep for the Milan area (Cino had raced for Benotto previously), plus he sold the bars and stems made by his brothers. In 1946, the first Giotto Cinelli bikes were built. Here below is copy of a May 1946 advert which speaks of the imminent launch/arrival of the bikes, which were still being made in Florence. In late 1947 Giotto decided to leave teh bike business to take over his father-in-law's plastic stamping business (he was very successful) and therefore sold the machinery and production to Cino. Cino then moved the production north to Milan and the Cinelli company as most people know it was created. Giotto Cinelli bikes were therefore only produced for a short period between mid-1946 and the end of 1947. According to information that I have collected less than 200-300 bikes were ever produced.

Does anybody want to guess where the auction will end up? It is already way beyond my reach and let's not forget that you will need to spend a pretty penny to get the remaining components (where you can even find them) too.

 

[cchris2lou]

great reading about Cinelli .

what would be the equipment for this bike ?

 

[Citoyen du monde]

great reading about Cinelli .

what would be the equipment for this bike ?

What many of us "youngsters" forget is that back in 1940's Italy, the top bikes sold by any manufacturer were virtually always luxury city bikes, and NOT racing models. Just as today, when most people accumulate a bit of added cash they often spend it on their vehicle, the same was true of bicycles back then (especially right after the war when the availability of cars was very limited and the cost for those that were available was quite expensive). This has therefore been built for rod brakes (you can see the braze-ons) with Westwood rims, mudguards, chaincase, upright bars. The front rod brake appears to forsee the rod passing through the steer tube internally. The seller sent me some extra photos of the frame details.

 

[Kevinwulf]

Fantastic! Out of my price range too but so nice to see. I think this is the third I've "seen" (a computer screen counts, right?). The OP's being the nicest!

Yeah, some ofnthe parts would be tough to find, even Firenze stems don't show up more than once every few yeas it seems. But at least this bike has the badge - that would surely be the toughest bit.

 

[Dead Rats]

interesting... £1250 for a rusty step-thru frame though? :shock:

 

[Citoyen du monde]

I thought that the price was excessively optimistic given the amount of money that still needs to be spent to get a bike. The high bidder has cancelled his bid.

 

[Kevinwulf]

Yep, another corrupted auction...
I would have considered a bid if it was at this price with a few minutes to go. Now it hardly seems worth it. I feel sorry for the seller 'cos there's could be a couple of folks who feel the same way as I do.

 

[Kevinwulf]

Double.