# What color for my Cinelli?



## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

I just started a new restoration project on a Cinelli SuperCorsa I recently purchased. She's got chipped paint in multiple places, so I'm looking for some colors to choose from. This will be built up as a retro-modern build: lugged steel with Campy Centaur 10 speed group I have in my closet.

Here's the current color.










But I've seen some frames in the following colors that I like/after some Google searching (thanks as well to zmudshark for the links):


































Anyone care to post their favorite steel Cinelli colors? Just looking for ideas before I make the decision. Thanks in advance.


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## r_mutt (Aug 8, 2007)

how about the traditional racing cinelli color- argento.


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

r_mutt said:


> how about the traditional racing cinelli color- argento.



Post a picture of Cinelli argento, please. I went to:

www.colorhunter.com/tag/argento/1

There are lots of colors. Of the photos above, I think the white frame caught my eye.


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## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

Ferrari Red.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

whatever you do, use the old skool decals, you'll end up with something unique. most cinellis I've seen are primary colors like red or blue... so maybe white or green (with the old skool decals)


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## supercorsa (Apr 23, 2002)

Richard said:


> Ferrari Red.


actually, in vintage cinelli-speak it was called firemist orange.

my mid-80's supercorsa is a pearl white beauty, so i'm kinda partial to that...


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

@ r_mutt: could you post a specific color. I must be confused as in the current Cinelli website the Argento currently designates a specific model. Pls enlignten the unschooled in Cinelli lore. Thanks.

@FTF : interesting idea that had crossed my mind. I only hesitate as the frame has the more modern braze-ons of a '90s frame. Certainly the old school headtube & seat tube badges are more interesting. I'm not sure if I'll get the headtube decal reproduced or source a headtube badge itself. 

Thanks for the input evryone.


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## r_mutt (Aug 8, 2007)

this is the best i could find in argento (btw, argento is silver in italian)  :






















check this thread for a classic cinelli in the traditional cinelli racing color:https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=5313856&highlight=cinelli#post5313856


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

stelvio1925 said:


> @ r_mutt: could you post a specific color. I must be confused as in the current Cinelli website the Argento currently designates a specific model. Pls enlignten the unschooled in Cinelli lore. Thanks.
> 
> @FTF : interesting idea that had crossed my mind. I only hesitate as the frame has the more modern braze-ons of a '90s frame. Certainly the old school headtube & seat tube badges are more interesting. I'm not sure if I'll get the headtube decal reproduced or source a headtube badge itself.
> 
> Thanks for the input evryone.




or black, since the lugs are chromed but only if your centaur has no carbon. the headbadge could be easily reproduced, as a sticker or real badge (jen green). I would not worry about modern touches w/ retro look (even if your centaur is carbon), you did see that bastard bianchi produced, right? and yours would look a millions times better than that. iiwm, I'd go for unique rather than run-of-the-mill


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

*Argento restoration*

Happened to be looking at the frame painter recommended (Toronto) on the Colnago Super restoration thread and was looking through the gallery and spotted these...

Looks like a Noah is doing great paintjobs at Velocolourhttp://www.velocolour.com/index.html

(I did like my old bright yellow rattle can CInelli--another bike that should be still with me...)


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## nenad (May 5, 2004)

how about blue? I think it'd look great.


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## zmudshark (Jan 28, 2007)

Another color that looks nice is the metallic gray, maybe called Anthracite?

That being said, I'm partial to blue ;-)

BTW, I have the vector art for the Cinelli decals, if you need them, PM me your email address, and I'll send them along. They are in Adobe Illustrator format (.ai), but Gimp opens it just fine.


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

I like the green...it would be cool a couple of shades darker tho.

something like a metallic British Racing Green...or whatever color Pontiac put on my dad's '69 GTO...


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## kiwisimon (Oct 30, 2002)

White pearl Cinelli is a classic look. Chrome parts with black bars and black hoods. Use white outer cabling.


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

Two more color schemes I found recently that look good:

Is this Argento? seems to have a hint of blue.


















Or this version of RED:










Burgundy (found this from a forum post here from 2004):


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I have never understood why people ask for advice on what color to choose. It's simple. Pick the color you like best. What difference does it make what other people think? It's your bike.


