Re: [CR]Re: Cinelli Production

(Example: Framebuilders:Norman Taylor)

In-Reply-To: <4642E01D.3040408@blueyonder.co.uk>
References: <051020070517.5700.4642AAD80000D0AB000016442200737478020E000A9C9D0A08@comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 07:10:33 -0700
To: Hilary Stone <hilary.stone@blueyonder.co.uk>, hersefan@comcast.net
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Cinelli Production
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

At 10:04 AM +0100 5/10/07, Hilary Stone wrote:
>Normally I cannot add to knowledge of the US scene but in issue 172
>of The Boneshaker, the journal of the Veteran-Cycle Club we had a
>major feature written by one of American members Ed Ruesing from St
>Louis. He had bought in 1957 a new Cinelli Pista frame from Ray
>Florman, his local shop in St Louis who had ordered it direct. I
>would have thought this was unlikely to be just a one-off - Ed's
>account makes it clear that Ray Florman was regularly selling other
>European makes and not just Cinelli.
>
>Hilary Stone, Bristol, England

The history of early racing in the U.S. is laced with Cinellis.

Bicycle Quarterly featured a long interview with Peter Rich, the owner of Velo-Sport in Berkeley and racer since the "dark days" in the 1950s, in the Summer 06 issue (Vol. 4, No. 4). Peter also got a Cinelli in 1956. He remembered the date exactly, because his first frame was on the Andrea Doria, which sank of Nantucket on July 26, 1956. Cinelli then dispatched a replacement in 1957. It was a track frame.

It appears Cinellis already were the bike to have in the U.S... Peter Rich bought his bike from Oscar Juner's American Cyclery in San Francisco.

Could there be a British connection that explains the popularity of Cinelli in the U.S.? It appears to me that the early American bicycle scene was influenced greatly by the British literature. After all, the language barrier (and cultural barrier) was much smaller than with other European countries. So if Cinellis were popular in Britain, it is not surprising that American cyclists also were interested in them.

Peter Rich's old racing photos do show a good number of Cinellis, plus some Schwinn Paramounts, and a lot of bikes I cannot identify (mostly because the photo quality is poor). A 1963 photo from Peter's shop shows Bianchis and a Legnano...

By the way, the above-mentioned issue also includes a photo of what Peter claims was one of the first Masi imported to the U.S. in 1962, brand-new, with Nervex Professional lugs, complete with Mafac Tiger (or Top 63) brakes with Universal levers, Brooks Professional saddle and full Campagnolo. Not that dissimilar to the spec of many Spence Wolf-built Cinellis...

That Masi even is my size. Where is it now?

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com