Hi CR folks,
At veloswap this weekend I picked up a bike that for a quick moment looked all the world like a Cinelli from a distance - and when I got close the seller quickly informed me that the bike is a Windsor. It was in crusty black paint.
But not so fast - a few things didn't strike me as Windsor like. First off, the bb has an oiler hole (I guess it could have been added later and I don't recall Windsor using them). And someone went to a lot of pains to make the bike look like an early Cinelli. It had steel Cinelli bar, alloy Cinelli stem, and a 60's Campy headset with the <C>, but most interestingly, it had a Cinelli Milano headset washer! (I admit, I bought the bike to get the washer and other bits).
Crank is a cool steel cottered with TA ring. Seatpost size is 26.8, brakes are universal 68, and the rear brake bridge is kinda like a regular tube but with another tube (perpendicular) on top of the bridge for the brake centerbolt to pass through.
For a moment, I thought it might be a fake windsor that was really a Cinelli cause of the bits and and oldness of it all. But closer look reveals an odd serial number - 63/63
And the lugs look like typical mid 60's variety but only cruder. Everything about the frame is almost close, but consistently clunkly and less refined than a real Cinelli. And the 26.8 seatpost (no sleaved seatlug) is a real giveway that its not the real deal.
So does anyone have an idea of what were close copies back before the Windsor and perhaps Raysport days?
The thing has lots of fender clearance (and eyelets) so should be a great bike to use for something. But I'd just like to know what it is.
It won't be easy to get photos today - but I think from the info someone in the wise audience should know.
Mike Kone in Boulder CO