1963 - Bertin Model C.37 Course Super Professionel

Andre Bertin had been a professional cyclist for France-Sport Wolber from 1935 to 1937 with riding track one days and six day events mainly. He trained on the local Rosati velodrome in St. Laurent Blagny, where he started his later carreer as a manufacturer of frames and bicycles at the end of WW II although Bertin’s distinctive Tri-colour and Eagle logo was registered in 1950 first.

In addition to his company’s founding, Bertin raced as an independent pro in 1945 and 1946. Until 1966, he stayed with the peloton as manager and sponsor of the Cycles Bertin professional race team and various co-sponsors.

Bertin in addition was deeply involved in amateur racing in northern France and Belgium and sponsored many amateur teams and riders such as Barry Hoban, Albert Sercu and Patrick Sercu who got their start through Bertin most probably on a model C37 Professional

Together with famous Ron Kitching of Britain Andre Bertin founded the Milremo brand in about 1957. The Milremo brand was intended to create a value line of quality components and accessories which had the racing or sporting cachet of the big name brands without the higher prices. Almost all the main post-War manufacturers built for Milremo. Maillard did hubs and freewheels, Zefal, Silca and REG made pumps, TA made chainrings and water bottles badged with various logos including both the Bertin and Milremo logo.

In 1970 Bertin took on the French distributorship for Shimano. what led to the surprising appearance of Japanese parts on otherwise quintessentially French bicycles. Furthermore he created a sales and manufacturing subsidiary in Morocco, made motorcycles and mopeds and was exporting to both the U.S. and Canada during the bike boom in the 70s.

Earlier Bertins had the so called script logo decal set and red/white/blue bands (french tricolore) on the seat tube, sometimes above and below a contrasting coloured panel. They often had a similar band on the head tube as well. However, after 1963, this changed when Patrick Sercu won the World Amateur Sprint Championship on a Bertin. Thereafter, sporting Bertins got a World Championship set of rings in the same place where previously the french tricolore was shown.

Bottom Braket: Stronglight Super Competition
Headset: Campagnolo Record
Crankset: Stronglight 63 Super Competition
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Record

Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Gear Levers: Campagnolo Record
Brake Levers: MAFAC Course 121
Brakes: Mafac Dural Forge
Wheelset: Campagnolo Record
Freewheel: Regina
Saddle: Ideale 90
Seatpost: Simplex SLJ
Stem: Milremo
Handlebar: Philippe

Frame tubing: Reynolds 531 DB
Fork tubing: Reynolds 531 DB

1963 - Mondia Super Competition

Obviously the most successful swiss framebuilder Mondia is not very well known outside of Suisse. I do not know why unless Ferdy Kübler and Hugo Koblet introduced swiss cyclist very early to the international crowd as to be powerful and strong.

 

Mondia frames and bicycles were produced until 2013 in Sägetstrasse 116, Strengelbach, CH near Zurich. 

Besides Tebag, Allegro, Tigra and Del Po these old Mondia frames are not only due to their quite excellent workmanship but also because of their beautiness with that the selected color accents and designs amongst the most beautiful frames that I know.

I luckily was able to source this beauty - a 1963 Mondia Super Competition frame

 

1963 - Frejus Tipo Professionel Pista

Frejus was founded in 1896 in Torino by Emmo Ghelfi and run by him until 1946.

The brand was later acquired by Emilio Bozzi and co-produced in Milan with his Legnano and Woolsit brands. After Emilio Bozzi got assasinated by the Italian terrorist group Brigate Rosse the brand license was obtained by Bianchi and in 1988 a new usage of Legnano took place in a Bianchi financed team, starring Maurizio Fondriest.

Frejus made their first international appearance in sports by supporting riders and the italian national team starting at the end of the 1920´s with great success.

Fejus gathered first appearance in larger numbers and knowledge abroad when imported to the UK by Jaggard and Mills in 1950.

Frejus furthermore had an impressive track record having won the world championships on both road and track in 1930, 1932 and 1948 and on road in 1951, 1953 and 1954.  The list of champion riders included such names as Guiseppe Olmo, Cino Cinelli and even Gino Bartali. Their reputation was to be further enhanced when the Swiss rider Ferdie Kubler won the 1950 Tour de France and the World Championship on the road a year later.

