Classic & Vintage - Just acquired a vintage Bianchi and would love to know the model and year

I just bought a Bianchi road bike at a yard sale this past weekend for $20 and wanted to get a feel for what I bought. It came with 105 hubs front and back and a 8 speed Hyperglide cassette, although I am not sure how original these parts are. The serial number is a different style than what I found so far on google and is 61041328. The bike also has a Compione del mondo Colorado Springs 1986-1987 sticker which it seems they used for a number of years even into the 90s. The bike is a dark blue with grey letters and has Lugged front tube with Bianchi pressed in the crown area. The shifters are Shimano Z-401 which I would guess are original. Can anyone help me identify this bike? Would any info help someone figure it out?

Thanks in advance!
Larry

Hello Hometownnerd welcome to the forums. correct the Campione del Mondo decal was on thousands of Bianchis. a pressed in headtube logo sounds unusual, can you post some good pics? of course include the HT, but also the dropouts and brake bridge. is there a name stamped into the dropouts? are they horizontal of veritcal? what other parts does it have?

Can you post photos?

It sounds like a late 80's, early 90's bike to me although 8 speeds would place it in the 90's. Measure the width of the bottom bracket. If it measures 68mm wide it was probably made in Japan. A 70mm wide bottom bracket would indicate an Italian build.

We need photo's though.

Ok, I took some pictures of the bikes features to help with identifying and will attach what I can, here and will also post to flickr as well.

Ok as far as the questions....I believe I have horizontal dropouts and there is no name stamped on the dropout that I can see. I took a bottom bracket measurement and I think it is a 70mm, it seems to be between 69 and 70 so I figure it would be 70mm. As far as other parts, I took a pic of the crank arm and it is a Suvino VP but the brakes I did not see names on them. disregard the kick stand, I had one laying around and threw it on for now. The bike also has Mavic rims and continental tires that are 700x23. Ok, the front derailleur is a shimano FD-AX50 the rear is also a shimano skylark. I am guessing this is an entry level bike from its day but hopefully someone can help me with that too.

The pics are on flickr here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjveNZGJ

Let me know what else you would like to see. I will also post pics of my vintage Fuji as well which I got for free.

Thanks again,
Larry
The pics:
The crown stamping
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860146671/in/set-72157627022695134
The logo on HT
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860146465/in/set-72157627022695134/
Brakes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860146893/in/set-72157627022695134/
Rear Dropout
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860147147/in/set-72157627022695134/
Front derailleur
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860700570/in/set-72157627022695134/
Crown? details
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860701034/in/set-72157627022695134/
rear derailleur
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860782840/in/set-72157627022695134
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178857@N00/5860229777/in/set-72157627022695134/

it looks like you have an '87 Strada or Premio or an slightly older frame that someone put that '86 World Champ decal on.

I guess I should have brought my catalogs along with me to work this week. does the rear derailleur attache to frame with a 'claw' with the rearwheel or does it attach to frame seperately just below the wheel?

the wheels certainly don't belong on it but certainly seem to be a good quality set.

The wheels made me think they were not original and they feel real nice too, there were a few things that made me think this person had two bikes and had both wheels off at some point and got them mixed up at that point, the wheels seemed really new and the brake shoes were not in the right place and then they were 105s which seemed a little wrong to me, but was not sure. I am fairly sure the quality of the wheels was a good bit better than what would have come with the bike originally. The rear derailleur hangs by a claw on the frame. Looking at the 1987 catalog it seems the Strada and Premio both had index shifting, which this bike does not as far as I can tell, another difference I see is the standoffs for the shifters are on the downtube? Mine are on the stem. Not sure how many different ways they would do that per model year, but just thought I would mention that.

Thanks for your help

Looking at your collection, IT IS PHENOMENAL!! I love theBertoni Crono Olympiad it is beautiful! The Cornello I love the touches the mfg put in it, I love the graphic running down the seat tube on the inside, not on the side like so many others. Thanks for sharing those pics.

I agree that it is an economy model from the late 80's. You bring up a good point re the changing of specs in a year of manufacture. I'm sure Bianchi would have stated somewhere that the specs may change depending on supply.

It looks to be a good and reliable bike that will clean up nicely. I have heard that soaking rusted steel parts in brown vinegar overnight will get rid of the rust.

Looking at your collection, IT IS PHENOMENAL!! I love theBertoni Crono Olympiad it is beautiful! The Cornello I love the touches the mfg put in it, I love the graphic running down the seat tube on the inside, not on the side like so many others. Thanks for sharing those pics.

thank you very much. I just triple checked and yes this is a '87 Strada, Mederterrianean Blue, complete with stem mounted shifters. very likely the last model so equipped. that is a HiTen fork so while this wil make a great rider I would not get to ambitious about upgrades.

:notamused: Sorry for not replying Bianchigirl. Thanks for checking into it for me now I know what I have, as far as upgrades, I am reasonably happy with what is on it, it rides a WHOLE lot better than my fuji does as far as drivetrain goes, it seems like I can ride further and be less tired with it, I think that may have something to do with the Fuji has Edge drivetrain with oval chainrings, but not sure. But thanks for helping me out!!

Have a great day.