[CR]Cinelli Serial Numbers

(Example: Framebuilding:Norris Lockley)

From: "Mark Petry" <mpetry@bainbridgeisland.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Cc: "C. Andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>
In-Reply-To: <20021219200002.13929.21245.Mailman@phred.org>
Subject: [CR]Cinelli Serial Numbers
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 13:51:56 -0800

Charles, you are correct, there is no overall sequential progression to the Cinelli serial numbers, and to the uninitiated dating a bike strictly from the serial number would be difficult to do. However, by referring to what in the world of cryptography would be called a "crib" (the Spence Wolf logbook with a 35 year history of serial numbers, models, etc) we can date a given Cinelli with some accuracy. The serial numbers run sequential for years at time (there are local patterns with respect to time) so if you have a serial number of a bike that is close to those found in the logbooks it can be dated with some accuracy.

Jay's bike reportedly has a serial number of 152 but as he's stated there is probably another trailing digit. In the logbooks there are a number of bikes with serial numbers in the 15XX range that date from '67 to '70 and that agrees closely with the info Jay has supplied.

A couple other clues - 3 holes in the lugs indicates post - 68, oil filler hole on the BB indicates pre - 65, and flat fork crown is a "B" model. All dates are approximate of course, as some frames sat around the shop unsold or unshipped.

I have no explanation for why the serial numbers run as they do... was there a series of subcontractors building bikes for Cinelli ? I have yet to find two frames with the same number, but then I've not entered every one of the ~2500 serial numbers in the logs into a database. If I did so, I'd want to run them thru that bank of Cray XMP/48s at NSA headquarters... some kind of intelligible pattern would surely emerge.

===================================================== Mark Petry 206.618.9642 Beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA mpetry@bainbridgeisland.net ===================================================== Every person serves a useful purpose: A miser, for example, makes a wonderful ancestor.

-- Laurence J. Peter

====================================================

Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 14:42:53 -0500 From: <chasds@mindspring.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Reply-To: chasds@mindspring.com Subject: [CR]cinelli serial numbers

Jay Sexton's post provoked me to comment that, as far as I can tell from Mark Petry's Cinelli serial number list...the numbers make no obvious sense whatever, and there seems no good way to date a frame based on the serial number stamped on the bb shell. Consensus on this?

If there is some rhyme or reason to those numbers, can someone clue me in?

Charles Andrews
beautiful, mildly smoggy SoCal