Founded in 1947 by former professional cyclist and Milano - Sanremo winner Cino Cinelli, the brand that bears his name was born into a country rebuilding itself from the devastation of World War II. Fueled by post-war optimism and the economic boost of the Marshall Plan, Italy was entering a new era of prosperity, one where cycling wasn't just a sport, but a cultural symbol of resilience, aspiration, and beauty.

Cino Cinelli, known for his obsessive precision and relentless curiosity, quickly turned his passion for racing into an obsession with design. In just two decades, Cinelli became a leader in racing components, creating the first-ever plastic-shelled saddle (the Unicanitor), patenting the world’s first cage-free racing pedals, and introducing the Supercorsa frame: a legendary design still in production almost 70 years later.

But the story of Cinelli doesn’t stop at technical excellence.

In 1978, Cinelli entered a new chapter when it was acquired by Antonio Colombo, then-president of Columbus Tubing. Colombo, a visionary who saw the bicycle as the most elegant and efficient object ever designed, repositioned the brand not only as a performance leader, but as a cultural artefact. His primary tool: design.

One of his first moves was to commission a new logo from a young Italo Lupi, who would later go on to design iconic identities for Prada, Fiorucci, and the Turin Winter Olympics. Stripped of any heraldic or traditional cycling symbolism, the new Cinelli logo was modern, playful, and iconoclastic, quickly becoming one of the most imitated logos in contemporary cycling history.

From that moment on, Cinelli became a platform for experimentation. Collaborating with Milan’s radical design collective Alchimia, including Alessandro Mendini, Alessandro Guerriero, and Carla Ceccariglia, Cinelli blurred the lines between function and art. Over the following years, Alchimia would reimagine key brand elements: redesigning the Supercorsa, introducing a new mountain bike, bar tape collections, print catalogues, and even an entire apparel system. Every touchpoint became a design object.

In 1981, Cinelli launched Gran Ciclismo, Italy’s first lifestyle cycling store. Its selection included not just Cinelli bikes, but Oakley eyewear, Patagonia outerwear, and other carefully curated global imports, presented in a retail space designed by Franco Raggi with lighting by Achille Castiglioni. Its clientele included artists, architects, and cultural figures like Eric Clapton and Sir Norman Foster.

In the decades that followed, Cinelli continued to innovate, both technologically and culturally:

- The Rampichino (1985), Europe’s first-ever mountain bike
- The Passatore, widely considered the first modern gravel bike
- The Laser Evoluzione, winner of the 1991 Compasso d’Oro, Italy’s most prestigious design award
- The Spinaci bar extensions, described by Bicycling Magazine as the most revolutionary ergonomic shift in a decade

But what has truly defined Cinelli in recent history is its relationship with underground communities. From the streets of New York to alleyways in Milan, Cinelli found new meaning within the global rise of urban cycling and the fixed gear scene in the 2000s.

Far from being a trend follower, Cinelli helped shape this new culture. Collaborations with MASH SF, RVCA, and a network of messengers, skaters, and designers established Cinelli not just as a bike brand, but as a visual language. The Bootleg series, the MASH framesets, and the now iconic Vigorelli track frame weren’t made for the peloton, they were made for night rides, underground races, and city streets. Riders like Kanye West, Red Hook Criterium champions, and graphic designers worldwide helped cement Cinelli as a cult icon of the urban scene.

But perhaps no chapter of the Cinelli story is more emblematic of its uniqueness than the Cinelli Art Program and its deep, authentic relationship with the world of art.

The brand’s early exchanges with Keith Haring in the 1980s were not marketing stunts, they were mutual acts of respect. When Haring painted a Cinelli Laser pursuit frame, adorned with his iconic “Radiant B” motif and dancing figures, he captured the essence of what Cinelli stood for: movement, freedom, rebellion.

This spirit was formalized in the 2010s with the launch of the Cinelli Art Program, a space where artists and cyclists could merge. Initially launched with the RAM Autograph project—a series of carbon fiber handlebars turned into collector’s items by artists like Mike Giant—the program quickly grew into a continuous exploration of art and cycling.

Over the last decade, Cinelli has collaborated with more than 25 international artists, including Futura 2000, Ana Benaroya, Barry McGee, Yoon Hyup, and Russ Pope to name a few. From hand-painted frames and bar tapes to artist-designed caps, Cinelli has transformed everyday components into wearable and rideable artworks. These aren’t just products, they’re statements, extensions of an identity.

Cinelli is one of the few brands that has managed to move fluidly between performance and culture, between sport and art. It is a brand that exists as comfortably in a design museum as it does on the winner’s podium. A name that means as much to a bike messenger as it does to an Olympic champion.

From the early Cino Cinelli’s mechanical obsession to the contemporary poetic vision, Cinelli has never stopped evolving. But its purpose remains the same: to build the most beautiful, radical, and meaningful bicycles in the world.