Classic & Vintage - Help identify this Contini frame appears to have Cinelli lugs

http://www.arkansasrockers.com/contini/contini-small.jpg

More pics here: http://www.arkansasrockers.com/contini/contini-bike.html

Bought this bike on eBay about two years ago. I can't find anything on the web about "Contini" bikes. The lugs are stamped with what appears to be the Cinelli logo. It may also have been painted or touched up since it looks like there's rust under the paint in a couple of spots. When I got it, it was equipped with a mix of Shimano 7 speed parts. It had a 7 speed Regina freewheel and Campagnolo hubs. Not sure if the parts were original. The bike came with the "Shimano Equipped" chainstay protector, but there were a couple of Campy parts thrown in too (e.g. the seatpost and wheels). The old drivetrain was worn out, so I upgraded the bike to Shimano 105 9 speed STI. Here's a list of stuff that was on the bike when I got it
Shimano 7 speed
Shimano 600 crank. Not FC-6207, but the generation after that.
Shimano 600 front and rear derailleur
Shimano aero brake levers
Shimano HP-5000 Sante headset
Shimano square taper bottom bracket
Zeus single pivot brake calipers
Regina Extra 7 speed freewheel
3TTT stem and handlebars
Campagnolo seat post
Campagnolo hubs (don't know which kind)
Vetta TriShock TT saddleA couple of distinctive marks are
The shape of the seat stays
The Cinelli-stamped lugs
Serial number on bottom bracket reads "H24"
Regina Extra decal on the seat tube
O.M.A.S. decal on the fork (don't see any O.M.A.S. parts on this thing)
Internal cable routingThanks in advance for any help!

Silvano Contini raced for Bianchi in the early 80's and had a podium in the Giro and a victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The details on your bike point to a late 80's vintage and it could have been a contract build with Cinelli although the build quality looks suspect.

How does it ride?

vjp

Thanks for the info. What do you see in the construction that seems suspect? I don't know a lot about these old steel rides. It actually rides great. Light for steel and pretty responsive. It came from NYC, so the frame took a lot of abuse from the snow/salt/sand on the city streets. I guess that's why it's kind of rusty. It was too big for my girlfriend, so it's been sitting in storage for the last year and a half. Pulled it out recently and strapped a rear rack on it, and have been using it as a commuter for the last week or so. I was going to sell it, but now I think I really like it.

It looks like a cool bike, and ignoring the paint wear the lugs appear to be "straight out of the box" ie: no thinning, filing or shaping. The rear stays have been scrunched for an aero look ( it was a BIG trend) but they enter the seat caps at a different angle than the casting.

I can't imagine that Cinelli/Columbus would let anyone use their logo without their permission or involvement and that makes me think that it could have been a contract build for Contini by Columbus/Cinelli. The Cinelli logo is cast into the lugs but even on Cinelli's own bikes they are filed or filled before paint so that makes me wonder also and makes me think that something is odd. It could be a re-painted/decaled bike also. Is there a tubing decal?

vjp

No, there is no tubing decal. There doesn't seem to be any way to tell what kind of tubing it is. I see what you mean now about the off angle at the seat caps. I did not notice that before. Another annoying thing about that whole cluster at the seat is the way that you clamp the seat post. It's not even a clamp, but just an allen screw that tightens down into (yes, INto) the the seat post. Dimples the post in every place you tighten it! Ridiculous.

Keep in mind, I don't know a lot about frame construction. Are you saying that on Cinelli's own bikes they fill in the cast logo on the lug before paint/chrome so that you can't see it?

Also, I don't understand the affiliation with Silvano Contini if this bike is from the late eighties (even has 130mm spacing for the rear hub) and the peak of his riding career was in the late 70s and early 80s.

I wish I knew more about how to read the serial number, "H24".

Take off the front wheel and see if there is any "rifling" in the bottom of the steerer tube, Columbus always has these ridges. What is the seatpost diameter? The allen screw should have a little pressure plate between the actual screw and the post, take out your seatpost and see if there is an area in the cluster where one could be recessed, it is probably missing.

Yes, they would generally filed off, the logos are more "makers marks" rather than a branding exercise or they would be a lot cleaner/clearer and well placed.

The affiliation (if there is one) could be as simple as it looks, an ex athlete puts their name on a sporting good to cash in on their past glory. He doesn't build bikes but He used to race them, as simple as the George Foreman Grill!

vjp

There is only a 0.5 cm hole, so I can't really see up into the steerer tube.

