dmbaile2

I would like to know a little more about this bike and what would be a fair asking price would be. I have a fairly healthy CL bike market in my city.

Also, do you recommend replacing the handlebar tape with something else or is there something special about the tape on it? its a hard tape and it is gold in color. The brake handle hoods look rotted and will probably be ruined if I replace the tape, would you recommend generic new ones or should i try to find some original Dia-Compes?

dmbaile2

gioscinelli 

It appears that the Bianchi is made in the far east. With far eastern componets a price of $150 would attract buyers on any city CL. Good Luck!

tmh657

Possibly $300 in my area if pristine with great photos. It is harder to sell this time of year even in SoCal but Bianchis do get a lot of attention if marketed well.
Leave the bar tape, get new hoods, IMO.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI...E:L:OC:US:1123

Bianchigirll 

it looks like a "83ish maybe '84 model nice looking one at that

FastJake

Agreed on the above. I see Bianchi frame/fork/headset posts around here for well over $100, in fair condition. That bike could bring $300 no problem. Just the Bianchi name gives it value, the Cyclone is a bonus.

dmbaile2

Thanks for the replies everyone. I took some better photos for the ad. It is a beautiful bike, I wish like hell that it was my size.

Snydermann

Wow, beautiful bike!

Does anyone know who made that frame for Bianchi in Japan? I'd swear that looks like a Tsunoda/Lotus frame. The details are spot on and even the DS14854 serial number is stamped exactly like a Lotus. DS Lotus numbers are also 1983-1984 vintage.

Bianchigirll 

I believe in the very late '80s early '90s a company Meridia(?) or something like that was doing alot of production for Bianchi

They made a point of telling us this because while it was more expensive they got better quality control and better flexibility of running changes

Snydermann

Could it be Maruishi? They built some bikes for Lotus, too.

dmbaile2

Im not getting any bites on CL... Do you think it is the Handlebar tape putting people off?

tmh657

I doubt it. How much are you asking and where are you located? It's almost winter so sales can be slow.

pitbull007

Cl pics are usually bad quality try loading your pics to photobucket then copy the http code and paste it right in your description add as many pics as You like.
It usually sells better when this is done, and since your bike is in good shape and clean it will sell.
You might also want to try pinkbike in your area.

Thanks
Ant

FastJake

+1

OP: can you give us a link to your CL ad? We can critique it for you

dmbaile2

I pulled the ad for now and I am changing the handlebar tape to black even though I don’t think it looks as good. Here’s why, and im sure you will all think this is dumb but… I grabbed this bike by word of mouth advertising in my neighborhood and this really sweet lady sold me the bike for a really good deal. She had mentioned that she listed it on CL five years ago but wasn’t ready to just “give it away yet” as she put it. Anyway, the bike was a total dust ball when I found it (it even had a hornets nest intertwined within the rear spokes!).



Now that it’s cleaned up the bike is practically unrecognizable, except for the bright gold tape that is. So in short, I would hate to have this sweet lady get curious and search the local Craigslist only to see her bike on there for $300 OBO. This is why I was getting overly anxious about it selling, but now with the black tape on it the bike is not nearly as recognizable so I am more comfortable letting it marinate on CL and having big hi-res pics up.



Am I just being wired? I've never "flipped" a bike before so this is a new experience for me.

fas2c

We are also entering a downturn in the cycling market due to the weather cooling off. This is the time when flippers are filling their stock to make ready for the spring-time rush. Nice bike but one will have to have patients to sell on CL to get your price.

pitbull007

One more aspect to selling is stating that it`s ready to ride and doesn`t need anything else replaced like tires chain etc

cs1

Not to bring things back from the land of the dead but. I saw another Limited yesterday. Color was blue and it had a Shimano 600 group down to the headset. There were no Asian stickers anywhere. It did have Columbus decals. Could Bianchi have made some of them in Italy?

Bianchigirll 

I'll have to check just which years but yes around '87 the Limited was built with the Columbus Formula frame. I am pretty sure '86 and '87 and possibly '85 but I'll have to check.

cs1

The owner said it was an 85 purchased new. Very nice looking bike.

Fred Smedley

I have a Purple Italian made Limited with Italian serial number sequence. It had 600 also with a Italian threaded BB.

Bianchigirll 

The '85 was the one I had to check. There was some hijinks with the Yen and Lira those years so Bianchi was making a few more models in Italy, plus just trying to get more Italian in the bikes in general.

PSSST that is Metallic Violet.

cs1

So, is it possible that some 85's were made in Italy?

Bianchigirll 

Yes. I believe all of them were since it used the Columbus frame. The down side is that it has the 600 EX group and an Italian BB shell so a replacement may be tricky

Fred Smedley

Thxs for that!. It's good to know I suppose.