Cinelli Time Trial “Oria Tube”" is a mysterious Cinelli with virtually no documentation.
It came to me via Spain from an Italian who speaks English with an Italian accent.
Anyway, that’s not really the point.
What’s frustrating is that these two bikes have almost identical specs,
yet the COLNAGO MASTER CHRONO" is significantly heavier—though I haven’t actually weighed them.
The only difference is the front wheel: either “GHIBLI” or “SCIROCCO”.
To be precise, the crank and pedals differ too, but…
All the brake cables are routed internally; the rear one I threaded by pulling it through.
I’m still breaking it in, and the front “GHIBLI” wheel is incredibly responsive—
far more so than the “SCIROCCO”—getting buffeted by wind and it’s scary, so
I temporarily switched to the " SHAMAL for longer rides.
This is light and comfortable—no wind buffeting—but it lacks visual punch.
Still running the classic “one chainring up front, nine sprockets in back.” Both the Cinelli and Colnago are basically single-speed up front, so some kid somewhere will…at traffic lights and such…
say “Mom, there’s a weird one over there!”
“Hey, there’s nothing inside the tire!”
That’s what they tell me.
It’s not a tire! It’s a wheel—not that it matters.
When these kids grow up,
I hope they remember: “There used to be this old guy in the neighborhood who rode a weird bike.”
That’s why I ride
“that weird bike” every single day.
Sleep tight!
