Ashley Wright, author of the Centurion Bicycles article that
appears at
www.sheldonbrown.com/centurion and at
www.velobase.com
in the articles section there, adds this update:
In response to the "publication" on the Web (
www.velobase.com -
articles section) of my transcription of the Cinelli Equipe Bicycle
Guide article, Alan Goldsmith, the guy who did the deal with
Cinelli for Western States Imports (WSI) has written to me and
filled in many details that clear up questions about this bike's
origins, who built it and where.
1. The deal was done between WSI and Cinelli (the company) of Milan.
2. Goldsmith represented WSI and Andrea Cinelli, Cino Cinelli's
son, who remained working for Cinelli after his father retired and
sold the company to Antonio Columbo in 1979, represented Cinelli
(the company) in the negotiations that began in late 1983.
3. The frame was designed by Goldsmith and built in the Chiricho
shop on the outskirts of Milan after design details were discussed
among Goldsmith, Andrea Cinelli and Chiricho and revisions were
made. The Chiricho shop also built Super Corsas for Cinelli (the
company).
4. Goldsmith says not more than 150, or one shipping container
load, of this bike was made. He has since had a chat with another
former WSI principal who said he "feels" that the number was either
50 or 100, but was not sure.
5. Goldsmith said that "sales were horrible" due to a host of
logistical and market factors. It was not a failure of the bicycle
but a failure of distribution and marketing.
My own thinking is that the numbers must be more than 50 as I've
seen 17 sell on eBay over the last seven years and am aware of half
a dozen more in private hands. That would be an unusually large
percentage of the total to track down. So maybe a 100 but I would
go with Goldsmith's guess of 150 as one container load would seem a
logical first contract target. It might also be a reasonable number
for the shop to turn out in a year, in addition to whatever SCs it
was producing. Just uninformed speculation here on my part.
There is still a question of Cino Cinelli's role, if any, in the
Equipe project. The introductory ad in the December 1984 of
Bicycling Magazine clearly states: "The frame is designed by Cino
Cinelli and production is coordinated and supervised by his staff."
But Alan told me that as far as he knows, Cino did not play a role
in the Equipe project. He pointed out that Andrea Cinelli, who was
running the company at the time for Antonio Columbo, was an expert
in his own right and would not have needed his father's help
executing the Equipe project.
I'm thinking the writer of the '85 Bicycle Guide article, which
also implies a Cino role, may have confused Alan's visit with Cino
to discuss the Centurion Ironman DS of '85 after Alan signed on
Dave Scott as endorser/promoter of that model, not yet on the
drawing boards. Alan said he had hoped to incorporate Cino's ideas
into the Ironman design but WSI nixed the idea in favor of
designing it after the already successful Comp TA, another project
of Alan's.
Alan, a lawyer by profession, and his wife Susy started up
Bikecology in Santa Monica, CA, in 1971. Bikecology (renamed
Supergo in 1982) was a retail and mail order business dealing in
high-end European bikes, frames and components. It was sold to
Performance Bicycles in 2002. Alan did two stints with WSI under
contract as a consultant, the first in the late '70s working on the
Semi-Pro and Pro Tour models among others and in the early to mid-
'80s focusing on the Comp TA, Equipe, Ironman and Accordo models.