Karma strikes again!
 

I think I had a thread about karma once before and it struck again. I had an older woman(mid/late 60s) that I worked with numerous times and eventually purchased a bike from the shop I work at. She hadn't rode a bike since the mid 80's so she was a bit apprehensive and frail as she was sick for quite awhile. She must of weighed about 90 lbs soaking wet but I always enjoyed working with her.

So I hadn't seen her over winter or spring and just happened to run into her at the grocery store down the street from me and chatted for awhile. She begin telling me how she was sick and hadn't even rode her new carbon Trek Domane though she was feeling better but still leary of riding. I told her to call me anytime she wanted help on trying ride. A week went by and then she gave me a call on Saturday saying she was ready to try it out finally. She only lived a few minutes from me so it was pretty convenient.

So we started out just coasting with one foot on the pedal and dangling above the ground for safety. Mind you also that there isn't much flat ground in her neighborhood so it going from friction shifters on her Fuso to Ultegra 11spd on her Domane was a learning experience. Being her size she had really small hands and was really reaching for the levers even with the thickest spacer inserted.

Though once we got going and got her more familiar with the shifters we rode about two miles and called it a day. No crashes which was awesome and we talked about quite a bit besides just biking.

Now comes the karma part...She said she had a gift for me for helping her ride again that used to belong to her late husband and had no use for it. She told me to hold on for a second as she had to grab something from behind the house. She said he was one of those guys that liked to have the best of everything no matter how involved he was into stuff.

It nearly took my breath away as I was not expecting something like this.

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Then gave me another set of wheels because she was going to toss them otherwise because she had no use for them. A set of Campag Record low flange with Ambrosio Synthesis Super Professional tubular rims.

The cool thing about her was that she wanted to learn more about cycling so I convinced her to take the beginners mechanics course at UBI. Funny thing is that one of our old employees is a instructor at the school and had her in class and said she asked the most questions throughout the entire class. lol. I told her that anytime she'd like to ride to give me a call and she'd have a riding partner.

This is my first Cinelli and never really looked into them much being I never expected to own one. It uses a 26.2 seatpost and has the three holes in the head lugs. Rear dropouts has Portacatena mounts and the rear derailleur was built in 81. The strange thing is it has a pedal with one ti and steel spindle. The serial is G 80254. I'm guessing built in 1980 and then it's a 54cm? Does the "G" stand for anything? Is this a Super Corse or something thing else? Also I'm planning on give it a OA bath since there's quite a bit of rust pitting on the lugs and fork crown not to mention any steel parts on the components. It's originally this pearl color but since it's been sitting in the barn so long the dust has also infused with the paint. I even tried a buffing compound and polish and the buffing compound almost soaked into the paint in a lot of the area and was a nightmare to get out.

But in the end I'm still amazed she gave this to me for helping her out and never expected something like this.

@Henry III - awesome story. Kindness is often rewarded in the most unexpected ways. I can only imagine that you gave her more than "riding lessons" in that you gave interest, time to listen, initiative in offering to ride with her, patience guiding her. She got the opportunity to gain confidence with her new machine, feel good about what she'd accomplished, as well as camaraderie. She got the opportunity to be generous and to see something of her late husband live on in the welcome hands of someone who would love it. Good results all around. The human spirit is wonderfully alive in in your life. Keep it up!

What an awesome story! You get out what you put in sometimes. Does the bike fit you? If so what does it need to be ridable? Looks like a bit of cleaning is in order, but thats a great looking machine. Id probably think about a new colour for the bars and housing, but thats just my taste.

That is awesome !!!

This is exactly how it looked when she pulled it out. The wheels cleaned up really nice but the paint has seen better days. Pearlescent in some spots and bare down to the base cream color with a raw feel to it is about 60% of it. I'll give it an OA bath, a nice coat of wax to keep the rust down on the chrome and toss some new rubber, cables/housing and some Cinelli bar tape. Not sure what color and open for suggestions on colors or direction. I really like the new Conti GP classics as I have them on my Paramount and ride really smooth with 25's.

I actually cleaned it up the best I could last night, pumped up the tires and took out for a quick spin. Fits me quite nicely but I desperately need some hoods cause it's brutal without them. I just sent my friend a really nice pair of black AME hoods a few days ago for free. Doh! Oh well!

What a great story!! Very cool. It's always nice to help someone. And kindness is always repaid...sometimes in this way, more often in ways that may never be understood.

Congrats on the bike. Post up more pics after the cleanup.

Occasionally, a good deed DOES go unpunished......
Great story- you were there for the right reasons in your heart; and she saw a way of honoring both your genuine kindness and her husband's great avocation.

Fantastic story. I can't wait to see it cleaned up. I'm thinking natural brown cork tape. The neutral brown is a good fit for that subtle pearl/chrome colour scheme.

Oh my! That is fantastic. I was not expecting to see such a beautiful Cinelli when I opened this thread. Great to see your kindness rewarded. I'm going to make it a point to be extra nice to people tomorrow, and goddamn it if nobody gives me a Cinelli!

Giving away those hoods was the beginning of your good karma train! Look where it led you. Very sweet! We need some updated photos of how the paint is cleaning up.
@rootboy makes a leather replacement hood for those levers. They are very nice and worth the price.

I'm thinking dark blue on the wrap, but then a dark blue saddle would be hard to spec, unless you got one of those Cinelli plastic ones.. I'd probably switch the stem to polished at the same time.

Speechless! I echo much of what was already said.

I would like to know more about the paint condition with pictures and what you do. My Pinarello has a issues with the paint that sounds similar to yours. It had/has a pearlesence finish that is not in great shape. I too tried to polish and ended up just waxing it. Of course being a Pinarello, the decal are gone with the exception of a few flecks. What is left is what I believe to be what the finish looked like originally but don’t know. Mine also looks like dirt is embedded in the paint. The bike was near a paint job and has some splatters on it that just won’t' come off. I am hesitant to try the typical paint clean up chems or alcohol, which works well on latex for removal.

Looking forward to the cleanup pics!

I agree. Hope to see pics after overhaul.

Great story! Very nice gift. Sounds like you have a new life long friend.

I had to check the date to make sure this thread wasn't started on 4/1. Fantastic story, karma lives on!

amazing! Looks like the NR crankset was "triplized" twice. Maybe from the proprietary campy 100bcd to something bigger and more available/cheaper?

With your luck you will probably get a Confente in return. Good for you, keep doing what you are doing, you deserve many more Cinelli's on your future.

You throw a pebble into a pond and one day the ripples may come back to you. :thumb: x 1000!

I hope after she gave it to you, you proceeded to punch her in the face for not taking better care of it.

Jeez, @-holiday76, what the eff is wrong with you?

you're right, sorry @noglider. He should have punched her in the stomach since the face is off limits these days what with the Democrats and so forth.

@-holiday76 that's how Philly east coasters roll

Wonder what her Domane will look like in 40 years! And who will get punched for that! LOL

Wow, Henry, that is so cool! And even better -- it fits!!!!