£1,649.99 CINELLI SAETTA ITALO CHICKENCYCLEKIT.CO.UK
One of the most wallet-friendly routes into Campagnolo is 70-year-old Italian brand Cinelli’s 11-speed Centaur-equipped allrounder, designed ‘with endurance racing and long-distance comfort in mind’. Like Cinelli, the Saetta Italo frame has been around a while but it still represents one of the best-value routes into Campag-equipped carbon road bikes.
Cinelli’s Saetta Italo comes with Campagnolo’s Centaur, the brand’s 11-speed set-up designed to compete against Shimano 105, both costing around £400. It lacks carbon but is mechanically pretty much identical to the £735 Potenza (Campag’s Ultegra competitor) and Chorus. The Cinelli cockpit components, Miche Race chainset and wheels major on toughness rather than low weight and the Miche gear complements the Cinelli’s looks. The Saetta’s 8.65kg is reasonable; and the 1,630g frameset weight is fine, if no longer cutting-edge – though such is the ride quality you rarely notice the few extra grams.
Of appeal to triathletes, the Saetta has endurance riding and long-distance comfort in mind. Cinelli puts this down to ‘Skeletal Efficiency Philosophy’, so the top tube is thinner at the centre, like a skeleton, reducing weight without compromising strength. The joints, such as the bottom bracket area, are strengthened, while the curved seatstays improve the carbon lamination. That’s Cinelli’s spiel, and while naturally cynical about bike manufacturers’ love of tech
speak, it really does seem to work. From the
“This Cinelli is most at home regularly tapping out the miles at a decent lick, whether that’s tri training or racing”
very first ride this smoothed out some of our rougher local roads and there were no handling hiccups even on some gravel-surfaced routes.
MULTISPORT APPEAL
Occasional moderate towpath-type ventures are easily within the Cinelli’s remit. Compared with the other test bike from Wilier, it might be slower up hills, but it doesn’t lose out on the descents, with the frame, fork and wheels stiff enough for rapid and controlled changes of direction. But it’s most at home regularly tapping out the miles at a decent lick, whether that’s logging tri training miles, long-distance racing or rolling sportives.
The oversize seatpost doesn’t seem to have a negative impact on comfort, presumably thanks to the frame’s carbon lay-up, geometry and Prologo saddle. We’d no complaints about the cockpit either; its straightforward entry-level alloy bar and stem do a good job. Campag’s Centaur, meanwhile, provides crisp, accurate shifts that offer a solid ‘clunk’ and greater feedback than Shimano’s somewhat softer-shifting levers. So is it better or worse than Shimano (or SRAM)? Neither, it works very well, just differently, though the 12-27 cassette left us searching for a bigger sprocket on the steepest climbs so think about where you’ll be training and what your race schedule tends to look like in terms of vertical ascent.
We were also surprised to see non-cartridge brakes – usually the province of entry-level bikes – but the braking was still good, and would be improved further with inexpensive cartridge blocks. So while the Saetta may not be the newest carbon kid around, it’s still a very good design – comfortable, composed, elegantly finished and boasting some Latin class.