Originally Posted by
stapfam
Think the change came about when frame manufacture was switched to the far East. All the time the frames were made inhouse they had something special about them. The name still has a pull for me but think that when they became available in colours other than Celeste- something was lost. May have been hype but back 10 years and a Bianchi was the bike to have. I just can't get as excited about the modern bikes.
I agree. that is one of the reasons why I bought my Colnago C59. It is 100% made in Italy, by the people at Ernesto's shop.
My 1989 Bottecchia was also handmade in Italy. So I am happy to say that I have handmade Italian bikes from two very different eras. And guess what? In spite of the obvious weight differences, there is a lot in common between the 1989 Bottecchia and the 2012 Colnago C59.