Request for info...Bianchi Veloce
 

Hi,
I’ve never had a vintage bicycle in my possession but I find myself with a beautiful example of a Bianchi Veloce and I’m hoping that someone can tell me something about her. This bike is being donated to charity and we are hoping to sell her and donate the proceeds to a food bank fund drive that is being held in our area. The bike is absolutely beautiful but I haven’t been able to find anything on the Internet to give me an idea of what it is worth on the open market. Please take a look at the pics and let me know what you think.

Because time is of the essence I have posted this in Classic & Vintage and in Road Cycling. I hope that you won’t mind too much for the cross post but I would like to be able to give some kind of good information to the fund drive organizers by Monday as to what this bike might be worth.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/P1010023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/P1010016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/P1010018.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/P1010017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/P1010019.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/P1010021.jpg

The last pic shows a scrape that is on the seat stay. That is the only damage I can find on the bicycle. It is truly beautiful. It has what appears to be the original Silca pump, which appears to be fully functional but is sun stained. The bike has stickers attesting to the use of Columbus tubing and all components are Campagnolo, with a 6 spd cassette in the rear. The wheels are Mavic G40's with DT Swiss spokes according to the sticker on the wheels. The saddle is obviously not original as it is a Selle Italia with carbon rails (faux or real I can't tell).

If you can give me any info on the bike it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Circa 1985 model, equipped with Campagnolo Triomphe group. A mid-range racing bicycle orignally priced about $650 US, depending on the exact year. The Bianchi Special by Columbus tubing was a mixed, butted CrMo tubeset incorporating heavier gauge downtube and chainstays. A nice bicycle in very good condition. On the internet, this would fetch a very good price. I expect that any forum members within driving distance will be PMing you for the date, time and exact location of the auction.

PM Chipcom. He has a bunch of vintage Bianchi's.

My God, that bike is awesome!

Besides the money it will raise i hope the buyer knows what he is buying and not a cute little boy from the next block his mother who'll pay 50 euros so her son can sport ;)

I would put it on Ebay, raise a lot of money (reasonable, not crazy) so both the food bank and the new owner will be 100% happy!

Does anyone have any ideas about the identity of the bike? I have been poking around on the Internet and I believe now that T-Mar is correct about the bike having the Triomphe gruppo. As it happens there is a similarly equipped bike on EBay right now that was bid up to $500 before the auction ended which would make a very nice contribution to the food bank. EBay can be hit and miss so I'm hoping that I can use any additional details I can learn to really make an auction that really grabs people's attention so anything that you can add would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Mike

I am surprised a triomphe equipped bike (which the one pictured is) would bring $500, it the name bianchi and the celeste paint job that does it. That is was to much money to pay for that bike in my opinion.

Yeah, I was under the impression from my searches that $200-300 would probably be more realistic, but it's spring, bicycling is really getting into gear now, and bidding on an EBay auction can sometimes get supercharged when a couple of people decide that they're not going to let the other guys "beat them" in an auction. Here is the auction I referred to.

yeah that is impressive. Ebay is the sellers market!

Just an update...I've finally gotten this bike up on EBay. I wonder if you folks would take a look at the auction and tell me if I've left anything out. As I said earlier in this thread and in the auction, the proceeds are going to charity so I would really like to see this bike do well on EBay. Any critique you can give me would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Mike, I won't bid on the bike (because it's way too big for me), but can you provide a link for the food bank to accept donations? As you can see, I am a local :) .

East Hill

mcoomer

i pm'ed you check it please .

and can you post the food bank link ..?

Cheers T

This link will take you to the ARAS Foundation homepage. If you go to the bottom of the menu on the left you will see New and Events with a link to the Harvest Festival just below that. There you will find information on the 2005 and 2006 events and information on contacting them about their upcoming events. They don't have the 2007 Harvest Festival posted yet but I'm certain they would be happy to email details to anyone interested in them.

Mike

I agree. $300-$350 would be a very good price in my opinion, but buyers go ga-ga over celeste Bianchi and bid them through hte roof.

If the OP posts the serial number, I can provide the exact model year.

I will take a look when I get home. I assume that the SN will be under the BB?

S/N should be on the bottom of the BB shell. There should be two sections. One comprising a letter and number. The other with three or four numbers. Only the section with the letter and number is important to date the frame. If it's a year or more earlier than I estimated, it could be on the sides of the seat lug.

I took a quick look and the only markings I can see are L4 under the BB. I don't see anything on the sides of the seat lug.

If the 4 in L4 means 1984 you should look here:

http://www.bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Bianchi-84/

CAn't tell for sure from the pics, but the rear hub appears to be a Campy Record, if the hubs are Record, you should mention this in the listing.

Yes, it is a 1985. Ollo Ollo makes a good point on the hubs. See if you can verify what thet are, or post a better pic of just the hubs and someone will tell you.

The front and rear hubs are Nuovo Record and it is mentioned in the listing.

Thanks for the info T-Mar.