Hi Jan,
We've spoken about this before, but now I can air my thoughts in public (and someone can correct any mistakes in my logic). The bb info should place it about 1961 to 1964 if the story is true. The rear deraillieur spring hole should also place it early 60's (wasn't it 1963 for this one?) The front brake reach being shorter than the rear is consitant with the period (Universal 61's were packaged as sets quite often with a shorter reach brake).
The stinker is that the lugs are the earlier style with the projections (ears) on the side of the lugs that wrap forward around the headtube. My money, though, is that the frame is between late 1962 or 1964.
Mike Kone in Boulder CO
> I wish I could come to the cirque, but alas, time and money are
> tight... so I'll have to ask my Italian question here:
>
> I am trying to determine the age of my Cinelli Supercorsa. Here are a
> few defining features:
>
> - bought as frame/fork only, sandblasted. Had been modified a bit for
> 1970s NR equipment (braze-ons added, rear bridge replaced).
> - has "ears" on lugs
> - has steerer tube rifled at bottom (Columbus?)
> - has little hole for spring in right rear dropout (Campagnolo dropouts)
> - has 70 mm BB shell, but for some reason the seller (second or third
> owner already) thought the shell had been cut down from the wider 74
> (?) mm shell. The serial number "6162" is stamped right on the edge
> of the shell, indicating that the shell used to be wider. Also
> stamped near the chainstay sockets is "R".
> - Oiler hole on top of BB shell
> - Fork accepts short reach brake. Top tube is level, so if the fork
> was replaced, it has the same geometry as the original.
>
> The frame was sold as a 1957, but I wonder whether it isn't more
> recent. Obviously, dropouts sometimes crack and could have been
> replaced, etc. When did they last use the "ears" on the lugs? When
> did the dropouts with holes come out? When did they use the wider BB
> shells? When did Cinelli switch from Reynolds to Columbus tubing on
> their SCs?
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> --
> Jan Heine, Seattle
> Editor/Publisher
> Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
> http://www.mindspring.com/