Italy’s Cinelli is introducing a new Pressure aero road bike for 2021, with disc brakes and fully internal cables/hoses.
The Pressure’s T700 carbon-fibre frame is said to be designed with the reduction of drag in mind, and you get well-established aero bike features such as dropped seatstays, a seat tube that curves around the leading edge of the rear tyre, and a short head tube with an integrated fork crown (complete with a little smiley face that’s revealed when you corner!). The seatpost is aero profiled too.
The Pressure, which is UCI approved, takes a Press Fit 86.5 x 41mm bottom bracket while the fork turns on 1 1/8in (upper) and 1 1/2in (lower) bearings. The thru axles are common 12x100mm and 12x142mm sizes.
There’s enough space for tyres up to 700C x 30mm.
Cinelli claims a weight of 990g for the frame (in a medium size) and 390g for the fork.
For comparison, Giant’s Propel Advanced SL Disc aero road bike has a claimed weight of 982g and a fork weight of 378g, and Bianchi claims a frame weight of 990g (+/-5%, 55cm version) and a fork weight of 420g for its Oltre XR4 Disc. Both of those bikes have been around for a while now. Several bikes launched in 2020, including the Specialized Tarmac SL7, have combined aero features with lower weights; the FACT 10r version (the more affordable model) has a claimed frame weight of 920g.
Cinelli uses FSA’s ACR (Aerodynamic Cable Routing) system to plumb all cables (mechanical or electronic) and hoses internally through the handlebar/stem and into the frame and fork. It’s a really neat design.
The Pressure will be available in the UK in a Shimano Ultegra spec (so not the same as the bike shown in these pictures) with hydraulic disc brakes, an FSA Gossamer 50/34-tooth chainset, and Vision Team 30 TLR Disc wheels. It’ll be priced £3,799.
If that build doesn’t float your boat, the Cinelli Pressure will also be available as a frameset for £2,399. This includes a seatpost that’s specific to the frame. Stock is expected in the UK at the beginning of February 2021.
Get more info from Cinelli’s website or UK distributor Chicken CycleKit.
19 thoughts on “Pressure drop – Cinelli launches Pressure aero road bike for 2021”
You wouldn’t know it’s called
You wouldn’t know it’s called the “Pressure” though would you.
I mean, it’s only mentioned on the frame 7 frikkin times.
And once on the bars, just in case you missed it.
And not a word about it on
And not a word about it on the tyres. Typical, huh.
That’s tame. My bike says
That’s tame. My bike says ‘Canyon’ on it 17 times.
Amateurs… my bike tells me
Amateurs… my bike tells me it’s a Wilier no less than 27 times, along with other exciting sounding things like a Monocoque System and a Pro Race.
Thanks Cinelli – Im now going
Thanks Cinelli – Im now going to spend the rest of the day getting earwormed by Queens Under Pressure.
Phony Queen and Beatlemania
Phony Queen and Beatlemania have bitten the dust: Grab a copy of the Clash’s London Calling. Then [come out of the cupboard you boys and girls!] do a search for photos of a somewhat battered Fender belonging to Bassman Paul Simonon.
I, I live by the river….
Follow rule 5 and grab a copy
Follow rule 5 and grab a copy of the soundtrack to ‘The harder they come’
pockstone wrote:
Good idea. But: The BB “PRESSURE ” sticker and the “PRESSURE” sticker on the guitar…. London calling to the imitation zone ?
Well spotted…
Well spotted…
I hope that fork stands up to abuse better than the neck of PS’s bass did!
Lovely looking frame from a
Lovely looking frame from a great name. But they lost me at press fit bb.
Looks funky, well done
Looks funky, well done Cinelli. Interesting to see lots of Italian brands starting to use ACR, standardisation on the sly, only a good thing.
nice looking bike but a lot
nice looking bike but a lot of money to pay for an aero bike with no wind tunnel test data? (For what it’s worth)
EddyBerckx wrote:
cycling weekly are now suggesting it’s an open mould – making it seem even more expensive tbh
Is it really a lot of money
Is it really a lot of money though? Ultegra disc groupset with 30mm carbon wheels for £3,800 seems about market rate to me.
It’s definitely an open mould though, you can recognise different elements of the frame from other designs…
However, using open moulds is not necessarily a bad thing, its something done by many know manufaturers, especially when starting out. Cinelli have used standard framesets for years.
Also, just because the mould is open, it doesn’t stop Cinelli controlling other elements of the frame, for instance the choice of using T700 carbon.
I’d be interested to know if the bars come as part of the frameset, if so, then we are talking about a totally different kettle of fish value wise, as those are £600 bars.
My favourite ever bike was a CInelli, which also used an open mould frame… don’t diss it until you’ve tried it.
EddyBerckx wrote:
Indeed. Quite a strong family resemblance to the Yoeleo R9 (and quite a few other frames).
https://www.yoeleobike.com/products/road-bike-frame-carbon-disc-brake-r9
slappop wrote:
Erm, no. That R9 is clearly from a completely different mould. Just a few differences I noticed very quickly – seat clamp, chain stays, rear dropout area, material behind head tube is at different angle.
I can understand why you think they are the same though, as the key design features are the same, as with the majority of aero bikes (dropped seat stays with a wide junction at seat tube, seat tube that partially wraps/follows radius of the rear tyre, deep headtube section, triangular join of seat tube and top tube), fork crown that’s recessed a little into the down tube/head tube join.
I don’t think they’re the
I don’t think they’re the same, I said “family resemblance”. There are a lot of slight variations on that design floating around China. Here’s another one:
https://assets.bigcartel.com/product_images/253971608/%EB%A7%88%ED%95%98+%EC%B8%A1%EB%A9%B4+700.jpg
I think it’s a bit of a coincidence that the Cinelli boffins scratch their heads for a bit and come out with something barely different from an FM087…
What does “Open Mound” mean ?
What does “Open Mound” mean ? Kindly explain.
j_vora wrote:
An open mould frame is one that’s built using moulds that are available on the open market. The mould essentially is what shape your frame is. Using an open-mould frame is essentially a cost saving exercise, as you don’t have to do the R&D required to develop a new frame. An analogy would be baking a cake that you’re going to sell- if you’re a reknowned chef working in a bakery that sells expensive cakes, you might develop your own unique recipe. But this takes time and experience, and you need to test different ingredients to make sure it doesn’t taste shit. Alternatively, if you don’t have the time or experience or resource to do that, you could download a recipe and follow that. You might be a good baker, and so the finished product might be of high quality (analogous to the comment above about specifying carbon layups, etc. Cinelli will also have control over the QC process), but it won’t be as unique as the cake the chef developed theirself.
You can see an example of a frame mould here.
The Cinelli Pressure is identical in shape to other bikes out on the market, for example the Atom6 Strada. But it’s not clear as to whether Cinelli essentially buy the frames, put them through a QC check, and paint them, or whether they have purchased moulds and are building the frames using their own plant / equipment.
Hope that makes sense.