hi looking at a 1986 bianchi being sold for 250, id want get it down a little, but unsure at all if this is a reasonable price. anyone have information about this bike? will add photos once I have ten posts lol.

If in good shape, I might pay $250.00 but would feel more comfortable around the $150.00 mark. Either price can vary depending on the bike's size, condition, location and how much you want it. Hope that is a help.

Is it the lilac coloured bicycle in your gallery album? If so, it's actually a 1987 model. The frame is plain guage CrMo with hi-tensile stays. The drivetrain is decent with nice perfroming, if lower end, Shimano Light Action indexed derailleurs and a Sugino VP-110 cotterless crankset. I'm not very fond of the Polygon brakeset, though good pads will help. The wheels are OK, but it would be better if the aluminum rims were 700C, as opposed to 27", which has limited tyre selection these days. Claimed weight was 25.5 lbs. The frame willl be Asian manufacture.

It's a fairly decent upper, entry level model for the era. I haven't been following prices closely since Covid-19 but this sounds on the high side to me, particularly if the attached photo from your gallery album is the bicycle in question. Unfortunately, it doesn't show the critical drivetrain components but it looks like it's going to require a fair amount of work and I'd be close to Randy's price.

Bianchi, like several brands from that era, made a vast array of models from entry level to top of the line. Although it is a respected Italian brand, they also put their name on a variety of Asian made bikes. This one is closer to the former. Be prepared to do complete service, not a tune up. If you do it yourself, not that much $$ to do. If you pay a shop to do a full service, then you will rapidly exceed the value of the bike.

When I sold bikes, Bianchi enjoyed a brand premium of about 50% to a similar Asian brand. Silly, but the market decided. Once you go with an Asian built bike, there is a long list of high quality Japanese made and branded bikes from that era. Your money goes farther.

If you are looking for a vintage bike, and don't have the time/tools/aptitude to do a full service, then its better to find one for sale by someone you trust who has done the service. I used to sell such bikes, typically my price for a ready to ride bike was LESS than the cost of a full service. I stopped as buyers would rather pay $100 for a bike that needs $250 service than $200 for a bike completely rebuilt: torn down to the bare frame, everything inspected, fresh bearings and grease, new tires, cables, housings, etc.

Note, never ASS-U-ME a bike shop that sells used bikes has properly serviced those bikes. I've bought many used bikes from such shops, rarely if ever were they serviced at all, other than fresh bar tape and air in the tires. Rusty cables is a dead giveaway. If the cables have not been replaced (and you can get a set of stainless cables for $5 or less), then I assume other maintenance was skipped too. And make sure seat post and stem are not stuck! Disreputable sellers will neglect to mention such issues. The biggest flipper in my area "neglects" to mention such problems...... I've gotten ahold of some of his gems after buyers got screwed.

I think it depends what you mean for service. If just cable replacement, derrailuer troubleshooting, tape, and some brake adjustment I should be fine. its been a while since I've done some of those fixes but I should be ok to figure it out. if its more than that I might not be able to. probably wont buy if I think the tires or tubes need replacing simply bec I dont want to spend money on new tubes and tires.

the images!

That front derailleur looks wonky.

how so?

It looks cocked backward, like maybe it got twisted somehow. The parallelogram should be in line with the seat tube, and the lower edge of the cage should have a more consistent gap with the big chainring. Note how the front edge is really close to the chainrings, but the back of the cage has a huge gap.

I'd just plan on replacing the FD rather than spending a whole bunch of time to diagnose/fix it.

That is a $100 bike. Maybe.

Not a horrible bike, but the fork and front derailleur are not sitting right with me. You'd have to take the freewheel off because the plastic part of the dork disk has detached. I am thinking borderline abuse. Not a $250 bike I don't think.