Originally Posted by
unworthy1
what color was it originally (assuming you can find some remnants on the fork or inside the tubing)?
I swear my neighbor had a Bianchi frameset he was going to build up for his daughter that was this color and he was sure it was OEM paint. But she never had a (big enough) growth spurt AFAIK so that plan never was realized.
It may be original, but I havent seen that color in any of the 80s Bianchi catalogs that I have looked at. I cannot really tell for sure what the color was originally. There is some evidence of white under the paint in the few spots where the paint is chipped, but I am not sure if that's just primer or actual paint. But if you look at the images, the paint looks really good, with metallic flakes and no runs. Does not look like a rattle can job by any means. I also haven't looked close enough to see if the fork crown is chromed and was painted over. That would give me an indication about the model. I might also just give it period-appropriate Bianchi decals and move on and ride it, again the paint is actually very good as is. I have a Dura Ace 7400 set I have been saving for something, and might build it with that, or I could go with friction Campagnolo easily enough, its just that the damned brake levers that are the problem. The C-Record brake levers are really pricy and the hoods are always a gummy mess. First world problems I guess.
I saw this bike about 3 hours after it went up on MPLS craigslist and contacted the seller immediately. Turned out to be a student that worked in a bike shop, and this thing was just kind of hanging around the back room of the bike shop for a while and no one wanted it. So he took it home and eventually sold it. It looks like its just an assembly of good 80s Japanese parts (minus the wheels) that were hanging around the shop with a freshly painted frame. He couldn't really give me any more information, and I was just happy to grab it. rode it the other day just around the block, its a pretty nice $50 ride!