Originally Posted by
daverup
It is my understanding that although my bike does carry a "Made in Italy" sticker, Bianchi did outsource many frames to Japan.
I may be wrong, I can't find any specific info at the moment.
smd4
The extra cable clamps I added because the outer brake cable I used is very stiff and made me nervous about my top tube cable guides. If i change that out, I would probably remove the extra clamps. I am fine with it as is, this is not a museum piece, no original fork, Shimano TriColor.
The bar tape is by BTP down under, I tried a couple of different combos before I got this one that matched.
I had the same concerns about using brake cable sheathing that's too stiff. A few years ago, I bought a set of brake cables from V/O that had braided sheathing and was surprised when I received the set and found out that they were very stiff and resisted being bent into curves strongly. I thought I could soften them up by "massaging" them a bit, but it did not do anything. So I ended up not even using them on my bikes, cause I could see me breaking the brazed on cable guide, nearest the head tube, after some time from fatigue.