I knew I must've been missing something with regard to that seatpost mechanism. Thank you for the tip. The seatpost diameter is 27.0.

That frame just looks weirder to me the more I look at it: I've never seen Cinelli Investment-Cast (IC) pieces that look like those, though they might have been a later "aero" marketing experiment that failed, so there ain't many examples to see. It's clearly the Cinelli "winged C" logo, but...smells funny...like somebody (called Contini) hijacked it before the Cinelli lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter. The construction technique looks a lot more like the famous Trek "plug-n-play" frames when they got heavily into IC fittings, but even the Trek stuff looks a little more refined than this one. And a 27mm seatpost is more common on a Japanese DB CroMoly tubeset (i.e. Ishiwata 022) tho it could be Aelle or such reamed out...comments?

Three years late, but here is some info on the bike, as I'm about to buy one on ebay, i've put in more than a handful of research.

GOI Contini is a custom made spanish brand made by Rufino Hernáiz. It seems he used the cinelli style stamp when he made his own bikes like these in 1988 to the late 90s. http://export.navarra.net/paghtml/hergo.htm

his website is now www.goicontini.com I had to do a ton of translating to figure this all out.

This bike is probably Reynolds 501 steel.

Three years late, but here is some info on the bike, as I'm about to buy one on ebay, i've put in more than a handful of research.

GOI Contini is a custom made spanish brand made by Rufino Hernáiz. It seems he used the cinelli style stamp when he made his own bikes like these in 1988 to the late 90s. http://export.navarra.net/paghtml/hergo.htm

his website is now www.goicontini.com I had to do a ton of translating to figure this all out.

This bike is probably Reynolds 501 steel.

it's never too late to fill in the blank spaces of the data base:thumb:...thanks for the update and the translating!

Wow, thanks so much vectoredzev. Since posting, I've moved from San Francisco to Philadelphia. I still have and ride the Contini and continue to get questions and comments about the bike. It's great to finally have some answers!

Wow, thanks so much vectoredzev. Since posting, I've moved from San Francisco to Philadelphia. I still have and ride the Contini and continue to get questions and comments about the bike. It's great to finally have some answers!

Glad to hear that. I just bought one on ebay and I'm waiting for it to come to me! And I'm glad I could help. I just wanted to know what I was buying. Glad I could inform someone else as well.

What kind of components are you riding it with? Since I just got a frame, I'll be building it up in a bit, and I am curious as to what works for you. Mine is supposedly coming with a Stronglight headset and a shimano BB.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze295kt/100514_contini1.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze295kt/100514_contini9.jpg

Since posting that. I payed the buyer via paypal. Which he immediately refunded, and told me the frame wasnt available. I never got the frame. So bummed.

I'd complain to ebay about that.

Yes. Something very fishy about that seller. He probably didn't get the amount he wanted. Happens far too often.

Since posting that. I payed the buyer via paypal. Which he immediately refunded, and told me the frame wasnt available. I never got the frame. So bummed.

Man, I hate that - it's like teasing or something. I got something for him...

I bought a Contini frame from my nephew a year ago, I had been mostly out of biking for 30 years I had the urge to take it up again. Although not knowing much about bikes this frame caught my eye because of the unusual fluted tubing, the beautiful paint and the chroming. Although it looks substantially like the yellow bike in the first thread it's different but I'm only seeing 4 thumbnail photos. The frame is fully plated but the tubing is mostly painted (dark maroon fading to white and back) with what must have been an airbrush and I'm sure it's original. The lugs, seat and chainstays are left chrome. The top and down tubes are shaped in the middle as in Columbus MS tubing. The decal is Columbus Tretubi. The forks are chromed and have the Cinelli logo cast in the shoulders. I can't find any serial numbers on the BB. My nephew bought the frame from HilaryStone in England. I would like to find out more about the frame but one question is, was MS available as a Tretubi set? I don't know how to include photos but I could e-mail them to someone. Thanks Peter (voorhees@sover.net)

http://www.arkansasrockers.com/contini/contini-small.jpg

More pics here: http://www.arkansasrockers.com/contini/contini-bike.html

Bought this bike on eBay about two years ago. I can't find anything on the web about "Contini" bikes. The lugs are stamped with what appears to be the Cinelli logo. It may also have been painted or touched up since it looks like there's rust under the paint in a couple of spots. When I got it, it was equipped with a mix of Shimano 7 speed parts. It had a 7 speed Regina freewheel and Campagnolo hubs. Not sure if the parts were original. The bike came with the "Shimano Equipped" chainstay protector, but there were a couple of Campy parts thrown in too (e.g. the seatpost and wheels). The old drivetrain was worn out, so I upgraded the bike to Shimano 105 9 speed STI. Here's a list of stuff that was on the bike when I got it

