1965 Cinelli Supercorsa Rebuild

         Here I will take you through a full and 
thorough rebuild of a 1965 Cinelli Supercorsa 
     in original it's full chrome finish.

Cinelli as found

 

I know from an interview I conducted with

Jackie Hayes of Comet Cycles Auckland,

that Comet Cycles had ordered in a small batch 

of Cinelli's in about 1965/66, probably through

Worrells (who had the license for Cinelli 
framesets and parts at this time I believe).

Jackie told me that they where shocked at

the price, somehow they had received a 

batch of the extra expensive full chrome framesets.
I cannot verify that this is one of those frames,

however it is from around the right year, and there

isn't too many Cinelli's in New Zealand, so a 

good chance this is one of the 'Comet' Cinelli. 

 

That Fork crown!

 
AS you can see, the frame, although in need of 
 thorough clean and full polish, was in remarkably

good overall condition.

So that was a great starting point, I of course was
going to build this to as close to period perfect 
as I was in the position to do, so here we go...

 

The first point of call was to clean/polish the frame.

 

I used Mothers polish, as I do on alloy,

just one of those really good products that work
exactly as they should.

I took a whole bunch of photos of the polishing and

refacing/alignment processes, and then accidentally deleted

them!!..so we will have to wait 

until the full build is finished to see it in it's

full shiny glory.

 

 

Here is the remains of the down tube decal, there's

a bit more going on there than what the 
reproductions give you, and it's original so I 
decided to leave that there.

I'll go deeper into the Cinelli decals situation 
when I start building my next Cinelli...for all you 

rivet counters out there, stay tuned, it's pretty

interesting. 

 

HeadSet 

 

Of course I was going to go with a full Campagnolo 

Record group, this was pretty much standard 

issue on all the Cinelli's I have seen in 

New Zealand, with only minor variances in brake 

choices. 

 

 Bottom Bracket Set

For some reason I really like these Campagnolo 
B/B sleeves.

They really capture the subtle elegance that all 
this early Campagnolo
gear has come to represent to so many enthusiasts.

 

Crankset/Pedals 

 

Derailleurs   
 

Who doesn't enjoy rebuilding a Gran-Sport or 
Series 1 Campagnolo rear derailleur..

so satisfying. 

The front is fun too...
 

 Brooks Professional and Seat Pin

 

 

 

The Books saddle turned out to be a very comfy one,

which as anyone who has sampled used Brooks can
tell you...isn't always the case. 

 

Shifters 

 

 Brakeset

 

A very nice NOS set of Universal Super 68

brakes which I got from my mate Neil...cheers pal.

 

The Finished 1965 Cinelli Supercorse 

 

Most of the Cinelli SC road bikes I have come 
across in New Zealand have been made of 531 DB
main frame with Columbus stays and forks...I have a

short article from the early sixties somewhere were

Cinelli explains that this was done for extra strength

and rigidity..this could well be the case, or

possibly it was done to get around certain import 

restrictions..ie; having British tubing allowed easier

paths to importing them into the UK and Empire 

countries?

54/42 chainrings with 13/24 Everest freewheel

make for a very authentic 1960's riding experience!!

It's still amazing to me that this combination would

have been considered mountain climbing ratio's 

at the time, and for a few decades into the future.

 

 

Everest Record chain, deep cleaned and waxed

Record ensemble performed faultlessly,I

actually really like the Gan-Sport and Record

derailleurs, I like the way they 
(because of their weight)shift with a real...

 ..'finality'. 

 

This style Ale cage is one of the most elegant cages 

of any period..and they perform their simple function

so well. If you use vintage bottles, as I do, you 

have to have a cage that doesn't scar your bottles

and the all important prints on them. 

That comfy Brooks...and one of the prettiest

seat clusters in the business. 

Cinelli MOD 2 stem with badge...of course.

Ambrosio Champion bars about to be wrapped in

cloth tape..one of my personal favorite bends.

Got these on at least three other bikes.  

The Universal Super 68 brake set, not quite 

period perfect...but pretty damn close.

  

The classic Campagnolo steel headset..

there's a good reason why everyone copied it

for the next 20 years.

Fully rebuilt the 32/40h wheelset, which I didn't 
photograph hough the process for unknown reasons?

Anyway they came out good..though I slipped a bit

on the rear set and used alloy nipples, even after

spending ages cleaning the original brass ones..

was just thinking of those few precious grams, oops. 

Fiamme Red Lable tubular rims.

The B/B grease port is apparently one of

the ways to help date your Cinelli.

And serial number too of course.

So here we are out on the maiden ride.

The Cinelli rode beautifully, which didn't

surprise me at all..I have found that all the high

end Italian bikes from the 1950's-60's ride well.

I have no idea what JuJu the Italian builders dabbled

in to get their bikes to feel so nice to ride, but they

did and they do.

Tubulars are not only aesthetically pleasing, period

correct and sound great in a tail wind..they also 

provide the perfect spot to carry the flowers you

pick for your special person...look at the beautiful

bunch, and just picked from that fence line behind

the bike...yeah it was a good day.