Catnap 

I just picked up a 1985 Cinelli Supercorsa for $500 from an older gentleman who was cleaning out his garage - quite a good deal.

It's a 58cm with a Campagnolo Chorus group, Omega Strada XL Hardox rims, Cinelli Giro D'Italia bars and stem. It has a small dent in the top tube (no paint cracking) and some significant scratches in the paint on the fork and seat tube, as well as a bunch of smaller knicks and scratches in the paint all around, as would be expected for a bike of its vintage. The chrome shows fairly light oxidation & surface pitting on the chainstay and lugs.

I am planning on re-selling this bike (it's not my size) and have seen newer Supercorsas on eBay for $2,000+. Right now, I am trying to decide whether I should have it professionally restored or not. From my research, having the top tube dent removed and a complete paint & decal restoration will run me $600-700.

My questions are:

- am I correct about the restoration cost? (based my numbers on Waterford's site)
- can the chrome be restored easily?
- is it worth putting the extra money into it, if my intention is to re-sell it?
- from my research, as-is it's worth $850-1000. Is that correct?

Picchio Special

In short, no: restoration costs are rarely justified by the increase the resto brings to the sale price.

dbakl

For what its worth:

This is my 1984 Cinelli Super Corsa. Its been my main rider since I bought it new, $1,375. (oh, 14/28 on the rear, first change I made after I bought it).

A Cinelli is certainly a bike worth getting a professional restoration on; I'm not sure its resale is going to justify the cost however. More for a bike you love and want to keep forever.

I'd clean it up, touch it up as best as possible and sell it on. Let the new owner invest in the restoration if they choose.

JunkYardBike

Am I wrong, or are the pre-78 (or whenever Cino left) Cinellis more desirable as collectibles?

dbakl

Yes.

He sold out to Columbus tubing; they kept making the same Cinelli design with some updates. FWIW, Cino Cinelli never made a frame in his life, they were all built by someone else.

Mine is a fabulous riding bike, better than the 63 "Cino" I had... which is why I kept it, and sold the 63, 65, 69 and 75 I had.

JunkYardBike

Okay, my vague recollection is that the Cinelli aesthetes believe production quality went down after Cino left. However, it's obvious your experience contradicts that.

dbakl

Well, Cinelli collectors think the "real" Cinellis are the ones made under Cino. Certainly, in value that's true. The older ones I had were worth more to someone else than they were to me. Though I'm sorta a collector too, I just want a nice bike to ride... the 63 was sweet, a Spence Wolf bike, but it rode like a truck.

Bikes come to me and go. I make a little money to support my habit. I keep the ones I like, not the ones someone thinks are the "best". My tastes are from 35 years of riding, not from brand names.

I doubt quality went "down" with Columbus: it probably went up! Not to knock Cinelli, but talk to framebuilders who have done repairs on them.

Old Fat Guy

For pure ridability, I think the Cinelli's made in the early-mid 80's are amongst the best.

JunkYardBike

Well, I'm no snob. My '85 Centurion Cinelli Equipe, quite likely built by the same subcontracted framebuilders that Cinelli employed at the time, is a great ride. Of course, that judgment isn't based on 35 years of riding...yet.

wrk101

+1 What he said. Just make sure bike is super clean and in good riding condition (lubed, etc.)

Citoyen du Monde

I'm not sure if I can agree with that. I have owned and had quite a few Cinelli bikes pass through my hands over the years, going from a late 40's Giotto Cinelli (Giotto was Cino's older brother and was the one who founded the family bike company, the bike that I used to have has a cambio corsa derailleur system and is likely the oldest known Cinelli in the US), all the way up to a 2008 Spirit. Some were great and some were quite forgettable. A 1984 Cinelli SC that I bought from the original owner in Switzerland stays in my mind as being the least pleasurable of all. I found to be all but impossible to set up correctly for myself. On the other hand some of the bikes from the 40's, 50's and 60's rode quite well, especially when you compare them to other similar aged bikes.

One of my most recent acquisitions is this 1995 Cinelli SC frame: https://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...Cinelli_frame/ When will I learn that it is virtually impossible to convince your daughter that the bike that you want her to ride is not going to make her a social outcast and that you are truly trying to get her on a nice bike for her own good.

Catnap 

thanks for your feedback and the others who said the same thing - today I dropped the bike off at Bike Works in the Lower East Side to have the cables, housings, hoods, and bar tape replaced, the drivetrain checked, cups & cones & bearings repacked, etc. Just about everything necessary to bring the bike back to 100% condition without the expensive frame & paint restoration.

if anyone would like to purchase this bike from me, please contact via PM. I'd prefer to sell it locally in the NY / NJ area.

banjo_mole 

The best bikes to restore, regardless of cost, are bikes. My rule of thumb is if I love a bicycle (I use "love" loosely) I restore it. Cost aside. I'd rather spend $600 on a restoration and sell it for $500 if that means there can be one beautiful bike on the road somewhere in my town that isn't Drewed. Fixified. You know.

And that bike will be that person's pride and joy, or at least an attention getter to increase interest in preserving classic bikes instead of dumpstering 'em.

-Nick

jan nikolajsen 

Good luck, Catnap. If you make a profit on this, you ought to reinvest the funds in some tools and a repair book. Then it gets real fun. And a bit more lucrative.

Jan

Picchio Special

It's not impossible, you just need to make sure the bike comes with tableware sure to make any future dinner party a rousing success:

https://tinyurl.com/cqh4uy

banjo_mole 

What, no way! Tableware!?

Catnap 

actually i am pretty fluent in basic bike repairs, have my own tools, and have built or restored about a half dozen bikes so far and I volunteer at Time's Up's bike co-op.

but because my free time is limited (and expensive) I can't always work on my bikes myself. In this case it was quicker and cheaper to give it to the good folks at Bike Works. Although, I just got my hands on a NOS Campy Chorus headset to match the rest of the group on the bike, and I'm going to install that myself later this week.

after that, I'll take some pictures and post them up. It's a gorgeous bike and i wish I could keep it for myself!

RobbieTunes

FWIW, I'm doing a full resto/upgrade on a 1985 Cinelli Equipe by Centurion like JYB's. It's as much a Cinelli as anything else Gino sub'd out, a very nice riding frame. By the time I'm done, with purchase price and all, about a grand, and I think it will more than hold it's own with the other $1000 bikes. The big decision now is 7-sp Chorus Synchro II w/NOS Sun M14rims or 8-sp Chorus Ergos w/old-school Ventos. Same price pretty much either way, as I've got both groups on hand and price includes them.

There are several reasons I don't mind the expense, but one of them is a fella with a 1984 SC who just won't let up. Side by side, the Equipe is a lot nicer in craftsmanship, but "it's not full Campy, dude, and those decals..." A Ferrari red Equipe w/full Campy, whether 7 or 8, will tend to quiet things down, I'd imagine. It's not the main reason, but it's there.

Catnap 

yeah that's why I decided to sink some extra $$$ into putting an NOS Campy Chorus headset on my SC; the whole bike is Campy Chorus except for a Shimano headset, and I just gotta have "full Campy, period correct."

jan nikolajsen 

Sorry, didn't know your situation. Assuming is a weakness that often get me in trouble!

Jan