OldManJones

A friend was interested in this bike he found at a garage sale. Can anyone identify the year and help with assessing what it may be worth?

Not in the greatest shape but not horrible either. The seller wanted $600.

Drillium Dude 

Pantographed components, leather bar wrap and full Campy components that look to be in pretty good shape. Paint looks pretty good with the odd chip/scrape commensurate with age. $600 is more than a deal. Tell him to buy it

DD

oddjob2

If it's all there, it's underpriced at $600

OldManJones

I'm no expert but up close the paint had some small spots of surface rust, and I wouldn't say the components were in great condition. It was a fairly light bike however, and I'm sure it would ride great. Do you have any idea how old this is?

OldManJones

I don't think the wheels are original.

jet sanchEz

I think it might be an X3

Drillium Dude 

Small spots of surface rust are nothing. It's from around 1981/82. The pic of the crankset shows very little wear to the chainrings, and there's no tell-tale marking on the black anodizing of the RD's top/bottom pivots from hitting the ground. The major thing I see (and this is just my personal pet-peeve) is the front brake hit chip on the downtube and a larger missing bit of paint on the top tube. Still, for $600 that's taken into account and then some.

You're lucky this isn't a CL bike - it would already be gone.

You could turn around and sell the panto stuff and get your money back. Bianchi pantographed stuff does very well on Ebay. Don't believe me, have a look for yourself:

Campagnolo Vintage Complete Brake Set World Champion Coloured Levers VGC | eBay

Same brakeset. Note the wear/slight damage. Still did really well.

DD

OldManJones

What would the other components go for?

oddjob2

You can look up solds on ebay

Drillium Dude 

Hard to say without knowing the exact condition (for example, some seatposts get really pitted with age, especially Campy two-bolt versions which were not anodized). But if you do a search using "Bianchi Pantographed" on Ebay's Sold Items you'll get a rough idea.

You also may get lucky and though some parts may not look so great they might clean up easily. When you say you "wouldn't say the parts were in great condition", what exactly do you mean? What specifically were the issues with the components you noted? It's difficult to tell from the pics, for example, what kind of shape the brake calipers, levers and seatpost are in. The derailleurs and crank look very good from the pics.

Oh, and I second the suggestion that the wheels aren't original. Should be Record hubs laced to some nice rims. These do appear to be Victory or something similar. Not a deal-breaker IMHO.

DD

OldManJones

I think the brake calipers and seatpost need a bit of elbow grease and mother's mag polish.

italianbiker

600 is a great price, most are asking close to 1200.00 on Ebay, but I've seen these on CL for 600-900 and they sell very fast, sometimes within minutes.

I don't think its an X3. It looks like a super light.

rjhammett

A couple years ago I owned an '89 Super Leggera in near perfect condition. It had all original parts. I bought it for $400 and sold it a year or so later for $750.

T-Mar

+1. Piaggio decal in conjunction with Campagnolo Portacatena dropouts should place it 1980-1982.

OldManJones

I think it's an 82. I haven't seen any others of that vintage with a black stem however.

T-Mar

If you can get the serial number from your friend, we should be able to identify the exact year. Given the era, it should be in two parts, one on each side of the seat lug.

daf1009

Oh where oh where is Bianchi Girl when you need her? :-)