1975 Cinelli Pista

1975 Cinelli Pista

Cino Cinelli, a former pro and winner of Milan – San Remo and the Giro di Lombardia, started his bike company in 1948. Well known for reliable handlebars and stems, the Cinelli Unicanitor saddle, and the first ski-binding type pedal, Cinelli also produced some fabulous racing bikes.

This beautiful track bike represents everything that made Cinelli great.  Made with flawless, smooth lugs and paint, light and springy Columbus tubing, it sported classic looks while utilizing the cutting edge in technology. 

Actually, we chose a couple of older (not quite so cutting edge) era components when building this bike just because some of the older stuff was so pretty. The bars and stem with the Cinelli coat of arms badge on it were new in the 1950’s. Racing wheels constructed with wooden rims were more commonly found on bikes from the first half of the 20th century, but the beech wood looks so good here on a bike from the 1970’s. I would also admit that a 1975 Cinelli Unicanitor saddle would be more appropriate on a 1975 Cinelli than the old-fashioned Brooks, but that Brooks saddle just looks so right. Right?

The Cinelli coat of arms logo

Campagnolo Record Pista Crankset

Fantastic Cinelli Seat Lug

Cinelli Track Bars and Stem from the late ’50’s

Cinelli stem badge from the 1950’s

Cinelli M71 clipless pedals

The mid 1970s were a design, quality and sales peak.  In 1974, Cinelli made waves when Ole Ritter set the hour record on his futuristic Cinelli track bike. At this time Cinelli saddles, pedals, handlebars, and stems were the choice of every top rider and bike builder.  The Super Corsa road bike and this track bike were considered the best available.  In 1978 Cinelli sales and production peaked, and Cino chose to go out on top, retiring and selling his company to his tubing supplier, Columbus.