Centurion Cinelli Equipe in disguise
62cm Columbus SL
Cinelli
Columbus SL, Campy C Record
Campy C Record hub, Campy Sigma Strada Chromium rim
Campy C Record hub, Campy Sigma Strada Chromium rim
Campy Croce D'Aune 53/42
Selle San Marco Rolls, Gipiemme 27.2
SPD, SRAM
Campy Super Record F/R derailer, The Croce D'Aune Delta brakes was recently replaced by vintage Chorus Mono Planar calipers
NB: This frame is now for sale!! Go here
An interesting bike. A previous owner seem to have spent a fair sum on a fine paint job and decal work, complete with clearcoat and re-chrome. It is certainly professionally done and looks amazing, but unfortunately it completely disguises the fact that this is one of those limited production Centurion Cinelli Equipe's from 84-85, and not a Super Corsa.
After corresponding with other Equipe owners and doing some google research, I have learned that the Equipe indeed was a high class racing machine and not in the least needing to be dressed up as something else. Alas.
Of lately there has been several lengthy debates evolving on various internet forums regarding the 'Centurionelli', or the Equipe, a 1984 offering from Centurion that allegedly had several ties to Italian frame shops and Cinelli. Even in the posted comments below are some interesting perspectives. Given that I almost certainly own an Equipe, the one shown here, I lean towards the research done by A. Winthrop which paint prettiest picture of the origins:
Hi,
.
There are no real answers to the questions surrounding the
Cinelli Equipe Centurion's origins. Jim Cunningham of CyclArt
and I discussed this in email several years ago and he
also put forward then his theory that the Equipe was made
in Japan of Cinelli frame components of the day (ie. 1984
for sale in the 1985 model year). He conceded then that
this was only his theory.
.
Long after my initial correspondence with Jim, BF's T-Mar
pointed me to a double-page spread advertisement in the 1984
December issue of Bicycling Magazine introducing the
"Cinelli Equipe Centurion", its formal name. This ad states:
"The frame is designed by Cino Cinelli and production is
coordinated and supervised by his staff." To my knowledge,
this is the only statement about the Equipe's origins in
print and it is open to interpretation.
.
It could mean that Cino Cinelli himself was persuaded by
Western States Import, Centurion's parent company, to design
and spec the bike, with his staff overseeing production. Or
it could mean that Cino Cinelli designed the bike only in the
sense that all bikes coming out of his former shop in Milan
were designed by him and that in fact his old shop, no
longer owned by him, did a deal with WSI, and WSI was just
using Cino's name in the ad copy.
.
I don't know if either is true, but tend to go with the first
interpretation because if what was stated in the Bicycling
Magazine ad was false or misleading, it would have been
quickly exposed as such and WSI\Centurion would have suffered
a huge and embarrassing black eye. I doubt they would have
been so stupid as to take such a high-profile, public risk.
.
As for country of manufacture, I respectfully disagree with
Jim that the Equipe was simply assembled in Japan of Cinelli
frame components and built up with Italian parts. I spent
15 years working as a journalist in Asia during half of
the '70s and all of the '80s and I learned enough about
foreign trade to know that there was no way a bicycle made
in Japan could arrive on US shores and be distributed across
the country without it being clearly marked "Made in Japan"
for all to see. All Centurions except the Equipe were
marked "Made in Japan" clearly, but the Equipe is clearly
marked "Made in Italy." The "Made in..." mark is US law.
.
To me, the open question is not what country produced the
Equipe, but what shop in Italy did. I haven't a clue but
accept T-Mar's speculation that it was NOT Cinelli's old
shop. Perhaps a former subcontractor of Cinelli's?
.
One thing for sure is that, whichever shop produced this
bike, their paint work was nowhere near as good as that
done by whatever Japanese manufacturers were turning out
other Centurion models at the time. One only has to compare
the steering tubes of an Equipe and one of any of the Japan-
made Centurions to see the difference in detail. Pull the
fork on any '80s Japan-made Centurion and you will find the
paint on the steering tube from crown to headset thread is
of exactly the same quality and finish as that of the
paint on exposed frame surfaces. In sharp contrast, the
Equipe's steering tube is mostly raw steel, splattered
with what looks like overspray from the fork blades.
The Equipe's exposed painted surfaces are also nowhere
near as durable as those on any Japan-made Centurion of
of '80s.
.
Attention to fit and finish was why Japan's car makers were
eating the lunch of European car makers and this success was
carried over to the bicycle industry. Had my Equipe been
produced in Japan, its original paint would be at least as
good as my middle-of-the-road LeMans RS. But it wasn't and
it isn't, IMHO.
.
Shortly after T-Mar gave me a heads up on the December '84
Bicycling Magazine ad, I pointed Jim to it because he had
a nice Equipe for sale at the time. He ran to his ancient
pile of Bicycling Mags, found the ad and was kind enough
to send a copy to me, which I have at hand now.
.
Original specs for the Equipe are also listed in the ad.
They appear via a link in an earlier post of mine in this
thread. The Equipe's frame markings are also detailed.
.
So that's all I know or think I know about the Equipe.
I'm all ears(eyes) to anyone who can document more about
the Equipe's origins. Until then, it's all just speculation.
.
PS - Another factor weighing against production in Japan,
I think, was simply the cost of shipping tubesets and
components from Italy to Japan for assembly rather than
just assembling all in Italy and then shipping direct
to California, et al, for US distribution. Japan's
exporting costs were increasing by 1984 because of a
strengthening Yen vs the US$, to the point where I doubt
the difference in labor-intensive production costs
between more-costly Italy and Japan would have justified
the additional expense of packing\shipping Italian-made
tubesets and components and than repacking\reshipping complete
bikes again. Profit margins in the highly competitive
bicycle industry of the '80s would have been too thin
to support these additional logistical costs, I suspect.
.
It is interesting to note that there were actually TWO
decal sets that appeared on the Cinelli Equipe Centurions.
One you can see on JunkYardBike's Equipe in this thread.
The other you can see on my Epuipe. The former echoes
Italy's colors; the latter are in hideous lavendar. Jim's
custom decal set for this bike is very nice indeed and
is especially tempting for those of us with the lavendar
DT decals. But ugly as they are, I keep mine as they are
part of what makes this bike unique. The poor paint
work and the mostly exposed steel of the steering tube
are also, sad to say, part of what makes this bike
unique.
.
But the Equipe's nicely thinned head lugs have no ugly
file marks showing through the chrome as on many Cinelli
SCs so that's a plus. Some '80s SCs don't have chromed
lugs, according to the late Sheldon Brown's article on
Cinelli. That's a plus for the Equipe too. :-)
.
The long term plan is to straighten up the Campy components from the current wild mix of eras to C Record/Croce d'Aune/Chorus, which would be somewhat consistent with the age.