TheDazed

I have an Eaton's Road King that I bought from a garage sale for $10 and have been touring all over on. At my LBS today I saw a used Bianchi road bike that I kinda want to grab to replace my road king for an upcoming tour. They were asking $300 flat for it, which seems almost reasonable to me, but I have no idea of the market value of it. There is no model written on it, it just says Bianchi, it's white and has suntour derailleurs.

It's in good condition. It looks a lot like this one
https://velospace.org/files/bianchi_s..._celeste_1.jpg

except its white, but the shifters are in the same place, and the brake grips look about the same.

My questions are these:
1) Is there anyway $300 for a bianchi could be considered not a good deal? I've heard a lot about this brand and they seem to have a reputation for quality.

2) When I go back to the LBS what should I look for to help determine what type of Bianchi it is and how much it's worth?

Thanks for any help.

gurry

Try to get a peek at the back of the front derailleur for a code. Should be two letters. look it up on the Vintage Trek website for a date of manufacture. This can help you find out more about the bike.
Also take a look at where the seatpost enters the seat tube. I've had two Bianchi's and one was very thin while the other was thick as a gas pipe.

EjustE

A lot of Celeste Bianchis out there with a lot of different values.

You should look and make a list of:

a. the frame material (should be stickers on the seat tube and fork blades)
b. the component group (s)
c. whether is made in Italy or not
and d. last but not least, the name (should be on the top tube towards the front)

then report back

wrk101

Is there anyway a Bianchi could not be a good deal at $300? Well, yes. Plenty of Bianchis are in the $175 to $225 range. They branded Japanese bikes and called them Bianchis.

+1 To reach the $300 mark, it needs to either have some pretty good components on it (and I am not talking brand, Suntour made components from entry level so so stuff, to high end outstanding stuff). Its all about the model of component, rather than the brand.

+1 Italian.

+1 Frame material.

The $300 mark is where you expect to start seeing some pretty good stuff.

roccobike

One comment about Bianchis. The bike you're looking at is white, the picture is a celeste (seafoam green) bike. Celeste Bianchis sell for more than other colors, I'd add $50 for Celeste, yeah it makes a difference.

Bianchigirll 

what model are the deraileurs? Sprint, Cyclone he only white Bianchi I can think of with with suntour and that style decal is a '89 Volpe (fatter tires, cantilever brakes, triple crank barend shifters)

see if you can take a pic and definatly look for the model of the deraileurs.

also if the bike really has that decal style with the line running the Bianchi it is an '88 or '89 a few bike had that style in '90 but were highend.

spedrunr

Hi BG, I have a chance to buy a Bianchi Volpe (w/all the above components) it's 50cm (just my size) and I haven't seen the condition but looks almost mint. What is the Volpe (a hybrid of sorts or touring geometry?), ie the canti's, triple crank, barends etc. Sans the color, are these "rare" bikes per se?

Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge in advance.

wrk101

Volpes are common. Its a touring model. A lot of good bikes are not rare, and a lot of rare bikes are not good.

Bianchigirll 

The original concept of the Volpe was to be an all arounder. The idea was a bike you could commute on, group rides occasional light touring but also have the ability to take the road less traveled aka a dirt road short cut. They make nice tourers but I think the chainstay lenthg isn’t quite long enough to be a true tourer.

jet sanchEz

Your question is kind of like asking "my local garage is selling a Ford for $10 000, is a Ford worth $10 000?".

There are many many different types of Bianchis, pop in to the bike shop again, take it for a test ride (you need to do this anyways before buying), take a couple of photos and get some details and the forum can be of more help to you.

spedrunr

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the 50cm Pearlesque Volpe. The paint is about a 9/10.

I would agree that the geometry doesn't feel like a tourer, not much different in ride quality compared to my '89 Campione De Italia. Nice to see that it has the single brake hangar if I wish to remove the canti's and use road side pulls (or are those just for adding fenders? )

DMC707

Why would you want to downgrade the braking performance by using sidepulls? BEsides, the canti's give more tire clearance , and if you removed them , the canti brake bosses would be sticking out like a sore thumb

spedrunr

51cm, 31" standover, 26.5lbs, it's quite a hefty one she is...

Celeste Mike

You just replied to an eight year old query in a now hijacked zombie thread.

Nice lookin Volpe, @spedrunr!

Bianchigirll 

Oh FYI. These have pretty standard road geometry but a high B.B.

I think you would need DP brakes to get the reach you need but the canto studs would be in the way. If you don’t like cantilevers try V brakes.

StarBiker

And so did.........

DMC707

Good lookin bike

I wouldnt sweat a 26 pounder too much given its intended purpose. Ive seen a few super high end touring bikes that were 24 -- when you have the possibility of bolting on racks and bags, -- or even swapping tires and taking in an occasional cyclocross race -- you need a solid foundation

spedrunr

Hey BG, what are "DP brakes"? I can't figure out that acronym , but I didn't think about switching to V-brakes.
Do road levers have the same "pull" as MTB levers (i.e. V-brakes + road lever combo?).

I just remembered how difficult it was to adjust the canti's (don't you need a 3rd hand to hold the pads to the rim as you tighten down the cable stop?) while aligning the pads to the rim? It's been about 20yrs since I've messed with canti's since the invention of the V-brakes. I probably won't change out the canti's (DMC pointed out the clearance and power benefits) and I try to keep bikes that I buy (even if they're not OEM parts) intact. More time to ride, less time to tinker.

spedrunr

Good point D7, I have tell myself to stop being such a weight-weenie and remind myself that this is not an anorexic race bike. I've actually grown quite fond of my recently acquired Trek Belleville daily commuter (40lbs) that I lumber for 16 miles round trip to work.... but I digress.

This Volpe does feel solid.

Bianchigirll 

DP is Daul pivot. You may need to use those rather than a standard side because of the reach required.