Hey, I'd just like to thank everyone who has put their time and enthusiasm into this so far.
I'd like to take a post to explain where I'm coming from, because some of the posts have made me feel like I need to defend/explain myself a bit more than I wanted to. When I was a teen, I read a book called Cycling or Bicycling... I can't remember... at the time it was considered THE cycling bible, written by the great Cinelli himself, circa 1972 or so. In that book he explains ergonomics and frame geometry philosophies, what is done different and why for the european cobblestone and country roads versus nicely paved north american roads, criteriums, long road races, track racing, touring, etc... the whole gamut in other words. I no longer have that book, but I do distinctly remember him explaining that one of the reasons for the angles to lean more towards the 72.5-73.5 degrees, is to help a bit in road vibration aborption because of the bad roads, but if the roads were better, this compromise would no longer be in the bike and the angles would be steeper. Today, they still make bikes this way, and pouring over manifacturers' websites' specs tells me they have never readjusted the geometry for our modern roads. I get the impression that today's bikes are more of a general purpose, well handling bike, rather than something more nervous and efficient as would be allowed by today's road conditions.

Cinelli references aside, let me share an anecdote with you. I owned an italian hand crafted racing bike - my first after a few bikes that weren't really for racing. I sprinted down our little mountain we have in the middle of the city here, Mount Royal, and in one of the curves, I went right into the retainer wall... the cement took off all my skin on one side... taking the curve at speed was asking just too much of that bike. A year later, with my Cambio Rino, I passed a Suzuki Katana in the same curve, I had become stronger and faster and I was going all out. The guy on the motorcycle, at the bottom of the hill, came up behind me, started beeping his horn like crazy. In those days, I was used to motorists honking at me to tell me to get off the road... and I was energized for a good fight! I put on the brakes (burning smoking rubber from my Modolo Speedy's), turned around and met him where he had just pulled over on the side. When I got in front of him, he took off his full helmet, and I saw he looked shaken. He yelled at me, that I could have killed myself. He said he was doing 95km/h (about 60mph) after he put on the brakes to take the curve, and he was still frightened, and I just flew right by him. And this was immensely faster than I had crashed just a year ago on my previous italian built racing bike. It was so fast that I was SPINNING in a 52x12 gear coming out of the curve. (they didn't have x11 yet back then).
I love the speed, the feeling of power. Always did, and today, despite back and knee problems, I still get the same rush. It's like a need, a drug that always brings euphoria. And a "standard road racing bike that will do just fine" just doesn't cut it for me!

And just so you all know... there never was any shop floor marketing hype... after crashing that first racing frame, I shopped around on the phone, found a 18 lb racing bike that was half the price and slightly lighter than top-of-the-like $2000 Colnagos at the time (pre-taiwan days), and that was just too good to pass up (in the early 80's $2k was about the max you could pay for a bike, and the light ones were 21 lbs and lightest were 19, like a Tomassini or Vicini (which I also owned later). I just went over and bought it. No one ever convinced me of anything, or gave me any hype... I didn't know enough at the time, only going on the weight/dollar equation. What luck I had! I learned later it was their criterium model. And the chance my ignorance had me take turned out to be the best purchase I had ever made.

In the years that followed, I read up more on framebuilding, nutrition, training, raced a lot, became team trainer for 3 racing teams after that... so today, I can confidently say that I am a knowledgeable person. And when I refused to buy a Marinoni that had the same "standard" frame-building philosophy as almost all other bikes made in the world, I fully understood and knew why. He was just as stubborn as the rest of them. Does ego close the mind to change, or is it self-preservation that instills fear of change into humans?

Yesterday, I ran into a guy who had bought a Cambio Rino at an auction... and it wasn't at all the same ride/handling as the one I had owned. So I checked, and sure enough, there were many differences: "77" above to serial number on the bottom bracket, older components, (mine had been circa 1980), there was no toe overlap (which I remember getting used to), more space between the rear tire and seat tube. It's ride was rather disappointing actually. But then again, it's not just a question of model year: I later joined their racing team, and remember seeing in the showroom, where we'd all meet up, different models with different geometries.

So my search continues... for the criterium frame geometry that never existed. LOL