You may remember that a few weeks ago, I was wondering about the forks of Cinelli bikes. The reason: A 1957 Cinelli Supercorsa with fork legs similar in length to those of a 1972 Cinelli SC, but significantly shorter than those of a 1965 SC.
My first thought was a 1970s replacement fork for the bike. I thought a 1957 bike should have fork blades longer, not shorter than a 1965 bike.
However, talking to Mike Barry of Bicycle Specialties/Mariposa, he mentioned that there were different fork lengths available during the 1950s. The Italian bikes seem to have had shorter forks with short reach (for the time, normal reach by 1970s standard) brakes. That is the reason for the split Cinelli mudguards/fenders (which I have yet to see...)
A different model was available in Britain through Ron Kitching, with longer fork blades, more suitable for traditional fender mounting and touring.
Mike's 1952 Cinelli had fork blades even shorter than the 1957 one. I suspect the 1965 bike that came through Spence Wolf also had the "touring" (my term) fork...
I will know for sure when the frame finally is built up: If the top tube is level, it is the right fork. If it is a sloping funny bike, it has the wrong fork.
I'll keep you posted.
Jan Heine, Seattle