Contini Aero F&F 61c-c

I got to thinking this morning that I should sell this frame as 12 months on it's still right at the back of the queue and no sign of it being built up into something rideable.

It's a Contini Aero, resprayed a kind of Cinelli blue. Tubes are apparently Columbus Neuron with a Genius fork. Both frame & fork fully chromed. The tubes are heavily reshaped, at first glance looking like MAX however with a pronounced aero shape. Not sure if the headtube lugs are MAX modified to fit the slightly different shape of these tubes or something else entirely. Downtube is bi-oval like MAX and the seat tube also tapers to what looks similar to a MAX bottom bracket shell.

130 rear, 27,2 seatpost, 22,2 stem, BSC bottom bracket. Stronglight A9 headset spins smoothly and is in good aesthetic condition too.

I actually forgot to measure it up again this morning but from memory it's 61 or 60.5c-c and 59cm in length.

The repaint is only so-so, IMO it really requires another layer of laquer.

Only issue worth noting is the rear derailleur cable guide has been stressed a little and the ends have splayed a bit. I can't see it being an issue long term with a properly sized cable/ferrule setup.

Ideally looking to recoup what I payed, 250eur here in Paris, with shipping (EU) & Paypal fees looking at 310eur max.

Lovely!

I'm a fan of shaped tubes, so I did a little research on Contini.

The obvious answer was that the bikes were made for Silvano Contini, as is common for ex-racers to do when they retire.

But I can't find any reference to him doing this.

However there is a Spanish brand, although they don't make road bikes, so perhaps the name is a coincidence.

What is interesting is the use of the Cinelli logo on the lugs and in Contini's head tube badge.

Apparently the lugs used on these bikes don't appear in the Cinelli catalogues and aren't found on other bikes.

The use of the Cinelli logo in such a blatant way seems unlikely if it wasn't authorised by Cinelli and it also seems unlikely that they would produce custom lugs for such a low volume manufacturer (Contini are quite scarce).

Curious...

Here are a couple more I found:

• https://get.google.com/albumarchive/114140439450188888660/album/AF1QipNcutTJj3llXcE2LvVaKBkjl23JXc9q4m3f3044

• https://www.dropbox.com/sh/is2r0o00c1gbtul/i7t6W2czaI

How long is the head tube? It is a beaut...

Head tube is 18.7 cm

Alas just a bit too small for me... GLWS

Hi
Is this still on sale?

As you suspected Contini's use of the flying C wasn't with Cinelli approval snd there were legal actions taken. Contini insisted their use predated Cinelli's.
I've had 2 and both quite nicely made and finished.