Trying to decipher this Cinelli
 

So I can look it up in the data base.

not sure what that number is. Looks like a cleft note.

All I know is this bike is “gluten free.”
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...14c083be8.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...122670207.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...58741fc51.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...132b49d43.jpeg

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the +GF+ marking is for Georg Fischer - but then you know that already ;)

definitely looks late enough that shell will be 70mm rather than 74mm


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5107

What else could it be?

it could be a 2 or a 9

Looks like a 0 to me, so 5107

What is it? It is another randomly assigned Cinelli serial number that is useless for identifying the build year.

Looks like it would have to be a dinged 0 stamp or gack of some sort. :twitchy:

:thumb:

it's a 69 or 70 based on the historical list of serial numbers in the cinelli registry

Cinelli serial numbers do not run sequential but you can get an approximate date based on correlation with other S/Ns sold in period

the 3 lug holes started in about 68-69

remember some bikes may have been partially assembled or sat unsold at the Cinelli shop in Milan

/markp

and for a good time call 867-5309

ask for Jenny.

Cinelli numbers are a mystery wrapped in an enigma

I really don't appreciate this. My wife's name is Jenny and has that exact phone number.

Well proves somebody listened to the song then.

On Guy Apple's Cinelli Registry, it says the to tube cable guides were introduced in 72/73.

Plus, notice there is a brazed on water bottle boss on the DT (73/74).

Now since this was repainted by Cycle Art 20 yers ago, maybe those things were added.

But, looking at his site for a pattern, I can find no reason the numbers are assigned, not by size, not by year.

Baffled.

Someone needs to feed the dataset to chatgpt and see what pattern it can discover.

harmonic convergence.

of course with all the overlay area codes now it will require diligent work to actually make a connected call.

Please don't try. Strong men and women have been reduced to whimpering shells of themselves trying to make sense of pre-Colombo Cinelli serial numbers.

This is why I thought it was a zero and neither of those.

Note how deeply the right side is punched. This explains the light/missing left side of the "0".

Had it been a 2, the lower right line would also be heavily punched. For a 9, the lower right side of the upper circle would also be heavily punched, looking like a backwards E.

It strikes me that there are proper names for all these features on numbers and likely also for letters. I just don't know what those names are.

NO! Just NO!

When I started the Cinelli Registry back in 2002 it was pretty obvious even from the first dozen or so serial numbers I collected that there was no "pattern" that I could discern, related to time, sequence, calendar, or anything else.

one person whose judgement I respect has conjectured that there may have been some obfuscation going on to confuse the tax collectors. That's certainly a possibility.

I would simply suggest that there may have been other factors at work. Frames farmed out to different builders, or hanging on the wall unsold.

my personal opinion is that this is not a problem worth worrying about anymore. A true case of "it is what it is".

/markp.

[QUOTE=mpetry912;22950941]When I started the Cinelli Registry back in 2002 it was pretty obvious even from the first dozen or so serial numbers I collected that there was no "pattern" that I could discern, related to time, sequence, calendar, or anything else.

one person whose judgement I respect has conjectured that there may have been some obfuscation going on to confuse the tax collectors. That's certainly a possibility.

I would simply suggest that there may have been other factors at work. Frames farmed out to different builders, or hanging on the wall unsold.

my personal opinion is that this is not a problem worth worrying about anymore. A true case of "it is what it is".

/markp.[/QUOTE

:thumb: Agreed

We have enough info tx to your and others efforts.

We know it when we see it so here we are. ;)