Ebay find of the month #1: Cinelli Supercorsa leggerissimo 1970s
To celebrate the launch of a new monthly feature dedicated to rare, unusual, neglected or just plain beautiful pieces of Cinelli history that we have found for sale on the internet over the last month we decided to shine a light on a true vintage classic Cinelli Leggerissimo from the early 1970s that a lot of connoisseurs out there probably already have on their watch list.
Produced by Cino’s factory between 1972 and 1976 for the German distributor, Brügelmann.
The Leggerissimo, as the name suggests, was an ultralight model with three very particular distinguishing features:
- the 7 cut-outs in its Georg Fischer investment cast bottom bracket
- a Campagnolo Super Record bottom bracket with titanium spindle
- a striking, exclusive and never-repeated yellow and red paint scheme
The frame that we found for sale on eBay at a fairly reasonable (and surely negotiable!) $2499 retains only one of these original features – the cut-out bottom bracket – so the big question that remains for an eventual buyer is: what kind of restoration project should you follow?
On one hand the most obvious choice is a meticulous returning of the frame to its original glory with Brügelmann paint, titanium Super Record bottom bracket and other period correct features.
A second, to us more interesting and contemporary approach, might be to let the history and “patina” of the frame in its current state talk.
Discover the history of the bike: who first owned it? Who was it subsequently sold to? How did it end up in Serbia? Who repainted in its current (probably 1980s) paint scheme and why?
Perhaps the answers to these questions could inspire a more unusual, hybrid rebuild with layers of history…
