Greg, great stuff on Cuevas! I never saw your blog entries on the 2004 Velo Rendezvous event... nice report and pictures!
Velo Rendezvous 2004 Part 1 <http://cinelli.typepad.com/welcome_to_dullsville/2005/04/ velo_rendezvous.html>
Velo Rendezvous 2004 Part 2 <http://cinelli.typepad.com/welcome_to_dullsville/2005/04/ velo_rendezvous_1.html>
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
Greg Pitman wrote:
> I have watched this thread and debated whether to chime in or not.
> I suppose that this is the rare occasion when I might have
> something valid to contribute. I own a 1975 Cuevas frame, and
> worked in the same shop with Francisco for about 18 months in '74
> and ' 75.
>
> I cannot tell for sure from the pictures whether this is a Cuevas
> frame. On my frame, there is a diamond shaped stamp on the seat
> stay caps with "Cuevas" inside the diamond. However, this was when
> he was making frames in his spare time, on his own, and I am sure
> that he would not have done that while building frames for Park
> Cycle. In fact, I have never seen another Cuevas frame with the
> diamond stamp other than my own. I know that Francisco built a
> number of frames while working out of 14th Street Bicycles during
> the early to mid 70's. My frame is number 026. I would love to know
> where those other early frames are now. There is a good picture of
> the seat cluster and diamond at Dale's site here:
>
> http://www.classicrendezvous.com/
>
> I would think that Park Cycles had it's own system for frame serial
> numbers, but Francisco typically put his numbers beneath the bottom
> bracket.
>
> Someone has already noted that he put X bracing in the steering
> tube, easily seen from below. However the E-Bay seller states that
> the fork has been replaced. My first question for the seller would
> be to ask if the original fork was still available. My frame does
> not have the X brace, although I do remember seeing him put it in
> other frames at that time.
>
> In general, Francisco's frames seem to have evolved quite a bit
> from his time at 14th Street, then Park Cycles, and finally at his
> own shop.
>
> If you would like to read other observations about my time working
> with Senor Cuevas you can read the post at:
>
> http://cinelli.typepad.com/
> a_tribute_to_fr.html#comments
>
> Greg Pitman
>
> Yucaipa (aka "the sticks"), CA
>
>
> "They are saying, "The generals learned their lesson in the last
> war. There are going to be no wholesale slaughters." I ask, how is
> victory possible without wholesale slaughter?" -Evelyn Waugh