A Bianchi… or a replica?

[MSYT]

Evening ladies and gentlemen of the Italian road persuasion. I thought this might be the right section to put this but… how do you tell if you’ve got a real Bianchi?

I picked this up cheap recently because 1 - it was cheap and 2 - it had a nice Mavic seatpost. All the parts on it seem to suggest late 80s to early 90s apart from the rear hub but I’m struggling with narrowing down a model and it’s even got me wondering if it is a real Bianchi.

To me, the 27.2mm post might suggest a decent frame because it has thinner tubing as does the braze on front derailleur but there’s just some things bugging me.

While I can find Bianchi’s with the 3 decals (top/down and seat) it doesn’t seem that common a design with just the writing. A lot of the time there seems to be an extra flair to it.

Also the headtube decal isn’t the Bianchi crest…. It’s just Bianchi. But vertical. I haven’t found another example of that yet. (No doubt someone will find one in 2 seconds)

I also can’t find a serial number. I’ve read up and seen earlier models had it on the head tube and later it migrated to the BB but it’s plain. Bit of rust but no visible engraving. In fact there’s no Bianchi engraving on the frame at all. Just 57 on the lug.

If any Bianchi experts could pass on some knowledge that would be grand. I’m going to take it apart at the weekend and see if the BB is Italian threaded or not and give everything a clean and check but some extra details of what to look for would be good.

Either way - I’m not too fussed. I kind of just wanted the seatpost but it would be nice to identify it properly.





Rear hub: British Hub Racelite

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=6BF0103F-B9C7-4B76-8816-E3BE92D5B7AD&Enum=110&AbsPos=10

Saddle: Selle San Marco Squadra HDP

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=678DB71B-F9BC-4430-B34B-CF9173D0FA55&Enum=106&AbsPos=34

Headset: Tange Nova

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=1733CC3F-3A28-44E1-811D-F27FFCF56D58&Enum=111&AbsPos=1

Seatpost: Mavic 330

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=320DDD43-A81C-4E43-B19F-79D1FF47004D&Enum=105&AbsPos=

Front Brake: Shimano 105 Br-1055

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=BDD356C3-FDFB-468E-ADF9-E43C1313A244&Enum=117&AbsPos=22

Crankset: Stronglight 99

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=D7367238-36F7-472B-8A7E-C1DA6C978034&Enum=115&AbsPos=19

Front Hub: Campagnolo Croce D’Aune

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=72D36965-6592-4A99-A9BD-AFCEF5B4661D&Enum=110&AbsPos=21

Or Euclid if MBT

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=1D25260A-6754-494F-86D4-5D945C532386&Enum=110&AbsPos=22

Brake Levers: Campagnolo Athena BL-02AT CG

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=612E00F5-5BF4-4444-B18B-5B2733F377BF&Enum=118&AbsPos=3

Handlebars: Cinelli 66 Campione Del Mondo

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=0a169328-3b86-4c63-acce-da8fc8054ca6

Rear Brake: Campagnolo Veloce BR32-VL

https://www.ciclisport.com/componen...t-brake-caliper-set-in-silver-nos-1998__37536

Pedals: Shimano LX PD-M525

Front Rim:

Rear Rim:

Fork:

Tyres:

Stem

 

[Foreigner]

Not an expert on Bianchi, but this is probably one of the strangest parts combo I could imagine on a build

 

[ChromeChainstay]

nice patina'

 

[Canuk]

It looks like a 405 or maybe a 605. Forks are probably not original, frame is low end Bianchi gas pipe tubing, but still, it's Celeste!

 

[Canuk]

Celeste - it's the colour, not the model.