OK, Since building up my Bianchi, I was one time satisfied with knowing it was a lugged steel frame. Columbus tubes and made in Italy, it was low mileage when I received it. Original tires and brake pads and rims had barely any signs of wear...

However, after spending too much time here, I began to get restless. Other than the raised "B" on the headtube-downtube lug, the frame was created in the late 80's - a time where cost-cutting measures had a firm grip on the competitive cycling industry. The end result is, as much as my frame is decent... I see more and more that its very.... ordinary.

The lugwork is plain and short-pointed thruout. There is no pantographing, or details in any of the seatstays or fork crown, or bottom bracket shell.. Gipiemme dropouts round out the package for a bicycle that was completely equipped with Shimano 105, from hubs to headset. There is no chrome and its painted a simple enamel black with decals under the clear-coat... again, ordinary.

It gets the job done and it rides along side carbon 4-5-figure digit bikes weekly, where it's remarked for its understatedness causing riders to look twice thinking its some vintage carbon bike... but it isn't.

Now I find myself searching for hours for something Japanese, and a bit fancier.. a Zunow would be great, but even an older Miyata Pro had me tempted on ebay...

WHAT have all you done to me!!??!?

N+1, baby; N+1

assimilated, you now are

I am sorry to hear you do not like your Bianchi. from your description it sounds like you have a Brava maybe and '86ish. most people I know buy Bianchis for the ride quality rather than the fancy pantographing. most Bianchis down here had little adornment on the frame other than a B or eagle on the crownand Bianchi on the stay caps. some used to have Bianchi stamped on the top of the BB shell. lots of builders used GPM dropouts and I have even seen some real nice frames with Shimano drops.

do you have any pics of this ugly plain jane?

Its a great frame, I don't want to sound ungrateful to the 'bike-gods', but yah maybe I'm growing an appreciation for those fade paintjobs of the same period.. It has a B decal on the caps and crown, but thats about it. its an 88 brava but made with the same frame as the Campione de italia, as most of the non-reparto corse frames made in Italy were these at the time.











I think what I enjoy most about this frame is the geometry, but I'd love to hear more input on that from any catalogs you may have.. From this 52cm C-T size, I have concluded: 75* STA and 73.5* HTA, 52cm C-T, 53cm C-C tt, BB drop is 6.5 on sizes 52 - 63; fork rake is 42 on all. That BB drop and rake are identical on the Mondiale, SuperLeggera and Giro.

Tubing is Columbus Formula Two, Super Set.
Columbus Aelle Seat/Chain Stays and Fork
Chainstay length = 405mm
Wheel base = 985mm

You came HERE for help?

By the way, I really like the bike, especially fond of those wheels. You can actually get celeste decals for those...
That is a clean, solid performer, and if you like the geometry and the brand, simply look for another level up in the same size and brand.

As far as a Zunow, most of them have to come from estate sales. Those people subscribe to the "you'll have to pry my cold dead fingers...." philosophy on those, but they are out there. My guess is you can upgrade to a better Bianchi for $600-$800, but I sure wouldn't get rid of that one....

You are lucky that your size is less sought after than most so maybe a nice deal will come your way soon. I sold that Rocky Mountain that was your size, otherwise it would have been a really nice upgrade. You kept the original parts from the Bianchi?

Resistance is futile.

infact,

1050 6 speed shifters, brake levers + white hoods, hubs laced to ambrosio extra elite 19 rims, and rear derailleur will be mounted on the burnt orange miele I scored for $20.




Again, another ordinary frame. I am cursed with ordinary frames!!

There's a nice looking Panasonic on Pinkbike that looks to be only a little bigger than that Bianchi

How do you like the Mirage RD? I've been tempted to try one, but the price is so low (for Campagnolo) that it makes me afraid that there's something wrong with them. I don't mind the black at all. I can work with that.

You ultimately have to decide for yourself what makes an "extraordinary" frame, what floats your boat. That could keep changing for a good long while. Then you'll know which frames to go after and which ones you truly appreciate, irrespective of the name on the down tube. It could ultimetaly come down to some quite subtle details. Keep looking and learning.
P.S. The cost-cutting kicked in hard in the early 80's.

it doesn't skip a beat and works just fine on a 10sp cassette + chain! It was $23 after shipping from ebay around December 09! I will say tho dialing in 10sp is a bit more finicky than 6sp...! it works really nice and liquid smooth and I think it depends largely on the shifters.. as im running Centaur 10sp.

ah the 80's.. no wonder these frames seem so generic.. ah well......

that is a great looking Bianchi however I am not a big fan of those deep V wheels. the geomentry sounds about right for time (well still today even) I think the 'ideal' is 73.5 parrellel or something like that.

do not forget the Formula two tubing was custome made for Bianchi and features the famous 'superset' frame design. that being slightly heavier for the guage DT and Chainstays to give a better ride, stiffer BB area for accelerating and climbing but still light and lively enough to dampen roadshock.

it is too bad the frame became so plain but Bianchi was never noted for fancy embellishments or lugwork. the two tone paint schemes thay came up with in the early '90s mixed with the awful artdeco/flowerpower decals were not their best.

I have seen and even own higher end Bianchis with little or no embellishment on the frame.

Yes, I have read that as well, about the Parrellel angles. The deep-v rims are the 1994? state of the art Campagnolo Shamals!.. Don't worry tho, I will be building a vintage Miele with box-section rims, soon enough!

I have noticed that the downtube and seattube are the same size/thickness with a slightly smaller toptube. Can you tell me more about this blend of Columbus SP/SL? I find the BB area stiff enough for a steel frame, in fact the chainstays are quite thick as is the bottom bracket where they all connect.
Bianchi or the 90's or a combo of Bianchi in the 90's adopted pretty poor taste in their paint schemes and didn't age as gracefully as their 80's stuff.. maybe i'm the only one that thinks so...

Aren't they all?

I think you are right with most top tubes being thinner!
And for robbietunes, I have never seen Celeste decals for these, ever?! Thing is, having deep shiner wheels amongst the 40+mm deep carbon already makes for some confusion on my group rides! Adding different color decals will start to throw off the Campag purists, as well!