I'm a newbie at bikes and I was looking around a local store. It's a single speed and clearly converted.
I'm not sure because I dont think I've seen a bianchi with out a decal/logo paint on the seat tube. I need your expert advice, is it real?



sorry for the lack of pictures, this is about it.
thanks!

[MENTION=412993]Joooshv[/MENTION] - Welcome to C&V. IT would be worth your time to do searches on this site to learn more about Bianchi's and the features to look for assessment. The picture is not enough for most of us to answer the question unless someone like Bianchigirll can pull from her depth of knowledge and recognize it for what it is. The Head tube decal look authentic but you will need to inspect the frame for embossing to validate, if there is any. It could be converted back to its original configuration. Looks like nothing was cut off.

Identify the components that look original, brakes, handlebar, stem, seatpost, front hub, and share that with us as well as more pics around the BB, seat cluster, head tube and fork crown. Is there a name on the dropouts?

Bianchi USA went to Taiwan Long ago, for bikes , so Italian made gets more unlikely.

Thanks for the advice I'll look around the forums for more info now!
The only embossing I noticed is that there's a B on the top of the fork, could be more. Also, I didnt think to look at the drop outs. Well I know what to look for next when I go back to the store, thanks.

As fietsbob mentions, Bianchis can come from Taiwan. Also From Japan (1980's) and probably a few other places. Bianchi has made a full range of bikes from high to low over many years, so keep in mind not all Bianchis are necessarily anything special.

"B" on top of the fork is a good indication that it is a Bianchi. As the others have mentioned, the next step is to determine which model and where it was built. There are is a big range of models over the years and a lot of Bianchi's that exist.

And some of those bikes from Japan were excellent, nice chrome, campy drops, uber-light tubesets.

The B on the fork crown is a good start. If you go back to look again check the seat stay caps and the down/head tube lug for a B. I am going to go out on a limb and say this is likely a repaint. I am pretty sure I see over the BB cable routing which would make this earlier than a '85ish bike. Also if that is the case the Bianchi decals on the DT are wrong for the period.

If it is a Bianchi we may be able to determine Italian/Oriental but the seatpost size and BB shell threading but finding the actual model could be impossible.

I was going to say that many of the Asian Bianchis were welded, and had unicrown forks.

This one has lugs, above BB cable routing, and lugged fork. That would likely put it as Italian origin. Despite being single speed, it still has the shifter bosses, above BB cable routing, and chainstay cable stops... which means it could be restored to a multi-speed bike. But, if you choose to build a multi-speed bike, the missing parts can get expensive.

As Bianchigirl mentioned, take detailed photos of all of the lugs.

Also remove the wheels and look for markings on all of the dropouts.

It looks like I see downtube water bottle cage bosses, but not on the seat tube.

Is that a Campy Seat Post?

What is the asking price for the bike?

My 100% Japanese Bianchi Limited (1983) had all that, made from very decent Ishiwata 022 tubing. A nice enough bike to keep if I didn't have so many other similar bikes. (And the plain jane paint never really excited me) As it was, I got $225 for it equipped with mediocre wheels in a very slow CL market.

There were plenty of lugged bikes with actual crowns built in the Orient by Bianchi before they went to Tigged luggless construction. Also many of the '89-96ish sported lugs and unicrown forks. Sadly many of the frame cartouches were lost in the '88/89 time period.

Notice that it looks like the RD hanger is still there and what about those sidepulls? cable routing is opposite what is typically found today. My first thought about the seat post was Campy too then I remembered that there are a number of near look alikes, Laprade and SR (not Super Record) come to mind. Can't tell if the flutes continue into the ST or not. Maybe not.

Critical dimensions:

seatpost diameter (27.2mm indicates a butted moly steel frame, the good stuff)
bottom bracket shell width (70mm indicates Italian, 68mm indicates Asian)

You might need to visit Harbor Freight and get some digital calipers!

I'll take pics of all the lugs when I visit the store again.
the guy is selling it for 250$!