Originally Posted by
trueno92
speaking of this, when exactly did bianchi start manufacturing in Japan?
I ask, because I have read of bravas made in japan as early as 1986, but there are others made in italy as late as 1988...
was there a cutoff? or did they just have both manufacturing feeding different parts of the world?
Unfortunately, there is no clear cutoff. We've seen cases of models being being offloaded to Japan for a couple of years, then being brought back to Italy. It's all comes down to economics and the relative value of the yen to the lira. Most of Bianchi's entry and mid range models were being manufactured in Japan in the early 1980s, unless they were spec'd with Italian components.
Then, circa 1985, there was a massive re-evalution of the yen that made most manufacturers offload to cheaper Taiwanese production. In Bianchi's case, it appears that the entry level models went to Taiwan while the lower mid-range models, such as the Brava and Limited, were brought back to Italy.
Originally Posted by
Finney71
Thank you to T-Mar for weighing in and getting me closer to finding material that will give me the specs of my bike. I am without wheels and hubs but I have worked to do before I put anymore parts on the bike. I would be interested in the source of information that led T-mar to know the bike is from the mid eighties. ?
I'm a Quality Engineer trained to look for patterns in data. I've decyphered the serial number codes for many manufacturers by collecting serial number data, component date code data and pictures of bicycles models. Once I've determined a pattern and identified the relevant indicators, I compare my theory against the component date code data and the corresponding models in my old catalogs and magazines. For examples, take a look at my Centurion Serial Number Database threaqd and Nishiki Serial Number Database thread, which you can search for using the toolbar at the top of this page.
If there are no matches on the Bulgier site, you can post pics, list components, and state the seat post diameter. This will allow us to at least determine the relative level of your bicycle, if not identify the exact model.