Shimano 7 speed
Shimano 600 crank. Not FC-6207, but the generation after that.
Shimano 600 front and rear derailleur
Shimano aero brake levers
Shimano HP-5000 Sante headset
Shimano square taper bottom bracket
Zeus single pivot brake calipers
Regina Extra 7 speed freewheel
3TTT stem and handlebars
Campagnolo seat post
Campagnolo hubs (don't know which kind)
Vetta TriShock TT saddle
A couple of distinctive marks are

The shape of the seat stays
The Cinelli-stamped lugs
Serial number on bottom bracket reads "H24"
Regina Extra decal on the seat tube
O.M.A.S. decal on the fork (don't see any O.M.A.S. parts on this thing)
Internal cable routing
Thanks in advance for any help!

Another "distinctive feature" is that weird-@$$ setscrew seatpost bolt. I'd trust it about as far as I could throw and Escalade.

SP
Bend, OR

Disregard. this link is incomplete
Here is the link to the photos of my contini frame. http://picasaweb.google.com/1141404394501

Here is the correct link to the photos of my contini frame
http://picasaweb.google.com/114140439450188888660/Contini#

hi to all in this thread, I read with interest about your Contini frames, I have a new unbuilt frame identical to these on the thread, it dates from the mid 80's.
I will get some pic's up this weekend.
rgds Ady

I think Contini misappropriate Cinelli logo. The constructor of pictures is a great imitator and takes great care quality. I have a Cinelli and is of a quality that has nothing to envy to the rest of the frames of his time

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eldespertardelsheroisdelfang/sets/72157625098794755/

I'm more confused than ever. Are the photos posted by Luis Ciclista the same ones that adyharrison said that he would post? Apologies to Luis, I am interested in what you have to say but I can't understand exactly what you are saying. Perhaps you could say it in a different way. The frame in the Flicker link is similar to mine. Could it be a repaint? There are lots of little differences for example the brake bridge and the "aero" seat stays but the most interesting thing to me is the Renolds decal. Mine is Columbus Tretubi but looks the same as this other frame. So is the Renolds decal wrong? Did Renolds make shaped tubing? Was Contini reshaping the tubing? That would explain a lot. As to Contini casting the Cinelli logo in all their castings and then incorporating their logo in the Contini logo would seem to be not worth the trouble.

I'm more confused than ever. Are the photos posted by Luis Ciclista the same ones that adyharrison said that he would post? Apologies to Luis, I am interested in what you have to say but I can't understand exactly what you are saying. Perhaps you could say it in a different way. The frame in the Flicker link is similar to mine. Could it be a repaint? There are lots of little differences for example the brake bridge and the "aero" seat stays but the most interesting thing to me is the Renolds decal. Mine is Columbus Tretubi but looks the same as this other frame. So is the Renolds decal wrong? Did Renolds make shaped tubing? Was Contini reshaping the tubing? That would explain a lot. As to Contini casting the Cinelli logo in all their castings and then incorporating their logo in the Contini logo would seem to be not worth the trouble.

The frame I found abandoned in a store. It was never used so this intact. Contini think it was a great imitator of the big brands. Although their frames were of high quality. The company still exists and you can contact her. I have done and have been very kind. His website is http://www.goicontini.com/

Luis Ciclista, Thank you for the information, I will write to Goicontini.

Also late (and my first post)...I came across this discussion while researching a bike I was looking at buying in Barcelona. I saw a guy advertising a Pinarello and met him to check it out. It was immediately obvious it wasn't a Pinarello..the more I looked at it the more weird it seemed: Cinelli lugs, cinelli forks, crinched tubing, cool rear triangle, weird seat post screw. It was painted to look like a Pinarello and had stickers that said Pinarello...but it was not. But it was cool. I thought it was Cinelli weird frame, but the guy even said it was a Contini, but I didn't believe him!

It would make sense that this is what it was...seems to be the exact bike, but wearing Pinarello clothes.

What did the rest of you guys pay for your bikes?