I’ve been keeping my eyes open for an upper-tier Bianchi but they’re few and far between in my area. I picked up this 1989 Super Leggera last September and have been doing a bit of work on it as I get time. It has the typical dirt you’d find on a 36 year old bike, and a bit of road rash, but I started noticing the lack of wear normally seen. Light rust has also taken up residence on some of the components.

It has most of its original Chorus components, but has had the saddle and pedals replaced. It came with a set of Profile aerobars wrapped in correct Bianchi celeste tape, but the PO appears to have had a cat that used it as a jungle gym. The tape was shredded.

Enjoy the photos of it as received and I’ll start posting progress shortly.

Hell yeah! Can’t wait for another high end resto

Great bike - I’ve got a 1989 Giro which has the same frame as the Superleggera. I rode it in 2 Eroica events and the Velo Retro UK ride.

They are nice bikes and you will enjoy riding it.

I have an original saddle for the Giro, which is similar to the one for the Superleggera. PM me if you are interested in it and I can send you a picture.

Looks like a great foundation for a celeste restauro. Would have been a fine race bicycle with light tubulars in the late 1980s, Chorus giving nothing away to the higher-level, heavier and more expensive groupsets…

I have a newer (c. 1997) TSX Reparto Corse with 10-speed Chorus. It’s great to ride.

Very nice, that's going to clean up beautifully!

Brad - if you cannot find the original bar tape, the celeste FiziK tape looks really good on the bike. Below is a photo of my Giro with this tape.

I posted it on a Bianchi FB page shortly after I bought it and someone wanted to BUY the shredded handlebar tape. I wouldn’t sell it to him, but offered to send it to him for the cost of shipping. Instead of money changing hands, he sent me a box of new Silva bar tape. It’s pretty close, but a touch too blue. I’ll definitely check out the FiziK tape.

Disassembly didn’t take long, so no issues with frozen fasteners. It was at this point that I started to notice the lack of wear on the parts. The braking surfaces of the rims look new, and brake blocks still have the center flashing.

I’ll be riding this Bianchi so I needed to alter the gearing to be a bit easier on the legs. It had a 7-speed (13-23) Regina Synchro 90-S freewheel and an A-7 insert in the shifter. I have yet to experience the finicky nature of the Campagnolo Syncro index shifters and I want to give myself the best chance of success. That said, I found an NOS 7-speed (13-31) Regina Synchro 90-S freewheel and, going by Campagnolo’s chart, a black, B-7 insert. I cleaned and lubed both freewheels, just because.








I cleaned and polished (buffed for anodized parts) the shifter bits. I know that there’s a tool for installing the insert, but I was able to install it without much fuss. I used an 8mm socket from the underside to compress the first spring as I installed the second. It was easier than anticipated.

Because of my cervical fusion last year I need to ride in a more upright position. I usually ride a 52-53cm frame, and a stem long enough to get me in the new position can put undue stress on the short head tube and bearings. I built a 55cm 1985 Merckx as an experiment and it seems to be working well. I just have the saddle a bit lower than you would normally see on that frame. For this Bianchi, I wanted to keep the components as original as possible and would need a shorty Chorus seatpost. And thanks to jdawginsc , I now have the shorty seatpost.

I also found very little wear on the chainrings while going through the crankset. The teeth look almost new. There was a bit of rust on the chainring bolts, but an overnight soak in EvapoRust took care of it. And with no scuffs on the crank arms, the result in a crankset that looks virtually new.

The Chorus front derailleur was starting to show signs of rust, so the rusty bits took an EvapoRust bath prior to a phosphoric acid treatment to deter its return, then a good polish. In the box it goes to await the rest of the components.

Nice find, I've been looking for a Celeste SL in my size for some time, they're not growing on trees.

what size is that?

Here’s the condition of the Chorus rear derailleur as found. It’s pretty dirty and has a bit of road rash. I suspect the original owner rode it on a few rainy days, then crashed it and decided cycling was not for them.

One issue I found was the adjuster bolt was bent in the crash.




I thought I’d at least try to straighten it, so the first process was to anneal the bent section. This makes the aluminum more ductile and easier to bend without breaking. It’s also less likely to break in the future. To anneal the aluminum you need to heat it to around 600°F and let it cool naturally. The easiest way to gauge the temp is by drawing on it with a black Magic Marker and heat it until the black burns off. Once it was cool I clamped an M4x.7mm coupling nut in the vise, then threaded the bolt in until I felt a bit of resistance.




I then took the same 8mm socket with the driver handle (I’ve had this Craftsman RHFT socket set since I bought it new in 1981) and used it to finesse the bending until it would screw into the coupling nut with minimal resistance.






Once it was done I checked it in the threads of the derailleur. It screwed in without issue.

Here’s the completed rear derailleur. It’s currently in the “A” position, but I’ll move it to the “B” position before installation.







I’d say those original jockey wheels look brand new, a testament to how little use this bike had.




And the adjuster bolt looks perfect.

Hey Rob, I'm somewhat flexible, but ideally 59-60 cm.

Have fun making the Synchro index shifting work on the bike.
It can work, but I find the shifting performance to he inconsistent from ride to r8de. One day it works and the next day it doesn't despite all the adjusting I did to it.
​​​​it.it was so bad that ai just put the right lever on friction mode, all the time!

That's why I'm trying to do everything by the book. And, like you said, there's always friction mode.

Great bike and nice work to freshen it up!

I highly recommend the Fizik micro tex bar tape in Celeste. Good color match, comfortable tape, and cleans easily. I have over 14,000 miles on some, with additional trainer use since I retired that bike. It is showing wear now but it looked new for over 10k miles.

The Chorus brake calipers were dirty and with rust starting to show on the chrome bits. I’m certain these are the original brake blocks as the condition matches the other little used parts.

I usually use Kool Stop brake pads but I thought I’d give new Campagnolo pads a try. These are not NOS, they’re new production, so they’re still soft. The Chorus brakes require a notch in the pads, so a little time with a sharp X-Acto knife was needed.

After disassembly, the rusty bits took an overnight EvapoRust bath, then were treated with phosphoric acid to deter its return. They then got a nice polish with Simichrome. The anodized aluminum bits were merely buffed with Simichrome, but the arm with the decal was done by hand. In the box they go.