Re: [CR] Ole Ritters Hour Cinelli

(Example: Framebuilding)

In-Reply-To: <006d01caab9d$9b779100$d266b300$@com>
References: <006d01caab9d$9b779100$d266b300$@com>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:42:25 -0800
To: Steve Birmingham <sbirmingham@mindspring.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR] Ole Ritters Hour Cinelli


At 11:41 PM -0500 2/11/10, Steve Birmingham wrote:
>Which brings me back to the black and white pics of the 1968 record. Is the
>bike in the pics even a Cinelli?
>The front view shows a headtube logo that doesn't seem to be the Cinelli
>logo, at least to me.

I believe that the article posted on "Cinelli only" is an old article written many, many, many years ago, when information was scarce and myths were gladly accepted as facts. Back then, we used conjecture and hearsay, often mistranslated from the original sources, to piece together the history of lightweight bicycles. Many of these "urban myths" don't hold up to closer scrutiny.

Has anybody seen evidence that Fausto Coppi raced on a Cinelli?

And the old line, often repeated, that Cinelli aluminum handlebars were the first to be accepted in the pro peloton also doesn't hold much water. Aluminum bars were already common in the Tour de France in the late 1940s, and Cinelli's aluminum bars came out only 15 years later. If anything, Cinelli was late to introduce aluminum bars...

There even used to be a myth that _most_ Cinellis were destined to be ridden in the Olympics, and demand was so great that during Olympic years that the company didn't take any orders from customers. Considering they had capacity for 700+ bikes a year, it seems unlikely that they shut down for a year to make Olympic bikes...

Therefore, I wouldn't put too much weight on the claim that Ole Ritter rode a Cinelli in his hour record attempt. Since that article was written, much more research has been done... and our standards have risen tremendously.

However, it is fun to research these claims, and perhaps figure out what Ole Ritter really rode in 1968...

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com