Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - 88? Bianchi Brava

Just pulled my wife's old Bianchi Brava out of her mom's garage in Maine, where it's been residing for many moons. This is an Asian build, but in very good shape with only a few scratches and minor rust issues. Just replaced the handlebar tape and I'm putting on new tires as dry rot has hit the originals...other wise this bike has all original parts. Bike looks great!
So good, I'm reconsidering selling it (which was my original plan).
Anyone know what these bikes, in good condition, are currently selling for?
Also, if we decide to keep it, I'd like to "pimp" this ride with some cool Celeste extras like bottle cages, Look clip-less pedals and seat-bag - does anyone know of a good resource here in the U.S. for these bits of Celeste yumminess?
Thanks, Lost Viking

Pictures

Pictures

agreed!

Hello yes pictures are a must. kind of derailluers and brakes are on it? as for a source for Celeste goodies this is a good one. they do not have look pedals but the Celeste wellgo pedals are real nice. https://www.bianchiusa.com/store.html an '88 Brava would be either black w/celeste decals or italian red, and shimano 105

Pictures coming as soon as new tires are on.
Bianchigirl is right - black w/celeste decals and shimano 105.

Bianchigirl - Thanks for that site!

I found a place (then lost track of it) which sells celeste Look clipless pedals, helmets etc.

Also, about half a year ago, I saw that someone was making handelbar plugs with the Bianchi logo on them (the eagle) - I'd love to get a lead on those. Otherwise, I'll use the standard "Bianchi" chrome plugs.

Pictures will be up here around Sept. 15. 2009. Thanks, Lost

Do not underestimate a Bianchi manufactured in asia. I have two of them (90 Forza and 93 Campione) and really like riding either of them. I'd like them a heck of lot more if either was my size frame. Think seriously before selling that bike because buying one back may be a lot harder than selling the one you have.
I had a 2002 Brava that I sold because I wasn't riding it as much as my C'dale and I wanted the money to help pay for a new Giant OCR-C. If I had it to do over again, the Brava would still be in my stable and something else would be gone.

many have said, that the italian-made bianchi's from the late 80's had a higher level of craftsmanship than their italian cousins.

other than tubing differences where Columbus was substituted for equivalent Japanese tubing (tange or ishiwata), componentry was the same. Noted exception may be bottom bracket threading localized to each country.

another exception may also be the "B" on the top face of the downtube-headtube lug may only be present on italian made examples.

from my experience, these were some great bikes that shared very common and standardized tubing sizes, 27.2 seatpost sizes, bottom brackets, headsets etc...


for reference sake (and picture-whoring), here is my 88 brava that had all the original components, but now its my only geared bike for club-rides.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7263/img20291.jpg


I'll warn you now, finding an 80's celeste colored bottle is a challenge! (i have one, but i wouldn't put my lips to it!)

Found a place that is selling old Bianchi Celeste bottles (Ebay), but I think I'll buy new
Bianchi bottles, thanks! :-)

trueno92's bike is very much like my wife's - frame, saddle, crank, forks and more are identical
(as my photo will show)...but mine still has orig. wheels, brake hoods (white) and shifters as well.
Mine also has Celeste colored cables.

A number "2" is engraved into the frame under the crank - don't know if that's significant or not.

Thanks to trueno92 and Bianchigirll and thier help on posting pictures, here's a photo of the beast itself!

Cick the thumbnail below, then click on the enlargement to see the full size photo.

So anyone have a guess on what this bike would go for either on eBay or if I sold it locally here on Maryland's beautiful Eastern Shore?

wow, that is a great pic of a nice brava!

88 japanese, with tange/iwa****a tubing? all 105, and matching cables+tires! even the white hoods are spotless!

wish i could have provided more help to get your pics up, they certainly were worth it!

trueno92 - Thanks! Just added Celeste bottle holders and a Celeste bag I got from Bianchi USA,
and chromed "Bianchi" handle-bar plugs I got from my local Bianchi dealer.

She's almost completly tricked-out now. Still want to switch
out the pedal-cages with some Celeste Keo Look Sprint clipless-pedals -
then my work will be done
on this bike.

Working on this has turned me into a Bianchi-fan.
I'm having one built up for me on a 61 cm 2005 carbon-butted frame.