In the UK George Lander, Les West and Dave Bedwell formed a home-grown Frejus team and also brought success in 1950.

Designed by the Ghelfi brothers, the frames were defined by its unusual frame angles of 72 degrees for the head and 73 degrees for the seat tube that created a short top tube in order to reduce torsion and bringing the rider over the bottom bracket but also producing a balanced ‘hands off’ ride. With other words this design was, what Cino Cinelli might has been thinking of when riding other frames then a Frejus and he wanted to re-create when he started his business in 1949.

In the late 60's Frejus and Legnano bikes were very popular in US too. They had a "Cinelliesque" seatstay attachment, fun paint with great contrasting panels, and lots of Italian character.

Actually, Frejus bikes from the 50's are somewhat common in US and Italy but something rare in middle europe. The famous shop in New York ran by Thomas Avenia back then was the focal point for both Frejus and Legnano bikes in the US.

"These were the bikes that scores or U.S racers rode during the dark days of U.S bicycle racing when a small but highly dedicated group of enthusiasts upheld the cycling faith. ... Besides, a clean or restored Frejus IS a beautiful bike. These bikes are collectible for all these reasons and more." Sheldon Brown supposed on his webside.

Ercole Baldini broke the hour record for pro riders with 46.394 km on September 19, 1956 on Milan's Vigorelli track on a Frejus Tipo Professionel Pista. With this he topped the just three months old record of five-time Tour de France winner Jacques Anquetil to 235 m.  

Baldini turned pro in 1957 after he had become Olympic champion in the road race in Melbourne 1956. Because of his titles and his success Baldini often is called the Campionissimo in Italy. In 1958 he won the Road Cycling World Championship of professionals riding a Legnano Tipo Roma.

Please stay tuned to see pictures of a 1963 Tipo Professionel Pista. 

1963 - Cinelli S.C. Tipo Super Corsa

Cino Cinelli, born in Montespertoli (near Florence) in 1916, was a successful bicycle racer in Italy, winning Milan-San Remo in 1943. Cino raced as independent pro (1937), and team pro for Fréjus (1938-39), Bianchi (1940-43) and Benotto (1944).

After WW II (1949) he started building frames by using some of the ideas he had created during those years of racing and founded company Cino Cinelli & C. in Milano specialized in distributing cycle racing accessories.

Cino assumed frames needs to be stiffer and the geometry to be to relaxed on most of the models of that era. He created a fork crown that had sloping shoulders and internal lugs allowing blades to become shorter and creating a stiffer fork and redesigned also the seat collar, bringing the seatstays behind the lug rather that along side it.

At this time Cinelli frames shows semi-sloping fork crown with or without point on outside of fork leg and seat cluster that is Frejus-style with separate seat tube collar  and were soldered by Luigi Valsassina, whom Cino lured away from Bianchi in order to begin production of Cinelli frames with a planned output of round about 250 frames per year..

Previously Valsassina built frames for Fausto Coppi when he rode for Bianchi. Thus nobody should be surprised Fausto Coppi beeing the first who used these new features when he raced on a Cinelli frame in 1947.

Some years later Ole Ritter rode on a Cinelli frame when setting up the hour record in 1968. 

Franco Testa, Mario Vallotto, Luigi Arienti and Mario Vigna set up an Olympic Record of 4:28:88 in the 1960th semifinals in Rome, where the Italian national cycling squad took six gold medals at all.

We won´t forget Viktor Kapitonov's legendary victory riding a Cinelli Mod. B at the 1960 Rome Olympics in which he first mistakenly thought of having won already only to discover that there was one lap remaining an then sprinting out the home town favorite to claim the gold medal in the Individual Road Race. Within all Adverts Kapitonov is presented riding a Modell S.C.

Even the US national team squad was riding Cinelli frames when pedaling for olympic honors.

 
Cinelli Frames were produced in small quantities only and used for Olympic and World Championship events from National Teams mainly. Please remember: When Cino founded his business in 1949 his enterprise begins by serving federations and clubs, which at this time represents the entire Italian racing market.

