ID for 1950s handlebars

[rogerrabbit]

I have acquired a set of steel bars on a 1962 Mercian. The bars have only a number 13 stamped near the end of the bar in the same style I see on other Cinelli bars. The clamp area diameter is 26.4. There was a #13 Cinelli bar in the 1950s which was called the Giro d'Italia, but these bars are nothing like the later Giro D'Italia shape. Mine have a deep drop and more of a track shape with the drops being quite a lot wider than the top.

Has anyone got a pic of early Cinelli bars? And has anyone ever seen an early Cinelli bar with no badges? I have read somewhere that they do exist. Thirdly, has anyone seen other brands of bars with stamped model numbers like the Cinelli bars?

Pics tomorrow
Cheers
Roger

[singlespeedscott]

From the old 43bikes site the old M.13 stamped Cinelli steel bars were called the Giro d'Italia. Apparently width was a 15 1/4".

Probably not much help I suppose.

Just a question. I have sold a couple of sets of Cinelli steel handlebars and they had a clamp of 25.4mm. I just thought it was the alloy bars that had the 26.4mm clamp. What's the go?

[rogerrabbit]

I have a later set of steel Cinelli bars (1960s) that I assumed were 26.4, and they fit the same stem as these older bars. I assumed both were therefore 26.4
I haven't actually measured them and I will do that tonight.

I note that the later Giro d'Italia bars are not model 13.

[rogerrabbit]

pics of the bars are below. The 13 stamp is is the right place and of the right style for them to be Cinelli. Any comments would be appreciated.

[rogerrabbit]

And here is a pic of a Cinelli Mod C with the same shape bars

[singlespeedscott]

Man look at how much room is on those drops! Nice and shallow with not much reach, you could sit on those for hours.

IMO they look like an extreme version of a Giro d'Italia.

[rogerrabbit]

The frame they are on has a rather long 62cm top tube, so I really need to use these bars due to the short reach.

[Jonboy]

Hi, your bars look the same as the Cinelli no 13 bars that are on my 1957 JRJ ( Bob Jackson) International track bike. My bike has a steel track stem and the bars are stamped 13 in the same place as yours. I'm new to this forum otherwise I would post a photo. I've half taped my bars with cotton tape. They look great.

[rogerrabbit]

Hi Jonboy,

Do yours have Cinelli Shield logos? Mine have none.

Also I note mine have a distortion of the bars on the top curve toward the stem, where the bars are not as round (as in their tubular shape) as I would have expected.

[Jonboy]

The bars only have the no 13 stamped in the same place as yours, ie no logo or anything else, the stem has the Cinelli logo and name stamped on the top as expected. I know that these are the original bars and stem as I know the history of my bike. (I have a copy of the original workshop job sheet)
I came across a copy of a Cinelli brochure on the net some time ago when I was restoring this bike and it clearly showed the no 13 as their track bar. I have a couple of old Giro bars and it's nothing like the Giro bars.
From your photos, and comparing to my bars which I know are Cinelli, I'm sure yours are the same. They look very cool on the bike.