I took a chance and placed a bid on what I saw in the picture…

A rare ,seemingly pristine, Cinelli The Next Machine with what looks like Campagnolo mtb gruppo.

The same image is on the very venerable Landlords cycling blog, here it’s purported to NOS with a Campagnolo gruppo, only this post was in January 2012.

The delivery from Italy was taking an age, and the vendor not the most responsive, so I entered a dispute and got a  full refund.

Then this turned up…

Unbelievably, I found a youtube video of the actual bike..

Nothing like what I thought I’d won, I contacted the vendor.

I said I had his bike and had no intention of paying for it, and if he sent me postage and packaging costs, I would return it gladly.

Then I said I would contact the auction site and report this attempted fraud.

The vendor responded, and very kindly suggested I keep the bike,

so before I stripped it, I tried out some fat tyres and a Cinelli Volare saddle..

The frame is constructed from Columbus Max and TIG welded, and came with a Shimano Deore XT group.

Note the E(elevated)-stay…

Decor is a black satin finish over what appears to be chrome, quite worn, so I have a used Campagnolo Record O R gruppo I will mount on it…

the finished article…

but was sadly STOLEN a few days after these shots, any info leading to recovery will be greatly appreciated!