Thanks for the kind remarks. This frame style is my favorite of all Bianchis. The seat stay caps are my favorite style, the chrome head lugs are beautiful, as is the fork crown. The sewn on grip leather is classic Bianchi. And celeste, a classic Bianchi must be in celeste. I would prefer a Bianchi headbadge over the Piaggio/Vespa one but I can deal with that. To answer the questions:

The rims are Mavic OR10 rims. These were standard equipment on the Super Leggera for a number of years. The Super Corsa came wirh OR7 rims which were lighter. I believe ScratchX is a very fine polishing compound with some fillers. Removes scuffs, scratches and other imperfections without harming paint. This bike's finish does have some issues. Yellowed clear coat has turned it more of a yellowish green than a pure celeste in some areas. I matched the paint as best as I could but it was a different tone in each area. The paint on the fork crown was pretty flaked away (chrome underneath) so I repainted the entire fork crown. The handlebars, stem and seat post were deanodized and polished when I received the bike. I repolished these items (using a buffing wheel) and redid the paint infill.

The shift levers are not something I have seen before. The ones I have seen have been fully cutout with the inside surface painted blue. These are very nice and caught my eye right away.

I think early Bianchis are pretty available, although certainly not common. I see a small number of 50s and 60s bikes, almost no 70s bike and a fairly high number of 80s steel bikes. Examples of earlier Bianchis:

'64-'65



'57