Nubra 

This belongs to a bike aficionado, now in his late 80's and wanting to find a new home for his long used road bike. He was a co-founder of SCCCC, or the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club and rode for many many years here leading group rides. He would like to have some idea of its value but does not need to get a top price for it.
Oli has told me that he had this bike professionally re-chromed, with the copper nickle plating method at a place in San Jose, CA.
He planed to give it to a local charity as an object for auction, but I convinced him that this bike needs to go where it will be loved.
Hope you can help set a fair, but not demanding price, as Oli would be delighted to get this bike to a home via this forum (I told him about it, he doesn't do much on computers).
If you need more photos lmk. I can only post 5 here, but I think I can add posts and will try. Seat tube is 58cm CC and TT is 56.5
Cheers,
Nubra

KonAaron Snake 

This seems like a post to sell the bike, which has a different place, and which also requires membership. I'd call it a Cinelli Super Corsa when you sell it.

I'm going to wait for some others to chime in first...because I don't feel like I have a sense on how the chroming impacts things. I'm also not as good at dating Cinellis as some others here...I believe this looks around 74ish. If no one offers better advice than I can, I'll throw out my opinion.

Moisture

WOw. what is the asking price?

joesch

Where do you plan to sell it?
Here on BF or another market place??
if ebay then just set a reserve price for the min price the seller wants.
A BF buyer would probably be buying to love (ride) and hopefully not flip.

Nubra 

I did post it here trying to get an appraisal so that we can then post, on this forum,on the sales thread.
Here are a few more photos.
Thanks!

Nubra 

That is what we are trying to determine.
Cheers

KonAaron Snake 

Sounds good! This forum is stocked with mostly cheap bastards BTW...you're not going to get ebay value here. I'll give my appraisal tomorrow morning with a spectrum of values if I don't think you've gotten good input. Just to be transparent...I am not interested as a buyer.

Nubra 

We do hope to sell it here, but if recommended will to the Bay. I don't doubt that there are buyers on this forum that may buy to flip, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It would eventually get to someone who would want to ride (I hope). Thanks Here are some more detail photos.

VtwinVince

Those tapered lugs are molto bene.

beech333

I'd be careful selling it here for a large discount. There are a lot of people who will swear they want it for themselves, or that they have been searching for years, only to flip it for more money.

I'd put myself in the crowd that would be looking for a Cinelli, but I feel that the chrome really hurts the value, but I particularly dislike chrome. Some others will be enthusiastic about it, so that could negate itself.

My guess is that you would likely get between $1500 and $2000 on Ebay, but I am no expert on these. If this were something I bought, I would plan to get it painted. That said, I don't really have any interest, unless I spotted it for sale at a price that would be good after the trouble of the shipping and professional paint.

Wildwood 

He should sell it thru the SCCCC, if they still exist.
I wasn't a member but rode with them several times (late '80s), there should be some older guys still in the club who would want to buy such a fine example. Especially if the max selling price is not a major concern. Bikes really handle best riding roads they are most familiar with.

Finding a high dollar buyer in the Santa Cruz, San Jose, Monterey area should not be too hard. Giro still in Scotts Valley? There's a possibility. I would post on the several local CraigsList spots = Asking $2500. San Francisco isn't very far either. After all.... a '70s Cinelli with Campy....should start high, unless his time is short, or he has a bunch of other gems to unload as well. Polish up the components (+ luglines) and add back the dropout adjusters.

jiangshi

That's insane.

KonAaron Snake 

Well...I think this has somewhat variable value, mostly due to the chrome. My thoughts are very in line with Beech. Yes - it's a 70s Cinelli SC, but I really don't know what the chrome does here. Chrome does weaken the steel a bit, and while there might be someone for whom that's a selling point, there are others it would be more likely to turn off. It's also on the larger side, which doesn't help, and the bar tape is NOT doing it any favors.

I bought my 68' SC in much worse shape, rattle can paint, but more desirable size for $1,500 from a local vintage bike shop. I think that's about the floor of the value here, and my first thought was somewhere in the 1500-2000 range. I could see it going for more, but I could also see it having a tough time at 1500. It's a tough one for me.

If it were mine, 1500 would be the floor of what I'd take, I'd probably aim for 2k and take 1600.

As a data point, I sold a similar vintage Cinelli SC, but in VERY nice shape, and a desirable size, for $2400? I forget the exact amount,,,around there.

KonAaron Snake 

That was actually my valuation also, although I've been out of the game, and am not certain.

roadcrankr

The nice close-up photos age the bike considerably, in terms of tons of miles. (Maybe 60k+?) Seems a bit tuckered-out to me.
Slap the original saddle on it, replace the bar tape with something less spongy, remove the silly nut on the brake adjuster, new front pads, and thorough cleaning.
Damn...that seems like a lot. Even after all that, it might fetch $1,500, IMHO.

joesch

Why is this as long as its not rusting?
Seems to me that chrome protects the metal as a coating.
BTW, I love shiny metal bikes, especially brushed TI & SS

KonAaron Snake 

I am NOT a metallurgist, and don't pretend to understand the processes, but it makes the steel more brittle. At least that's the position I've heard from frame builders/paint guys.

Side note, I love titanium.

TugaDude

Many frames were chromed fully before painting, so if chroming was a big problem wouldn't we be seeing those frames failing? To me the biggest issue with those frames was that the paint tends to peel off on some because the chrome was too smooth.

KonAaron Snake 

I don't think the position is that it leads to catastrophic failure, rather that it does have some impact. Think of it in terms of aluminum bicycles...we know that aluminum has fatigue, but there are still a whole lot of them around, so does it really matter for most practical applications?

Again, I am HARDLY an expert here, but that's what I've always heard when discussing chrome with frame builders and guys who paint. I am sure someone who knows more than I do...which wouldn't take much...will be around to opine shortly.

smd4

Was the frame chromed originally?

DMC707

If its original chrome, i'd go for 2k minimum

KonAaron Snake 

First post, 2nd paragraph:

"Oli has told me that he had this bike professionally re-chromed, with the copper nickle plating method at a place in San Jose, CA."

This is why it's hard to assess value IMO.

DMC707

Im going to blame my current middle aged need for reading glasses (and my steadfast refusal to acknowledge ) as the reason i missed that

joesch

From what I read, it was re-chromed and probably originally painted.
Not my bike and I dont know more than original poster noted.

Wildwood 

The seller is in the hottest market west of the Appalachian Mountains (maybe less Chicago, but they are still influenced by mid-west pricing). This is Santa Clara/SF/San Mateo/Santa Cruz/Monterey +others counties. You pay more than $2000per month in grass mowing services in nearly every city around the Bay.

$2000 would be the absolute floor for this beauty in one of the nicest biking meccas (with '4 season weather') west of the Mediterranean bordering countries. A classic vintage rider, not so perfect a collector would put it on a wall, but ....a rider. Cinelli. 'California cool' status points as a C&V dude. A join the Cinelli club kinda thing. And only $2500; less than a month's property tax for most.

I'd sell the Campy barends to offset a high price paid.