A New (Old) Toy and a Rant (Warning-lots of words, not enough photos)

[bikingshearer]

First, the toy. A ~1965 Cinelli Speciale Corsa frame with a ~1960 Cinelli SC fork. How I got it and why it came as separate frame and fork is a long story I'll tell if asked; trust me, it's pretty convoluted.

64cm ctc seat tube. 61.5cm ctc top tube. 107cm wheelbase. Yeah, it's a big'un, but then so am I. I never thought I would want a top tube that long, but it works well.

The tail end of the story is that I traded a 1986 De Rosa frame and fork (no headset) straight across for the Cinelli frame alone (I already had the fork - I told you it's a long convoluted story). Sometimes, you have to give value to get value. I liked the De Rosa a lot and I did not trade it away lightly, but this is a Cinelli. In good condition (although the paint has, shall we say, plenty of patina, significantly more than the photo reveals). In my size. From the glory years. Those do not come around every day. So I pulled the trigger.

I moved the parts over from the De Rosa to the Cinelli, and it is pictured here after the first ride. Yes, the rear brake cable is too short (since fixed) and the chain is too short (about to fix), but I wanted to get it on the road to see how I liked the ride before making any decisions about repaint/leave alone, etc. I've have also replaced the grungy white bar tape with new red bar tape.

And yes, the fork is chromed, a recent rechrome before what was going to be a repaint - it's part of the long convoluted story.

Bottom line - I love, love, love it. It rides like butter. Smooth, luxurious, stable, as you would expect from such a long frame, but without being even remotely sluggish or blah. Surprisingly little detectable bottom bracket flex. Just an ungodly nice ride. No regrets about making the trade.

Now the rant: I was going to post a photo of the De Rosa, too, for comparison. But I can't figure out how to pry the photo away from the f***ing Nazis at Photobucket with it being compressed top-to-bottom and looking like it was shot in a fun house. Yeah, I know the subject has been covered, and I will search for the solutions people have posted. But this is the first time I've run headlong into the problem. I can almost forgive them for suddenly charging an arm and a leg to post the photos on sites like this, but making it utterly intuitive how to copy over your own damn photos is inexcusable. I'm not techno-whiz, but I'm not an idiot, either - it should not be such a mystery. It will be a very cold day in the nether regions before they get one penny from me.

[Spaghetti Legs]

That’s a cool. classic bike and I’m glad you’re happy with it. I would have agonized over that trade! I luckily have both, an ‘86 De Rosa and an ‘89 Supercorsa. I’m still getting to know my Cinelli but I like the De Rosa a little better so far.

Post more pics!

[bjf]

Maybe try opening the photo on your computer, taking and saving a screen shot of it, and then uploading that file to this thread. It will probably look pretty bad, but we could at least get a general idea of what you gave up.

[choke]

Nice bike.

As for Photobucket, you can download your pics to your computer in batch form. Log in, go to the folder you want to DL and on the right side you'll see a "Download album" link. That will DL all of the pics in that folder in a zip format so it goes fairly fast.

[zmudshark]

Very nice. I wouldn't imagine that Cinelli would ride anything like your De Rosa. You should have kept both, though.

I've sold everything but my De Rosa's and Cinelli's.

[bikingshearer]

Thanks for the tips on dealing with Photobucket. I'll give them a try when I have enough time with nothing better to do and enough beer to make it through the frustration.

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

That’s a cool. classic bike and I’m glad you’re happy with it. I would have agonized over that trade! I luckily have both, an ‘86 De Rosa and an ‘89 Supercorsa. I’m still getting to know my Cinelli but I like the De Rosa a little better so far.

Post more pics!

More pics when I can. I wouldn't say I agonized over the decision to trade the De Rosa, but I certainly do not rush into anything; I first saw the Cinelli frame in one of the vendor's booths at Erocia California in April 2016.

Originally Posted by zmudshark

Very nice. I wouldn't imagine that Cinelli would ride anything like your De Rosa. You should have kept both, though.

I've sold everything but my De Rosa's and Cinelli's.

You're absolutely correct; the Cinelli's ride is noticeably different from the De Rosa's. (I expect that it is also different from Spaghetti Legs' '89 SC, but I can only speculate about that.) The short version is that the De Rosa is quicker handling (but not twitchy) and stiffer (but not at all harsh) while the Cinelli's is more neutral (but not sluggish or hard to maneuver) and more laid back (but not at all noodley). The De Rosa is like a race car; there is no question that it wants to go fast and it is always urging you to go little faster. The Cinelli is more like a luxury high-performance car; it is so comfortable and so competent and so well-mannered that it's high-performance attributes kind of sneak up on you.

Incidentally, both bikes were/are set up the same way; in fact, everything that is on the Cinelli now was on the De Rosa, including drivetrain, wheels, tires, bottom bracket and headset but excluding the brakes (the Cinelli needs longer reach brakes), so it is about as close to eliminating other variables in the comparison as possible. Hey, we have to be scientific about these things.

As for keeping both, I couldn't really justify it, either to me or to my wife (she might have rolled her eyes, but that's about it; she is very tolerant of my vice). I did keep the Eisentraut and the Ron Cooper, so I'm not exactly hurting for top-shelf rides. And I like that I had and still have top-of-the-heap examples from Italy, the UK and the US. But the reality is that I don't get out enough to keep a three-bike rotation properly busy; a four-bike rotation would just be silly.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Your comparison jibes with mine. Cinelli is a stable, luxurious ride. De Rosa keeps yelling at you to go faster, faster!

[bikingshearer]

I have no idea how I did it, but it appears that I was able to get a photo of the De Rosa on here in viewable form.

You can easily see the shorter chain stays and shorter wheelbase compared to the Cinelli. It may be less obvious, but the angles are steeper on the De Rosa, too.

The De Rosa is going to make someone very happy; it made be very happy. The Cinelli is making me even happier. Believe me, that is not a knock of Ugo's handiwork.