At the start of the Fifties Cino Cinelli & C became worldwide sales representative for Columbus tubing.  

At the end of the Seventies Cino Cinelli, who has an eye towards retirement and watching Antonio Colombo and his Columbus tubes business grown in recent years, suggests that the two companies might have a vision and passion that would be able to let Cinelli & C.grow accordingly easy and fast.

Production processes and usage of the frames changed when Cinelli sold his company to the Colombo group in 1979 . Back then serial numbers start to run in sequence and to indicate the date of birth.

Mario Camilotto mentioned to have personally built every Cinelli Super Corsa from the time that Antonio Colombo stepped into Cinelli business until frame builder Giovanni Losa took over in the early 1990s, who did the job until 2008.

Within a Ron Kitching 1960 catalog the top of the line Modell S.C. ist refeerded to as a Super Corsa for the first time; prior to that the Modell S.C. always was called Speciale Corsa.

In 1963 "serial" production of Modell S.C. with Reynolds 531 main tubes and Columbus fork and stays ends and Cinelli switched to Columbus SL (Strada Leggera) tubing overall; but Reynolds 531 main tubes were still available on request. The Mod. B was made out of Columbus main tubes and Falck fork and stays. 

It might have been the time when Valsassina retired and Chirico took over soldering frames until he was superseded by Mario Camilotto in round about 1978/79.

For older Cinelli frames the most significant keys in dating the frame are:

• Campagnolo Sport derailleur spring anchor-hole no longer appears in rear dropout in about 1965
• Frames no longer supplied with chrome Cinelli "Supercorsa" headset and chrome Cinelli bottom bracket (track bike supplied with clip-style headset) in about 1965.
• The Bottom Bracket Oil Port disappeared in about 1965
• Campagnolo dropout loses "boss" for the Sport derailleur spring hole in late 60s
• The 3 holes in the lugs appeared in about 1968.

Further on  the Special Corsa ("A" model) is defined by its sloping fork crown and build with Reynolds 531 frame tubes and forks and stays with Columbus double butted tubes until 1963, where the "B" and "C" model have a conventional flat fork crown. 

In the period of 1972 to 76 a special made to order Mod. S.C. Leggerissimo was made for Radsport Brugelmann in Frankfurt, Germany; These frames allways were colored yellow with red head tube and show six holes arranged in circle with the seventh hole in center at the bottom of BB shell. 

Additionally you might be able to date your frame by having a look at the Cinelli head badge also. These differ as pointed out below:

1949 - 1958 56mm Cinelli crest paint-filled silver-plate over brass head badge
1958 - 1971 51mm Cinelli crest paint-filled silver-plate over brass head badge
1971 - 1978 Cinelli crest anodized aluminum head badge
1978 - 1979 Cinelli crest decal head badge
since 1979 - today Flying C decal head badge

The Mod. Riviera was originally built for the English and German markets by a builder from Monza, who never built under his own name, according to an interview with Andrea Cinelli. Over the years the Riviera was built by various companies later on, including Garlatti in Parma. Additionally Cinelli offered juvenile bikes, boys and girls Rivieras, along with city bikes (Condorino), all made by various companies over the years, but the Mod. S.C. and Mod. B were always made in house.

Please stay tuned to see a 1963 build Tipo Super Corsa reassembled and to be pedaled around nice places in Vienna.

1963 - Bauer Rennsport (Randonneur)

Searching for a Bauer Weltmeister with Reynolds 531 tubing i came accross this light blue Bauer Rennsport and couldn´t withdraw to buy it.

This bike is setup to something what could be called the randonneur standard and equipped with the following components:

Bottom Braket: Bauer with Campagnolo non cottered axle
Headset: Bauer
Crankset: Stronglight Mod. 93
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Gear Levers: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Brake Levers: Weinmann
Brakes: Weinmann Vainqueur 800
Wheelset: Campagnolo Record hubs with MAVIC clincher rims
Freewheel: Regina Extra 5-speed
Saddle: Brooks B17 narrow, honey
Seatpost: Campagnolo
Stem: Philippe Mod. 75
Handlebar:?

Frame tubing: Reichel
Fork tubing: Reichel