Cinelli "The Machine" mountian bike

[ylwgto]

Hi,
I am writing to ask the forum about a bike I recently picked up. It is a Cinelli "The Machine" mountian bike with Columbus Maxor ovalized tubes that are beautifully brazed. This bike has a full XT M-730 group (everything) except for the headset which is a Toro Pro Odyssey. The fork is a Specialized future shock FSR M2. I am curious if this is original or a period addition, as I have seen a picture on MOMBAT that has a rigid fork that makes use of the bolt-cable stop and pulley build into the stem, which I have on this bike as well (is it Cinelli also?). Everything is original, except the tires, and the stylized logos on the Cinelli seat match the decals on the frame. The serial number is 36X.
I have read up on "The Absolute Machine" at MOMBAT, as well as what little I can find online and it seems that this is a collaborative effort between Gary Fisher and Cinelli to bring the MTB craze to Italy and the quality of Italian made road bikes to the US MTB world.
I have never seen one of these and there is a paucity of information out there. Do es anyone have any insight or backround on this bike? It is pretty cool and super light for a 20.5" steel bike.
What would be period correct tires for this ride (town and countrys???)? Any idea of its value to collectors? Are there any brochures out there that you know if in cyberspace?
Thanks in advance for the help and feel free to let me know if you need any further detailed info. Enjoy the pics! I plan to wet sand it to restore the paint, clean all the components, get the right tires and cruise it!
Best Regards,
ylwgto

 

[pete_mcc]

That bike would have originally come with a set of rigid forks as the specialized forks weren't oem to anyone but specialized.

I agree with the point that it was a colaboration between Fisher and Cinelli, but it was all about bringing the Italian flare to the Americans rather than MTBing to the Italians as Cinelli had been producing mountain bikes in italy for a number of years prior to this bike. I had a very early Cinelli mountain bike, but it was a seriously euro bike with a multi-flouro paint job and other odd touches that wouldn't have worked as well in the US market.

I loved my Cinelli, was superbly made out of early Columbus MTB tubing but, sadly, like your one it was enormous and I had to get rid in the end

From what I have seen on some of the Fisher Cinelli bikes is that the frames were Cinelli but often the finishing kit would have either been Fisher or other American branded parts.

In the UK there were very few places that sold Cinellli, almost always road bike shops looking to extend their range with a brand they knew, I never saw any advertising in the UK so don't think it was very high profile. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you about the US

 

[pete_mcc]

Forgot to say, the stem could be an Odyssey Vapor pro stem (does the pulley have an eccentric cable guide on it, almost egg shaped?), it would match your headset. That said, if the forks have been changed then the headset may also have been changed but the stem does look original (why would you add sus forks and then add a new stem with a cable pulley?)

 

[Campy Cino]

Hello there.
I own a Cinelli The Machine from 1991, and your one seems to be older than mine. Also I didn't know 20.5" size was available.
Anyway if you wish to get more info you can visit www.mtb-forum.it
As far as I can see the main differences with my bike are headset size (1" vs. 1.25") and the seatstays path.

 

[shanghai_tim]

I guess you will find out the value when your auction ends.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Cinelli-Gar ... 3a53a1b2b8

 

[mechagouki]

I guess you will find out the value when your auction ends.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Cinelli-Gar ... 3a53a1b2b8

OUCH!