kengel

Hello everyone! I'm looking at picking up an early 80's Bianchi road bike and came across this posting on ebay:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_500wt_1153

I wanted to get everyone's opinion as I haven't be able to get answers back yet from the seller. From what I can glean from the low resolution photos and some internet sleuthing, this appears to be an early 80's Bianchi Special. It also appears that this may be a Japanese-made Bianchi, and not an Italian-made Bianchi as the seller states (not that I have a problem with this). The photos seem to show a shigano crankset and suntour components. The unclear decals on the fork and upper seat tube look vaguely like the ones for 022 ishiwata tubing.

I also can't determine if the color "plum" is factory- this catalog cut

https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Bianchi-84/9.jpg

calls for a factory frame color option as "Amethyst", but I also read that Bianchi "Amethyst" is more brown than purple. Also, if you look closely at the photo of the mid-upper seat tube (which also shows the unclear frame decal) I see what appears to be a chip in the paint showing a light blue color underneath, perhaps similar to the Bianchi blue shown in the catalog. Is it possible the frame has been painted over? Were there custom color options at that time?

Can anyone please confirm and weigh in on this? Just trying to see if bidding on this would be worth it, in terms of a picking up a quality and mostly original bike.

Thanks to everyone in advance, I appreciate your help ...

Bianchigirll 

Hello Kengel, welcome to the forums. not a bad looking bike. doing some research it looks to me like a '83 sport ss. the factory calls it sierra blue. could look plum to some but who knows. as for more inportant factors I agree that this might be a Japanese or even Tiawanese bike rather than Italian. the tubing decal looks more like a Mangalloy decal rather than a 022 tubing decal, and the prescense of a kickstand plate may suport a lower quality frame.

if your looking for a good bike from general transport this bike will be great provided the falsely placed "made in italy" does not drive the price too high.

I am sure you can tell the brake levers are clearly not original and look like late '80s 600. I also think the cranks are a replacement or upgrade

kengel

Thanks Bianchigirll for the information and the welcome- this has been super helpful! Hmm, I think I'm going to sit back and watch how the bidding pans out over the next day or so before I decide if I should pursue...

miamijim

The seller say shipping is free. Based on free shipping $175-200 is the maximum you'll want to bid.