I spent a couple of days at Cinelli's press camp in Milan in October: touring Columbus's tube and component facilities – peering at how raw tubes become a frame – and sneaking a short ride on its new Speciale Corsa XCR near Lake Como. But as my time on the bike was limited to one spin down and up the Ghisallo climb, plus a couple of extra days touring the lake after the camp, the following is not a review. It's a first look at a bike that is, in every sense of the word, an Italian boutique bike.
Cinelli calls this the highest expression of its Made-in-Milano programme, and that pitch makes more sense once you've seen how tightly interlaced Cinelli and sister company Columbus are. The supply chain for these bikes is very short: steel tubes arrive at Columbus, where they are formed and butted down to wafer-thin wall sections, then passed next door to become frames. However, paint is done just outside the factory, but in essence, everything from raw alloy to finished frame happens a stone's throw away; the bike never leaves greater Milan, which is the story Cinelli emphasises.
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