Help identifying and looking for info on a Bianchi Strada
 

Hello all,
I found myself a new project and I wanted to put it out there to see what people know about this frame. I bought this frame on craigslist. It was attached to an equally ratty exage biopace crankset and a couple of other small parts. But mostly it is the frame. I had been looking for a bianchi project for a long time and got very happy about this and $40 didnt seem too bad, because I wanted to repaint it celeste anyways (as is tradition). After I got home I realized that it did not even have a derailleur hanger. Google is not turning up much on the Bianchi Strada. Lots of things on the Strada LX, are they the same thing?
If anybody has info, could you please let me know and also whether it is worth bothering to put effort to restore this to some of its former Bianchi-ness. My new plan will be to paint it jet black and get a celeste decal set, then start to piece together a groupset (any recommendations?). I know these "Japanese" Bianchi bikes came with shimano bits, so I might go with that, but I would love to drop some low end campy gear on it if I can find some.


http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...psjcdihqib.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...psgptw8tdg.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps2d9wwsn2.jpg

Thank you in advance!

If you are going to do the work yourself and have the parts already, I'd say go for it. You mentioned the lack of a derailleur hanger, which is a sign of a lower end road bike (unless its really old which this is not.) If you're asking whether or not restoring it and putting nice parts on will make it valuable, I'd say probably not. If you just want a project and something to rode, you already have it, might as well.

At least in 1987, the Strada and Strada LX had some differences. Both lacked an integrated RD hanger (they were at the very bottom of Bianchi's road bike lineup), but the Strada LX had downtube shifter braze-ons and a chromoly fork, in contrast to the Strada's stem shifters and hi-ten fork. Due to the fork and a steel seatpost, the Strada weighed about a pound more.

What does the sticker on your fork say? It's looking more like you have a Strada LX, or that your year of Strada had the same spec as the 1987 LX.

Either way, I think you got a great deal. If built up with decent components it shouldn't end up too heavy, and will ride nice. In fact, the paint looks strong enough that I would reconsider painting it. A black frame can look pretty sharp once you've added the rest of the components. :thumb:

I think that is exactly what I will do, repaint jet black with some celeste decals. I can't really justify the expense to do a full celeste paint job as there are no "off the shelf" aerosol cans that match celeste very well. Anyways, I just picked up some downtube shifters and a shimano sport sx rear derailleur (probably not to spec, but it should work very well) and I have a 700c wheelset with a 7 speed freewheel. I need to look in my shed but I think I have a nice stem and handlebar, as well as an alloy seatpost that should fit.
I am going to clean up and reuse the crankset (probably get rid of the biopace chainring as it looks like a rusted mess) and the front derailleur. I will post updates as I progress through this project.

By that I meant, consider not repainting it at all if it isn't rusty anywhere. That'd be the most cost-effective way to go. ;)

Oh, Whoops. I totally misread that. I don't think I have the mental fortitude to ride a bike with pealing decals if I know I can repaint it.

Think you mean Shimano Sport LX, which is appropriate since at one point it was found on the Bianchi Sport SX bike (the best Japanese built Bianchi). If you want to jazz it up, you might look on eBay for one of those Stems engraved with Bianchi, just for fun.

I hope you keep the progress documented on this project here. I'm about to start on one of these frames as well. Mine made it through a new powder coat in red before the previous owner got tired of the project. I'm not as lucky with parts as you were, I got a frame and a seat post. No fork, nothing else except headset cups that should have been removed but weren't. Still, just seeing the size and placement of logos is a help to me. Like you said, info is pretty scarce on these for some reason.

I will be stripping the paint this weekend and possibly priming the frame as well. I need to stop by autozone or oreileys to pick up some duplicolor jet black, self etching primer and clear coat. I've had good results with these paints in the past. Powdercoat is not in the budget for me on this one.

Even though it is a low-end model, you may be pleasantly surprised by the ride quality. My first road bike, a $55 bottom-of-the-line Bianchi from the early 1960s, when Schwinn Varsities sold for $70, was a better machine than it had any right to be.

I figured it was time for an update on the Strada project.
I've been busy with other projects including a new TT bike battle cruiser that I will hopefully be racing on in the next couple of months. Anyways to the Bianchi. I have decided to keep it as a commuter for the time being, so I am building it up with parts I have on hand mostly. I had some mismatched wheels (yes, I put a Giant wheel on a Bianchi, I know I should be ashamed but somehow I am surviving) sitting around and an 8 speed cassette. The wheels will eventually get changed out when I get around to selling this thing. I also had some broken bar end shifters that still work as friction shifters, these got converted to downtube shifters for this project. I also managed to find (for $5 out the door) a full Shimano Sport LX drivetrain (crankset, FD, RD). The brakes are calipers I had around, but I am looking for something a little nicer and more reliable and not expensive (Saw some tektro long reach brakes for $20 on Ebay). The saddle is a very comfy Selle Italia Ladies saddle. It was around and it was free...so it goes on this bike. The bar tape was also a freebie, not the best looking stuff but it will do the job.

As for the frame, I polished it with some Maguire's ultimate compound and that took care of most of the fading and small scratches. I then took a black paint pen (from Michael's) and touched up most of the dings and scratches. There is very little I can do about the decals and the state they are in, but I will just have to live with it. Overall it has turned out very nice. It is lacking Celeste, but for a commuter I couldnt honestly care less.

It still needs a chain and to finish the brakes, but other than that it is nearly done.

So here are some pictures.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...psqml4rnqc.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...psyvinpa9o.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...psxewdnldt.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...psonn6b934.jpg

I recently managed to sell it for $250. I posted it in the early afternoon and by evening it was gone. All together I invested about $100 in building it, so that is a decent gain. Now on to another Bianchi (a Sport SS this time).

It was cool that you got black pedal cages on the $5 drivetrain. They were nice with the black frame.

I have not seen many of these sold but that seems like you did well.