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## r_mutt (Aug 8, 2007)

colors are hard. sometimes people just need some suggestions. that may lead to a new color, or it may even reinforce the color that they had in mind all along. i was traveling with a friend, and he saw a hat that he thought would look good on me so he bought it for me. it wasn't my first choice of the hats available, and it was something that i never would have thought to buy for myself- but what was i going to say? he insisted on this particular hat. in any case, i thanked him for the hat, and later, it grew on me and i really liked it- this hat that i would have never considered buying. . 

btw- that is argento  one thing about colors, especially on-line is that all of our monitors are different, combined with the fact that the picture probably wasn't white balanced, etc, etc... that's why it may seem slightly blue. 


now, for a non-traditional take, this is my current favorite color i've seen on a bike:


(taken from ligero's nahbs pics on: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157614447629887/)


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

tarwheel2 said:


> I have never understood why people ask for advice on what color to choose. It's simple. Pick the color you like best. What difference does it make what other people think? It's your bike.


Ah, but you'll miss out on one of the pleasures of joining a community of like-minded cycling enthusiasts: its the sharing of the experience & seeking other ideas outside one's own preferences (I'm a noob at this ya know). I know I've also enjoyed reading other people's threads detailing their bike builds. My apologies if I've wasted your bandwidth.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

tarwheel2 said:


> I have never understood why people ask for advice on what color to choose. It's simple. Pick the color you like best. What difference does it make what other people think? It's your bike.




so you don't overlook a potentially cool choice that you may not have thought/heard about or seen before? asking for advice is one thing, actually letting the peanut gallery make the choice is another


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

*colors*



stelvio1925 said:


> My apologies if I've wasted your bandwidth.


I've wasted more than my share of bandwidth over the years.

To me, colors are very personal, like taste in food. There are no right or wrong answers. It all comes down to your personal preferences.

Eg., I can't tell you how many threads I have read on these boards where other cyclists are going gaga over a bike that I personally find ugly as sin. I generally refrain from criticizing other people's bikes because I figure it's a matter of taste.

My advice is go to some website where people post photos of their bikes, look through a bunch of them, and see which ones you like the best. The photo section here is a good start. Also check out:
- www.cyclofiend.com
- velospace.org/browse 
- www.fixedgeargallery.com/


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

Update on the Cinelli paint:










Almost done with the vintage Campy build, waiting on a few parts to fine tune the fit. Anyone have a 120mm Cinelli 1A, XA or XE stem with 26.4mm clamp diameter? or a Cinelli Campione del Mundo 66-40 bar in 26.0 diameter?


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

It looks excellent. Very classy. But try to get a more period specific headset.

Hey! It's my 3000th post!


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2009)

I was going to say the red, but if you have an alloy centaur group that would look really nice on the green.


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## Scooper (Mar 4, 2007)

Richard said:


> Ferrari Red.


+1

Hey, it's Italian; respray it in the same color.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to use the older style graphics on a Cinelli frame that didn't have them originally. Nice color. 


stelvio1925 said:


> Update on the Cinelli paint:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Uncle Grumpy (Jul 25, 2005)

So now's the wrong time to chime and say "Go with the original orange, I like that" huh?

I like white, especially pearl. I like black, orange, red, silver, dark grey and off-white too.

I like the Gios blue, especially on a Gios.

Fat lot of help I was. I had the same dilemna when I restored my Colnago. Ended up going with a cream.

Good luck. I like burgundy. The colour too.

Grumps


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## matchmaker (Aug 15, 2009)

stelvio1925 said:


> Update on the Cinelli paint:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a great color scheme. Congrats.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

Mapei said:


> It looks excellent. Very classy. But try to get a more period specific headset.
> 
> Hey! It's my 3000th post!




that hs does look ginormous


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## that guy again (Jul 14, 2008)

I like that color, but I agree, I would have left the original paint. The original is always preferable, unless it's totally trashed.


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

merckxman said:


> Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to use the older style graphics on a Cinelli frame that didn't have them originally. Nice color.


I agreed wholeheartedly, merckxman  ...but I just couldn't wait for the right sized frame to show up on flea bay, and I probably couldn't afford the price, and would be too old to ride it before I could find one ... so I gave in, sorry  . At least I know its an illusion, and any Cinelli enthusiast will know as well.



FatTireFred said:


> that hs does look ginormous


 Don't worry, a proper Super Record headset of the same period has been installed.  



that guy again said:


> I like that color, but I agree, I would have left the original paint. The original is always preferable, unless it's totally trashed.


Unfortunately, the paint was in such poor shape, fading, and scratched & chipped all over, I couldn't leave it as is. Surely I'll take better care of the bike, and ride it as often as I can.

It's almost done. After i test ride the fit, I can tape up the bars. and finish the build next week.


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## r_mutt (Aug 8, 2007)

i think it's looks fantastic. good job! 

who did the paint?


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