I've been looking for an older celeste Bianchi road bike since last summer, when I missed out on both a pristine '84 Nuovo and a 2001 Campione d"Italia. Nothing affordable has surfaced locally, so most of my searching has been on *Bay. A couple of weeks ago I won the auction for a 1988 Giro frameset.
So far I've fitted it with a mid-80s 105 group (with the original cable housings!) and Weinmann wheelset. The seatpost will be replaced as soon as a better one is found! (ISO 27.2 alloy seat post in polished alu finish). I'm thinking the BioPace rings will have to go if I don't replace the crankset outright.
Here is the build so far:
The FD is not installed and the bars have not been wrapped. I have some white cork tape, but am considering blue to add a nice accent color. The jury is still out on cable housing color, but I'm leaning towards white, perhaps black. I bought some in blue, but the contrast is a little much for my tastes.
I plan to take her on several long rides to ensure the frame (58cm) is not too big for me. I've been able to match the fit to that of my Secteur (hence the low saddle height), and short rides have been quite comfy.
The frame is still in need of cleaning, touch-up painting and removal of mostly-destroyed decals on the chain stays.
She certainly shows signs of wear, but rides great, tracks true and is quite nimble - I played with steering solely by knee displacement last night. Magical.
