danarello

Nice bike on ebay! Asking price is $699. It's my size frame too. Doesn't sound like the paint is an 8.5 out of 10 though. Seller mentioned that there was nickel plating under paint on some parts of the frame that helped to prevent rust. I'd like to know more about this.

Kactus 

I don't think it's a Cinelli, the seat stays are wrong.

exxongraftek

The seat stays are not those of a classic Cinelli, true. But it is difficult (but not impossible, I guess) to fake the pantographing on the seat stay caps and fork crown.
It's a more modern version, not a Cino-built one - but it is a Cinelli. Scratched and dented, but a Cinelli none-the-less. Price is fair if it's something you want.

plonz 

Yes this is a Cinelli. Quick Google search reveals several others just like it.

This model is reported to have been made just one year. Lower level made with Columbus Cromor tubing. Didn't see anything pertaining to a nickel plating under the paint.

microcord

I possess its brother. Here's an archived version of the relevant auction page. It cost me (buy-it-now) about what you say eBay wants for the example you're after. I bought mine because I was in Japan, it was in Japan, I wanted a road bike with a 60 cm frame, such bikes are freakishly rare in Japan, the price seemed very reasonable (I'd guess it was reduced because the size was unpopular), and there was photographic evidence that it had been overhauled. Brand name, rareness etc didn't come into it.

I see that somebody has attached a sticker to the top tube of the eBay example. The top tube of mine has been repainted, in a color that's very slightly different from the periwinkle blue of most of the rest of the frame (and in glossier paint). I'd guess that the top tubes of both were terribly scratched. Actually the closer you get to my frame, the worse it looks: some previous owner has assiduously touched up the paintwork all over the place.

The original paintwork is wretched. It scrapes off very easily. True, I don't have much to compare it with; but it's nowhere near as good as that on either my 1980s "Richmond" (a humdrum frame made by some outfit somewhere, sold by Richmond Cycles in suburban London) or my 1980s Miyata. I'm thinking of having it repainted properly.

Maybe it's only a cheapie, but I'm very happy riding it. True, I've replaced most of the parts (all of them sound, but not quite right for me), but the resulting Frankinelli has taken me further than has any other bike. I do not find myself ogling other road bikes.

Rear stays were 126 mm (I believe; anyway, since stretched to 130 mm). The BB has Italian thread. The only irritation is the pair of holes via which the rear brake cable travels within the top tube; this strikes me as gimmickry resulting in quite unnecessary rust traps. I'm glad I bought mine and if it were stolen I'd buy another.

Excuse my ignorance, but how does one search? Googling "1990s cinelli road bike" brings up piles of irrelevant stuff (most of it later than the 1990s). I'm told that the color is "periwinkle", but, unsurprisingly, "periwinkle cinelli road bike" is similarly useless.

rccardr 

Yes, it is a legitimate Cinelli. I have owned two of these Mens Sana models, and know only of a handful of other examples. I also know they were made in at least two model years, because one of mine had a 1990 serial number, the other a 1991.


The paint on my original Mens Sana was actually in excellent shape, as it had been used as a shop display bike and never ridden until I purchased it several years ago as an almost-bare frame. I eventually sold it with a very nice full Shimano 600 tricolor build including the very rare non-aero tricolor brake levers. Believe it was made of CroMor(sp?) Columbus tubing, which even though is not a 'legendary' tubeset, does take a 27.2 seatpost and provided a very, very comfortable all day riding experience.



I currently own a Mens Sana that was completely rechromed and painted by Tom Kellogg at Spectrum Cycles. It's outfitted with a complete Campagnolo Super Record group, and has been ridden at L'Eroica California, the Spring 2015 L'Hombra Century in NJ, and the Dairyland Dare in Wisconsin. Great bike, but don't even ask about the refinishing cost. Pic shows it as set up for L'Eroica with 28's and an SR compact crank:





Bottom line: great frames, paint is a little..unusual...and the one on eBay looks like it's been put through the wringer a little based on paint chips and condition of components, so I would say a little overpriced. But still, a good bike.

microcord

So ... that "MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO" isn't a sticker with which an owner attempted to cover scratches, it's part of the original design? It's clear that tastes back then were stranger than I'd dared imagine. This certainly makes the bike easy to google ("cinelli mens sana"). Yes, the sticker on my frame says it's made of "CROMOR DOPPIO SPESSORE".

bertinjim 

danarello -

The Cinelli Only site has a photo feature and a brief article on the bike here. I saw the bike in the metal at L Bicicletta in Toronto when the model was new and it seemed a well finished and attractive bike. The linked article has a large, clear photo of the top tube decal in case any readers need to reproduce it.

microcord

Readers may wish to click and enlarge the two photos showing this bike within the web page Cinelli Only: Backstory this Cinelli and Rider? . Or not.

plonz 

I googled 1989 Cinelli and looked at the images results. There are roughly 6 different examples of this Cinelli model mixed in with the other results.

plonz 

You'll get a kick out of this... it was your post in another forum where I read 1989 was the only year this model was made!

Cinelli 1989 Cromor 'Mens Sana' - The Paceline Forum

microcord

Thank you, Plonz. After posting my question, I realized that the bike was easy to google via "cinelli mens sana", and thereupon attempted to edit my post to delete the now-superfluous question within it. I don't know whether it's a problem with the Bike Forums webserver or with my own browser, but any attempt to edit a post brings a rotating "wait" icon but no more. If (as is likely) it's a fault at my end, sorry to have wasted your time.

Try the link I've (somewhat nervously) posted above for a claim that this bike was produced as early as the mid-1980s. Actually the hairiness of the male model looks to me less 1980s than 1970s (!); he appears to be this bloke.

plonz 

No time wasted here. I had a few minutes and thought to myself... good looking bike, maybe I'll take a moment to learn something about Cinelli.

When I looked at your first link, my initial reaction was "cool, Yanni rides a Cinelli!"

rccardr 

Plonz- yes, that Paceline posting of mine turned out to be wrong in several respects. As of that posting, pretty much the only information out there about the Mens Sana frames came from that single Cinelli Only post, which turned out to be slightly inaccurate regarding the model year/s. It also took a while to interpret the serial numbers on the frames so as to ascertain the correct year of manufacture. And, it also turned out that the "1978 Corsa" referred to in the posting was actually a 1991 Mens Sana that had been refinished, as referenced in my post above. Tom Kellogg was simply misinformed about the origin of the frame he had restored and then sold to me. Hence the similarities between the two frames.

From such, we learn.

T-Mar

The 1991 USA distributor's price lists the Cromor & 600 Ultegra model as a "Cinelli Fitness/Sport". MSRP was $1,785 US. At the time, comparable Italian bicycles were selling for $1,000-1,200 US.

microcord

And that's in 1991 dollars. Expensive!

Mine came (very much used) with more Shimano 105 than anything else, but Cinelli stem and handlebar, cheap Campagnolo rims, a very generic looking seatpost, and Shimano RX100 brakes. Of this lot, all I've retained are the seatpost and the brakes.