1970 cinelli
 

this is the truth-blows me away-but maybe its common on craigslist. heres the story.....just get back from a bike ride so i check sac. craigslist as usual. about the third post is a 1970 cinelli mostly original decent shape for 320.00!!! pics look good so i call em up right away. i was the first caller. asked for a little more detail...still sounds great even thought its a 60cm too bike but what the heck! get the address give my cel just in case as it is a fairly hard drive with bad traffic. about one block from my house i get a call....its owner saying that since they talked to me(5 min earlier) the phone was ringing off the hook. she then told me that the price was a mistake since "a friend of hers" put the ad on. the price was really 820.00. ( not done yet) talked to a friend of mine who also saw the ad and called up right after me and said he might look at it for 820.00. well anyway, i had enough, took a nap for one hour. went back to sac. cr. and ...lo and behold the ad was back up but this time for 1000.00.
well, thats the story. i swear thats the truth!!!

Weinamnn brakes, bar end shifters.....not worth $1000 to me.

Just checked it out on craigslist. Worth the $1000 easy.

Is this the same Cinelli whose availability was broadcast today to everyone on the Classic Rendezvous list?

http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.as...10911.1474.eml

$320 vs 820 ? - The "3" and the "8" are right next to each other on the keyboard - must have been a Typo - an honest mistake.
And oh yeah - 820 looks like 1000 - both have three loops, easily mistaken.

(It's unfortunate that such mistakes are commonplace with sellers of that ilk. )

In these economic times, I'm sure the seller will appreciate receiving what it's worth from a satisfied buyer who will enjoy their new Cinelli.

Oh, I'm sure he would. But if he wants to sell it at auction, use eBay or another auction site. Or at least post the price with an "OBO." At least, that's the way I see it.

AGREED
I'd say not either.. The way I see it, if I want a extra special bike at top dollar, it'd better be OE. Maybe I'm not the right individual to objectively evaluate the bike but I just don't see all that much in any '70s bike, Cinelli or otherwise. They weren't all that then and not now either. Bikes weren't regarded the same back then as they were later on. I meen from a contemporary standpoint. Bikes were much cheaper back then by yesterday's dollar as well. There were a few tubesets available; SL, 531 and a few others. Bikes ridden ithe TDF were fairly "regular" in the '60s and very early '70s. This would all change by the end of the decade, moreso with Reynolds frames for instance. In 1973, A Bob Jackson cost about five hundred dollars, a record breaker, a true dream bike, just to give perspective. It was impossible to buy a super expensive Italian bike back then. There were VERY few pricey bikes, Cinelli wasn't one of them. Neither was Colnago or DeRosa. Paramount early on & a couple others, from my having priced them.
From purely a great performing bike perspective, they were 1965 Mustangs (not a complement)

With regard to the Bob Jackson, was that $500 for the frame or the entire bike? If it was just for the frame, that would be a lot -- about $2400 in today's dollars. From a quick scan of the CR archives...

$500 for a Cinelli Super Corsa in '73
$353-$500, depending on components, for a Cinelli Super Corsa in '74; $725 for an Alex Singer
$430 for a Colnago Super in '71
$450-500 for a Colnago Super in '73

+1.
Generally though, sellers who do not have the integrity to sell at the posted price will not go through the extra trouble of posting, packing and shipping a bike, and (nine times out of ten) they have received the bike from someone else for FREE - which is why they did not place any real value the bike to begin with.

In regards to the brakes, a Cinelli came with Universal centerpulls(model68?). The Weinmann levers pictured in the ad may be replacements as the Universals are unconfortable and ugly when the hoods rot out. And a set of downtube shifters wouldnt break the bank if you wanted to replace the bar ends.

I'm a fan of Cinelli, and theie bikes of the early 70's were pretty special. A grand for a Cinelli is a bargain.

Probably a nice bike, which was honestly made to be of good quality.

Unlike the seller, who either should have known better or honored the listed price.

Funny how money tends to erode integrity, and the blame seems to shift elsewhere.

Chalk it up as a bike with bad karma behind it.

I had a bicycle buyer's guide in 1972. About all I could do at the time was drool over all the black and white photos of the bikes in that guide. But I distinctly remember the top of the line Cinelli selling for $750, Chiorda for $500, Frejus/Legnano Professional and Bianchi Specialissima going for $375. Top of the line Gitane Super Corsa for $450, Tour de France for $225, Mercier 300 for $225. Wish I still had the guide...

What made the Cinelli worth all that was a mystery to me, still is, as I've never ridden one. Workmanship sure looks nice from the photos I've seen, though.