Cinelli is of those Italian legacy brands that always seems to have some jaw-dropping, beautiful frames on display at Interbike. Cinelli rolled out a special edition of their top of the line Best Of frame, as well as their carbon Saetta frame. The Best Of frame is simply gorgeous (as you can see) and the rest of the bike only gets better. Click more to see the rest of it.
Pro Best Of
Prominently displayed in Cinelli’s crowded booth space was their Best Of frame, which the company says incorporates the best designs and technologies from across their line into one frame. This frame is an all new design for 2011, and will be offered in this beautiful paint scheme, called “Italia ’79”, paying tribute to the company’s deep-rooted Italian heritage. The Pro Best Of frame is Cinellis top of the line offering.
While Columbus may be best known for their classic steel tubing, the company has been adapting with the market by offering carbon composite material to frame builders like Cinelli. The frame uses Columbus’s XLR8R Plus carbon material all the way through. There are plenty of Columbus logos throughout the bike, which just adds to that nostalgic ’79 Italian feel. Notice the straight rear seat stay above, which has changed since last year, when the Best Of used curved seat stays. In fact, the whole rear triangle on this frame is new, which Cinelli says gives it a more “lively” ride quality.
A press-fit bottom bracket anchors the bike down below. Cinelli was able to avoid the “oversized bottom bracket” trend with this bike, instead sticking to clean lines and tube construction reminiscent of their classic steel and aluminum frames.
Cinelli did, however, opt for the recently-popular tapered fork/headset combo, with this beautiful front end tapering from 1 1/8″ to 1 1/2″. The Columbus Genius Monocoque fork gives the whole bike a “noticeably smoother” ride according to Cinelli, and adds some of the bicycle industry’s favorite term, “lateral stiffness.” No word yet on the vertical compliance.
The integrated seat mast carries the “Italia ’79” color scheme well, but will limit the fit for some riders. Again, this is Cinelli’s top tier road machine, so performance is number one, and adjustability and convenience take a back seat.
With internal cable routing all the way through, the Best Of is designed to be DI2 compatible, and the bike just begs for top notch components to make it a true dream machine. A matching Cinelli Ram 2 Bianca integrated handlebar stem combo will also be available with the bike, complete with the Italia ’79 color scheme. Cinelli had a number of these bars on display, so watch for a separate post coming soon from BikeRumor with more from Cinelli. No word on pricing and availability, but we are guessing this will retail somewhere around $2,700, right about where last year’s model fell in the market.
Saette
While the Saette Sprint has been a popular mid-range race bike, Cinelli took its popular geometry and mold and created a frame that will sit just below the sprint, simply called the Saette. It uses a slightly lesser grade material, but the exact same shaping to create a very similar ride. The Saette adds a little bit of weight, but it keeps all the same features from the Saette Sprint.
A short seatmast will add some stiffness but leave plent of adjustability. You can see the tapering top tube here, as it thins out toward the middle but the carbon mold beefs up as it approaches tube junctions.
The Saette doesn’t get a tapering headtube, but Cinelli says the geometry gives it plenty of stiffness up front. The fork is made with the same design as the Saette Spring, but again, from a lower quality material. The fork blades are carbon, but the steerer is 1 1/8″ aluminum, which the company says was a move designed to bring the price of the whole bike down, while only adding a little bit of weight.
The bottom bracket junction is also kept clean. It will use a standard BSA 68mm bottom bracket, and as you can see, a braze-on front derailleur clamp.
The Saette will come with two build kits, either Campy Veloce or Shimano 105. Both kits will use rebranded Alex ALX470 wheels with Cinelli logos on them to match the bike. The bike will come in five sizes, from XS to XL, and two color schemes; white and red, pictured above, and a similar white and blue combo.
