Hi Paul,
I am interested in the Cinelli pictures that you posted in support of your Classic Rendezvous enquiry re paint jobs done by Rattrays (Murray Street), Glasgow, Scotland.
During a recent visit to the UK - Wayne Bingham drew my attention to the unusual fork top bracket on my 1973 Flying Scot which was given to me by a chap in Glasgow after it had long since been consigned to the attic. This frame appears to be almost identical to your Cinelli. My frame had been hand painted with gold metallic paint on top of the original Rattray's white & red finish and over the years this had deteriorated into a very dirty brown. I took the decision to use some cellulose paint thinners on kitchen paper to do a small trial removal of the gold paint and much to my delight most of this came away without any damage to the underlying original Rattray's paint which appears to be as per your own Cinelli. My frame is stamped on the bottom bracket by Rattrays as being of 1973 vintage as per their standard Flying Scot numbering practice. Your frame bottom bracket does not have typical Rattray numbering. This is found underneath the bottom bracket and behind the top of the front forks and generally this conforms to the pattern - a letter followed by three numbers e.g. P173. I eventually revealed a Flying Scot transfer (decal) type badge on the headset tube [not the more usual riveted on metal plate with thistle] and on the front down tube the letters "SCOTIA CC". Like you I have pondered if this was a team bike built or bought in by Rattrays to a price for onward donation or sponsorship of a cycling team but unfortuately I have a drawn a blank historical researches relating to this matter.
I will take some digi pics later and send these to you for comparison purposes.
As a kid I used to hang around in Rattrays Murray St shop where Jackie Potter served behind the counter. Jackie died last year being 4 days short of being 100 years old so now word of mouth accounts and verifications will be much more difficult to obtain.
Regards
Ken Hume
London, England
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 07:47:59 -0500
> From: John Barron <john@velostuf.com>
> Subject: Re: [CR] Paul Watson's Cinelli early 60's
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Message-ID: <1D9206BD-6A90-4079-8977-5FC63640A1C8@velostuf.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I bought a 1963 Cinelli SC about a year ago and it had the original paint,
> but it flaked-off in many areas revealing the original red primer
> underneath. That's exactly what I see happening on your bike.
>
> Are you 100% sure that your bike has been repainted?
>
> Also, note the headbadge is riveted in place. I have seen this once before
> on a very old Cinelli Riviera that I had. I am convinced that some
> Cinellis had their headbadges riveted-on originally (rather than with
> screws.
>
> John Barron
> Minneapolis MN USA
>
>
> Paul Watson wrote:
>
>
> From: "Paul Watson" <paul@polyweld.com.au>
> Subject: [CR] Cinelli SC early 60's
> To: "'classicrendezvous@bikelist.org'"
> <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Message-ID: <dc9acd24.1caebf7.be84571d.3413@polyweld.com.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Here are a few pictures of my early 60's Cinelli SC:
> http://picasaweb.google.com.au/
>
> I got it from a Scotsman who bought it from a cycling club friend in
> Glasgow in 1967.
> As you can see the frame has been repainted. The white paint was done by
> Rattrays of Glasgow (home of the Flying Scott) before 1967, and the rust
> colored paint (under the white) might be the original finish.
>
> The Ron Kit catalogue of the period refers to Mars red as a color option.
> Mars red is usually a red iron oxide color similar to the red brown paint
> on my bike, so I wonder if my bike was originally Mars red? I have never
> seen another Cinelli this color, although I have seen a chromovelo scarlet
> red finish on some early 60's Cinelli (similar to the Blumels mudguards on
> my bike).
>
> Notice the lugs are painted, and there is no chrome under the paint. Some
> people say that team bikes often had painted rather than chromed lugs?
>
> Some of you will notice that the bands are unusual - red/yellow/green,
> rather than the 5 color world championship bands. There is a reference to
> 3 color bands in the Ron Kit catalogue, so I'm assuming that is what was
> available when Rattrays did the repaint (Rattrays were agents for Ron
> Kit). Maybe they are team colors?
>
> I quite like it the way it is, but I also think about repainting it.
>
> Any information will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Paul Watson
> Melbourne
> Australia
>
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