Hi everyone, I just picked up a new-to-me 80-something Bianchi. The seller said it was a 80-something Campione d'Italia 57cm, but so far he's only 1/3 on that claim. It is probably an 80-something, but people are of the opinion that it is not a CdI, and my tape measure shows that it is probably a 55, not a 57 (i could be wrong, it is a crappy little tape measure).



As far as the actual model, a friend suggests that it's a Nuovo racing, because of the drop outs on the fork. The bike was sold to me with 27" Mavic MA-40's. The componentry is as follows: Campag NR Derailleurs, shifters (unsure about the rear cassette). The Crankset is a Sugino. The brakes and levers are modolo. Stem and Bars are 3T. Fluted seat post and a Selle saddle. The decals are mostly gone, but there's a "Made in Italy" and the LBS sticker on the seat tube.







The serial number is on the seat post lug and is 3-M/1044. Some help garnering any information regarding this number and it's significance would be appreciated, even if it's just year/month of production.

In terms of what I have planned for this particular bike, unfortunately the celeste is just damaged enough to warrant replacing. Some nicks and scrapes have probably been there for years and there's enough rust on parts of the frame that IMHO, requires refinishing. Having painted a couple of motorcycles in my time, and being equipped to do so, I'm excited to tackle repainting this bike on my own, and any suggestions or references to paint shops or techniques would be appreciated. I'd like to replicate this exact shade of celeste, or get as close as possible.

Contact points and componentry are the greatest question I have. My inner retrogrouch would love to do a period correct build with possibly some upgraded componentry from the period (C-record, super record), but my inner fred/weight weenie would like to use modern equipment and maybe even attempt to shed a couple pounds in the process and run a 9/10 speed group.

So far, I've only managed to remove some of the components, give it a once over with some honda spray polish, and take measurements.


Seat Tube Length 56.5 cm
Top Tube Length (C-C) 55 cm
Headtube Length 145 mm
Wheelbase Length 105 cm
Seat Tube Angle
Fork Rake 43 mm
Headtube Angle
Chainstay Length 415 mm
Bottom bracket Drop 52 mm
BB Shell width 68 mm
Stem Length (C-C) 110 mm
Stem Angle
Seat Post Diameter 27.2 mm
Handlebar Diameter 25.6 mm
Stack 545 mm+/-
Reach 382 mm+/-

Nice score. How's it ride? Some soap & water, and a scuf-brite for the aluminum and it'll be sweet.

haven't had a chance to ride it yet. the chain is seized, the brake pads are pretty shady, and the tires/tubes seem like they're 20 years old--rolled around in the seller's driveway before i realized that my 200 lb frame should probably get off the neglected 20 yo bike, but it seemed really nice in that 30 feet of rolling, lol.

nice looking Bianchi. are the cranks Sugino or the dust caps? it might suprise you to discover two things. 1 that may be the correct kit on that bike. the Nuovo Rec. dreailleurs, Ofmega cranks, and Modolo look pretty standard for a mid '80s Bianchi. 2 if you took a complete Super Record group with a 6spd FW and wheels. it may be lighter that most groups on the road today.

I think what you have there is a '85 Alloro, not Nuovo Alloro just Alloro. the Nuovo Alloro is the next model up. double checks your cranks and look close to be sure the drailleurs are not Grans Sport, that big hexhead bold does not lok like Nouvo Rec.

if it a '85 Alloro it is a Columbus TreTubi frame and Falck fork. I don't know much about painting but my favorite Bianchi was painted with Dupont Imron and it is the best paint I have ever seen and the most unique shade of Celeste. the correct style of decal would be the classic 'flag' decals.

I scored a similar frame, neqarest we can tell is a '83 Nouvo racing, and built it with mostly Super Rec but with newer cranks and brake levers. it turned out nice but I have not ridden it yet.

ah, thank you for the information. someone elsewhere on the internet concurs that it is an Alloro. and it may just be sugino dustcaps! i'll have to give it a closer look when i get home and get the cranks off the frame. ditto for the rear derailleur.

Looks almost identical to my Alloro.

So the rear derailleur is the nuovo gran sport and the cranks are ofmega. good call bianchigirll.

flipping through the old catalogs at bulgier, the alloro doesn't appear in them. was it downmarket enough that it didn't get included in the catalogs?

Where do you keep the wine glasses?

Lots of models are not covered in the catalogues I have seen online. My Bianchi Limited (mfg in Japan) isn't covered much either.

the bulgier Bianchi catalogues are a mess. the seem to only cover a few pages and the top 4 or 5 models. the 86 catalogue is actually a '88

it should be a great rider once it is cleaned and lubbed.

I am still working on that. I think the little stainless glasses form REI will fit nicely in a jersey pocket.

I do not know why I keep calling this a '83. it is either a '81 or '82 I don't know which. if all the decals had been on it I would know for sure but the '81 decals are just slightly different

So after some more garage time with my Alloro yesterday...

