That is the popular consensus as to how many bikes a cyclist needs. After two very shitty cycling seasons where I struggled to put even a fraction of my typical annual mileage behind me, I have decided that 2017 will be different. 2017 will be the year where bad roads, bad weather, and bad luck will no longer conspire against me. For this, it was decided, a new weapon in the cycling arsenal was necessary – the all purpose “beater bike” as it is sometimes called. I call it my spring / fall / rain / gravel training bike.
My project started with taking stock of all the existing bits and pieces I have accumulated over the years, reading reviews, researching, making a “must have list” and shopping wisely. The boxes started arriving via FedEx, UPS and Canada Post. The weather remained nasty enough that I deferred getting my old Look 565 road worthy. Then one evening, while perusing eBay for deals, I spotted it…..
A 2016 Cinelli Experience Speciale. I cast my bid, and lady luck was with me. 5 days later it was mine.
Cinelli bikes in my experience (at least in North America) are not all that popular. While you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Cervelo ( whose headquarters are based here in Toronto in all fairness and of which I also own one) I think I have seen only one Cinelli on the road in the last decade.
My introduction to the Cinelli brand was probably like everyone else – the ubiquitous Cinelli forged aluminum quill stem – and that’s where it stayed. It wasn’t until I saw the crown jewel in the Cinelli bike line up in an issue of Bicycling – the Xcr – that I realized Cinelli had a very interesting, almost esoteric line up of bikes noted for their peculiar names and unique graphics and paint schemes.
Incidentally, the Xcr is a frame I still desperately want to own and probably the coolest and sexiest bike in current production ATMO.
But what about the Experience? First off – it’s not carbon. It’s 7005 Columbus Airplane. The “Speciale” version, adds a full carbon FEL Columbus fork over the standard Experience with a carbon blade / aluminum steer tube. The FEL fork, BTW is the top of the line Columbus carbon fork that is used on the top tier Cinelli bikes like the Nemo Tig, the Stratofaster and the Xcr.
What attracted me to the frame was a nice mix of old vs new technology. The BB for instance, is good old 1.37 x 24 TPI by 68mm English, while the steer tube is a more modern 1.125″ to 1.5″tapered, and looks incredibly beefy. It has a 27.2mm seatpost. It can take up to 28mm tires or smaller 25mm with mudguards, exactly what you want in a wet-weather-exploring-gravel roads kind bike.
And, as if it was “meant to be” or “the icing on the cake” if you will – identical stack and reach dimensions of my current ride a 2012 Cervelo R3 in a Cinelli size L.
Next up, the build….
My 40 Year Old Legs 