Heatherbikes

Sorry no photos yet, but I am looking at buying a vintage ladies bianchi. Bright blue, chromed fork, suntour xd 4050 rear derailleur, 6 speed rear,
touring model with eyelits for rack and fenders. No other photos to help with brakes, front derailleur. The geometry is definitely racy. It looks like changes were made with upright bars, perhaps stem shifters which are fine but usually denote low end. The rims look aluminium, are 700c. Strangely have 'bianchi' tires which I have not found any info on. Of course the seller knows nothing about the bike, tubing, ride quality etc. The derailleur is from 1988 from my research. My husband has a black bianchi with a chrome fork and eyelits for fenders with shimano 600 and ishiwata tubing, and is very very lightweight. I am hoping this lady bianchi is lightweight, but know lady frames tended to be on the cheap side.

Bianchigirll 

Pics would be a must for ID. Are you in Canada? We didn't get a lot of full chromed forks down here.

kvnmuadib

is it a mixte style frame ? my wife had a red bianchi strada at one point,,it had dt shifters and an upright townie bar ,a nice alloy cinelli with an upward sweep...I want to say 6 spd indexing by shimano .alloy wheels,alloy cranks with steel rings but this weight was offset by the gray plastic quill pedals,for flip flop pedaling no doubt, even barefoot if the contessa so pleased..I have seen a few other low/mid level bianchis on the bay with the same pedals ,so probably oem..there's nothing wrong with the lower tier bike boom bianchis ,seems to be a healthy market for them as well....I would go for it if the looks and size suit you

Heatherbikes

https://www.usedvancouver.com/classif...S-BKE_19656901 please nobody else buy it!!!
There is the ad, as you can see, very informative. Yes Bianchigirl, Bianchis with chrome forks abound in Canada. It is not a mixte but a lady frame with the single sloping top tube at that certain angle that is not a mountain bike or comfort hybrid. I have seen many lady bikes with upright bars and stem shifters as if it was perceived that women could not handle drops. So, I do not know if these handlebars are a later intervention. I have been looking for a lady bianchi for a long time. They come up very rarely, and missed out on a local one last summer because I didn't have the cash for their extortionate asking price. I also recently accidentally convinced a girl to keep the lovely lady bianchi she was selling. It was just too nice, I was thrilled to buy it, but then she realized she had to keep it after all. So, I hate to buy a bike unseen, but it is the only option here at the moment. I do not mind if it is lowish end for the purposes of a winter road bike commuter, but would prefer to stick to higher end lightweight bikes. Being short, it is near impossible to find such bikes. I have looked at vintage ladies reynolds 531 bikes which are plentiful in the UK, but nobody ever wants to ship, and I occasionally see columbus tubing lady bikes on ebay but a bit pricy or too big.

Bianchigirll 

OMG Too funny!!! Don't worry we are not know to swoop in a steal bikes out from under folks. It looks nice and clean. Judging from the pics and basing my decision the color of the bike and style and color of the decals I think it is a '83 Touring model which soulds like an odd name for a bike with flat bars and double crankset. The flat bars or as Bianchi calls them "Touring All Arounders" are stock on both the men's and women's models. The price may be a tad high but my understand is that Vancouver is a hot market. I would certainly try and haggle. If this has been on sale since last spring showing up and cold rainy day with 200 cash might produce a deal.


Most Bianchis, or really any ones, Ladys bikes from the pre mountain and hybrid era were usually in the lower end offerings and had a HiTen or Mangally frame set. I think the reasn for flat or upright bar on most ladies bikes might simply be a modesty carry over of sorts from when most women wore skirts when out and about and riding.

I agree decent condition high quality ladies or mixtie bikes are hard to find and pricy when you do. Is there a reason you not interested in a hybrid?

Bianchigirll 

Actually except for the rack the '81-3 Bianchi Touring model look just like that. I think it was intended to be more along the lines of that fancy Schwinn of that era was it the World Tourer or something? I don't get it either but that is how they specced it.

wrk101

Many models called "Touring" were not touring bikes, at least by my definition. It was just the marketing departments playing fast and loose with model names. One of my favorite names in that regard is the Ross Super Gran Tour Professional. Every word in that name is wrong. Its not super or "gran", its not professional, and it is not a touring bike. But apparently, the name helped sell the bike.

Heaviest bike I ever owned was a model called "Lite Weight". Schwinn Racer is not a racing bike either. And so it goes.

Heatherbikes

Well, somebody is trying to sell a very similar lady bianchi in Vancouver for much more and is in terrible condition and a bunch of random parts on it. This blue bianchi is actually way out of the way, not easily accessible to the Vancouver market, so not easy for eager hipsters to get to. I like mixtes and step through lady frames. In my dream would I would ride around in dresses, but in reality it is almost always cold, and my jobs have required warm rough clothing. I rode mountain bikes for years with that every so slightly dropped top tube and just want to erase that from memory. I have a beautiful 531 audax project on the go, but still requires much scrounging for parts and $$.. I need a bike now, preferably one that costs less than what I have to put into the project. I just wanted a cute to me bike ready to ride with the ability to have fenders and rack for getting to work. I need a bike with a good ride quality for long distances, hills, zippy and fun. My worry is that this frame might be heavy and lumpy with a poor ride quality. But, my husband has a chrome forked 'touring' bianchi of uncertain origin that is very light and rides well.
Perhaps this bike was meant to be a randonneur/audax model instead of a touring bike. I did have a surly lht for a few years and I hated it. It was too clunky for little old me, and I do not plan on riding for days and days with piles of stuff, so did not need such an overbuilt bike.
If I go after this bianchi I would offer a lower price, but am ideally hoping to find out if it is light or heavy?

Heatherbikes

So given that this is likely lower end, any idea of tubing and the weight?

browngw 

Heatherbikes, Not sure of tubing or weight, but I don't think it is priced that bad for Vancouver. It would certainly get at least $200 in Toronto. It sure has more class than a walmart bike at a similar price and will likely clean up well.
Recently there was a thread involving a very similar bike bike. Check it out here, https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post16438437 .

Heatherbikes

Well, unless the bike is fairly light, I am going to have to pass on it as I had a mishap the other night trying to put my ultra heavy raleigh sports on the bike rack on the bus and may have done some damage.....my love affair with vintage british roadsters is well dead.