1. I finally got the crankset off. The drive side arm/chainring was pretty well attached to the square taper. Took some "gentle" heat with the blowtorch and a 2lb sledge to finally get the thing loose. Where gear pullers, prybars, and others fail, the BFH succeeds! and the crankset doesn't look too much worse for wear. Now, i've still got the driveside bearing "cup" (is it a "cup" when it's an internal, square taper BB?) still seized to the BB-shell threads. this is the side with only 2 flat sides to grip--i suppose i'm going to have to either invest in a large box wrench, or find a better adjustable wrench (i HATE adj wrenches). also, either my measuring tapes are nuts, or i've got a 69mm bb shell. not 68, not 70, 69. either i don't know how to use my tape (which is actually confirmable once i tried to draft the bike's geo using the measurements i posted above...comical to say the least) or i've got yugoslavian BB threads, haha. Internet research tells me that 80's alloro's are italian threaded. can anyone confrim this?

2. The stem is off and the headset looked awful inside. plenty of rust (from the headtube?), dirty bearings, not a smidge of grease left in the bottom bearing. the top bearing isn't much better. some WD-40 and a rag shows the bearing cups aren't in terrible shape, and the balls don't look bad either--better than the BB bearings anyway. Any ideas on headset choices? Campagnolo for authentic Italian flavor? Tange, for the "I don't care, I just wanna make this thing ride for as little money and headache as possible" side of me? The stem itself looks pretty cruddy. Stem bolt was covered in some strange chalky brown paste that didn't look like rust, and the stem plug was pretty nasty as well, with lots of rusty gunk on it. i think it's salvageable, though i only performed a very cursory inspection of it.

3. When this frame gets sandblasted, will they be able to get the interior of the tubeset as well? there's some rusty spots inside the headtube, BB-shell area, seatpost, and i wanna make sure i can get it all if i'm going to take the time to repaint.

4. Just scored a DA 7800 group that i'm not sure how to use. Restore the original campy/modolo/ofmega components? or go "retro-modern"? If i don't use the DA here, i can use it elsewhere.

Word. My ALAN super record weighs actually a little less then my 2005 Principia with ten speed centaur. The frame and fork are slightly heavier on the ALAN, but the group is lighter - brifters sure weigh a lot, cranks, bb and deraillers haven't changed that much over the years weight-wise. The cockpit and the saddle are somewhat in the favour of a modern bike, but small size cinelli stuff and a SR post don't weigh that much at all. The real "clincher" however are the wheels. 32 db spoke, record hubs on mavic 330 tubulars and a 6 speed corncob weigh less than my cheapo rigida wheelset with ten cogs, tubes and tires.

that cup on the drive side is called a "fixed cup" and it not intedned to be removed for routine maintenance. since you are having the frame sandblasted, you may want a shop to remove it for you, they are in pretty tight.

as for sandblasting, they may be able to do the inside of the headtube but not the BB shell as it will ruween the threads.

do a search for Oxicillac Acid on here. lots of guys use it to clean out old frames.

I am all for keeping it original. I try and keep my older bikes as original as I can with the exception of stem and bars. sometimes the seat but a Brooks is always period correct.

a million thank you's!

i stopped before i whipped out the big guns on the fixed cup, thank god. what will a shop use to remove it, is it threaded and threadlocked with something or pressed in?

I guess i'll make a decision on components later. i'm keeping most of the original contact points or trying to stay period correct. a honey colored brooks or san marco "regal" are my leading candidates to replace the faded and degraded Rolls that the bike came with. just ordered some brown leather bar tape to match.

Bicycles require proper tools for servicing!. Attacking your bike with blowtorch, crowbar and BFH is going to ruin it. Hint- there is a tool called a crank extractor that threads into the dustcap threads to pull the crankarms off the spindle. Servicing a bottom bracket requires a thin, specialized bottom bracket wrench for the fixed side and usually a pin spanner and a special bike specific lockring tool, NOT channel locks or an adjustable wrench, screwdriver and hammer which will badly scratch up the parts and you will probably not be able to get the cups in tight enough and with correct bearing clearance. If you dont want to get correct tools for your adjustable BB, just take it to a LBS and have them install a new sealed BB (which also takes a special installation tool).

I've ruined enough parts with brute force (and usually the dremel) on motorcycles and cars to know that there's a proper tool for the job in most instances. but when it comes to seized bits, I don't see much of a difference between using a crank extractor or a gear puller. and especially with the amount of "crank extractor stripped my threads" stories that the internet provided with a google search i'm not sure spending the $20 to strip threads was worth the effort for me. especially when gentle heat, PB Blaster, and a tap with the BFH accomplished what other methods could not. I don't want to pretend that I don't make mistakes whilst wrenching (i totally do, mostly out of impatience...37 degree double flare brass brakeline fittings can attest to that 1,000,000x over), but freeing up this crankset was not one of those moments. Adjustable cup was no problem, i've got spanners of various sizes that i've collected over the years. The fixed cup of the BB might have been a catastrophe, but luckily, I quit in the garage before i got to that point.

Weight weenieness for components from many manufacturers started taking a back seat after the mid 80's with the heavier aero groups from the manufacturer. One look at the weight difference between the 1st gen Mavic SSC 630 fluted arm and spider crank to the 631 Starfish model and you can see that weenieness fell out of favor in a big way. to more aero designs which subsequently resulted in more weight. You seet his too with Stronglight components from the same time where the newer Delta line crankset (130 BCD) was heavier than previous 106/107 144 BCD designs. Similar weight difference with the A9 and Delta headsets. Delta hubs seems to also be a more robust than previous Spidel/Maillard designs.

Chombi