HPL

Yeah, I know. I just thought it deserved one comment filtering down thru the ephemera of the years. Do you know the history of Bianchi putting their name on these types of bikes? It certainly couldn't help their reputation for quality; although soundly made, the workmanship is very rough. Was this some sort of marketing gimmick?

I would ask you about the Bianchi Auto-Milano; ever hear of it? Essentially a beach cruiser, labeled as a "café racer" (and that's all you'll be racing to on this frame, which I believe is aluminum). It has an odd Shimano electronic automatic 3 speed tranny (Nexus?) with digital controls to shift manually and/or automatically, and a "disc" brake in the rear (Shimano made). Bought it for $30 nearly unused as a ride for folks visiting and needing some basic transportation that would be easy to use. I looked at a replacement cost for that rear hub, and it's over $300 new if you can find one. It works fine, but I'll never ride it and I'm mostly concerned with any problems these hubs may have had in the past so I don't loan it out just to have it break down. Were the hubs solid and reliable, easy to maintain, etc.? And what of the electronic controls, are they reliable? I will put this in a separate thread in the beach cruiser forum since it's definitely not classic/vintage. Thanks for your time.