Jeremy wrote:
> > Reading of Jan's efforts to date his (possibly 50's) Cinelli, reminds me
> of
> > how hard its been for me (and I suppose many others) to learn about how
> > classic Italian road bikes of the 50's ride. Its amazing how few ride
> > reports I've heard about these bikes. I'm sure it had something to do with
> > the obvious fact that there were so few in the US so long ago. Anyway if
> > anyone does have any comments on how any such bikes ride (Legnano, Frejus,
> > Cinelli, Masi, Bianchi etc) I'm sure many would would be happy to hear.
> > Just looking at pictures of such bikes, I'd have to assume that they ride
> > rather closer to touring bikes than those from the 60's and 70's- (albeit
> > which weigh quite a bit less)- yet I also realize that such bikes were
> > raced very sucessfully.
I don't believe a ride report is what you need. You really should take a bike for a ride to get a feeling for yourself. Last fall, I brought my 1952 Benotto with Cambio Corsa to a ride organized by Charlie Young just outside of Philadelphia (not that far from NYC) and let anybody so inclined try it. I believe three brave souls did and all were quite surprised at how easy it was to shift the gear. I will be bringing a Bianchi Folgore to le cirque for sale and would be willing to let people try it out (Within reason). I have owned Frejus, Cinelli, Masi and Bianchi bikes from the 50's and all are competent bikes. Did you realize that Cinelli exported far more bikes than he sold in Italy, with Germany, the US, Canada and Britain being the top export markets. You might also like to know that Italy exported less than 10,000 bike in 1952 and that a company like Raleigh sold more in one country like Malaysia than did Italy in the whole world.
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Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