Cinelli Tutto (2018)

Versatile street warrior from venerable Italian builder

Pros

- Columbus tubing
- removable brake bosses
- impeccable detail

Cons

- nearly 3 kg frameset
- no fender mounts

Review

In Marketing 101 they teach us that a product needs a broad audience to succeed, or at very least a legitimate target market. Famed Italian builder Cinelli, though, have chosen a subculture as their customer base: the dirty, bearded, irreverent bunch of misfits known the world over as fixed gear riders.

The “fixie” subculture emerged a decade or two ago in parallel with the popularity of bike couriers and their admirable urban riding skills and daredevil traffic management.

There is no cooler brand within this world than Cinelli. And it turns out that fixie riders aren’t all grubby bearded hippies – plenty of them are uber cool young professionals who prefer to ride to work rather than drive or take the train, so Cinelli have put together an urban track bike that does it all (“tutto” is "all" in Italian).

Sold as a frame only, the Tutto can, in theory, effortlessly morph from messenger work bike with front racks to criterium racer to track bike to single speed cyclo-cross machine to indestructible belt-drive commuter.

The raised bottom bracket and geometry guarantees performance and fast cornering ability, both in crits as well as on the track. The cantilever brake studs are removable to create a single speed with brakes or pure fixie, and internal cable routing eyelets are provided for the rear brake.

The Tutto’s geometry reflects its hybrid functionality: true track angles but with clearance sufficient for larger tyres – it will fit 35mm rubber comfortably – and a lightweight Columbus steel frame coupled with a proprietary segmented TIG-welded fork to improve rigidity and handling.

A stainless steel opening system on the drive side seat stay makes for easier maintenance and means that a belt drive system can be fitted to the bike in future, and the fork now has a heavy load segmented crown design, which means that a front rack can be easily mounted if desired.

Why fit a belt drive? A belt drive, an alternative to a chain-based drivetrain system, offers the advantages of being relatively maintenance free, requiring no lube, running virtually silent, having a lifespan approximately twice that of a chain and is lighter.

The color scheme has been upgraded for this year, with last year’s raw lacquer finish being replaced with matte grey coupled with vibrant Cinelli purple and orange detailing.

Despite the marketing around the versatility of this bike, it seems unlikely it will be making many appearances at your local cyclocross track or velodrome. It’s a street bike, pure and simple, and a very cool one at that.

- Review by Marcus Speed.