Why Are vintage CINELLI stems & bars so PRICEY?
#1
GG + Wendy O. 4EVA
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Blatz To The Future
Posts: 1,477
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Why Are vintage CINELLI stems & bars so PRICEY?
I know the whole collectible classic bike thing is on fire but what's up w/ the old Cinelli stems & bars?
#3
Senior Member
Well let's see. They haven't made the steel stuff since the late 70's. Anything Cinelli with the old badge/pre-Columbus is expensive. Collectors regard it as THEE best of the era. Any steel track stem is expensive. See Nitto Jaguar for example. You don't know this already?
EDIT: Unless you're not talking specifically about the steel stuff. In that case it's just a good 'ol case of supply vs. demand.
EDIT: Unless you're not talking specifically about the steel stuff. In that case it's just a good 'ol case of supply vs. demand.
Last edited by TNCLR; 08-10-05 at 03:11 PM.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 636
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
The chrome steel Cinelli stuff is pretty, but not very good chrome, so really pretty pieces in the original chrome are quite rare. You can get all this stuff re-chromed better than new, but it's not appropriate in the minds of the collectors. Older stems with the painted brass screw-on badge are particularly rare because the badges get destroyed or stolen. You see lots of junk that's priced accordingly, but very few nice looking pieces. If you're not a collector, finding a sound older piece and rechroming it is a nice way to go. You may have trouble finding the original hardware (which also gets ripped off to benefit the very best collectible pieces), but there are enough substitutes for real-world street use.
Yes, all steel track stems are expensive, simply because they can't be forged in big quantities like your typical alloy stem. If you want to get really pimp about it, there are plenty of framebuilders who will build you a custom one-off stem in steel in whatever drop and length you want. You can get it chromed, or get a great paint job. And you can get them made with fillet brazing (smooth joins) or with lugged connections that look very retro.
Personally, I used to ride Cinelli steel track stems and bars on the track, and didn't like them all that much -- you rusted them out quickly, the bolt heads rounded over easily, and they weren't really made all that well when you look at them close-up. There were more than a few track riders with big scars up their sternums from the deep-drop sprinters' stems as well. At least Cinelli made their old steel stems in 25.4 mm, the track standard, instead of 26.4 like their road bars, their Grammo Pista titanium stems, and their 2/A alloy track stems (which the Nitto quill stems are modeled after).
Yes, all steel track stems are expensive, simply because they can't be forged in big quantities like your typical alloy stem. If you want to get really pimp about it, there are plenty of framebuilders who will build you a custom one-off stem in steel in whatever drop and length you want. You can get it chromed, or get a great paint job. And you can get them made with fillet brazing (smooth joins) or with lugged connections that look very retro.
Personally, I used to ride Cinelli steel track stems and bars on the track, and didn't like them all that much -- you rusted them out quickly, the bolt heads rounded over easily, and they weren't really made all that well when you look at them close-up. There were more than a few track riders with big scars up their sternums from the deep-drop sprinters' stems as well. At least Cinelli made their old steel stems in 25.4 mm, the track standard, instead of 26.4 like their road bars, their Grammo Pista titanium stems, and their 2/A alloy track stems (which the Nitto quill stems are modeled after).
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 732
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Johnny Coast is making cinelli style steel stems, I think it's www.coastouttabrooklyn.com . Not sure what he's asking for them though. If you really want cinelli, I've got a steel bar/stem that I might sell, but not for cheap.
#6
Senior Member
Originally Posted by luckycat
Johnny Coast is making cinelli style steel stems, I think it's www.coastouttabrooklyn.com . Not sure what he's asking for them though. If you really want cinelli, I've got a steel bar/stem that I might sell, but not for cheap.
#7
hullo.
Join Date: May 2005
Location: san francisco
Posts: 1,458
Bikes: 74 paramount track, 80s maruishi track, 70s chesini track.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
probably about the price of a pristine badged cinelli from 50 years ago. $200? plus/minus $50
#9
#$%^&*
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 251
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by 11.4
You can get all this stuff re-chromed better than new, but it's not appropriate in the minds of the collectors.
I have one of those Cinelli track stems (but as far as I know extremely rare 26mm, from the 60s) bought on eBay, perfectly usable... but the photos did not reveal the true condition of the stem, the underside is a bit rusted as others have described it is common with these stems. I am a bit torn between what to do, whether the idea of keeping it as is and rechroming would be a blasphemy or a really stupid thing to do, really curious about the JC stems too, but so far my emails have remained unanswered ;)
#10
Crapzeit!
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,553
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
#11
knucklehead
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East Village, NYC
Posts: 520
Bikes: Rocky MT Track, Vivalo, Pista Concept, De Bernardi Track
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 549
Bikes: Fuji Track 06, Fuji Delrey conversion
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by roscoenyc57
I've got a Coast stem on my painted up DB. I got it from Trackstar. They had a few of 'em in there at some point. I think it was $160/175 or so?
#14
N+1
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 1,310
Bikes: A few
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times
in
5 Posts
Originally Posted by ka12na
That bike looks #$@#ing ridiculous. I saw the other pictures.