sekaijin

^ 70sish, huh? Well, now I am its proudish owner. Stuck seatpost, Italian BB and all.

It has serial number 1G22766 on the headtube lug above the headbadge decal. Is that a helpful clue?

johanna_von

i bought a bianchi off craiglist a couple years ago. it doesn't have a model name on it anywhere. the serial number on the bottom bracket is A2863M4. i was unable to find any info on how to decipher anything from the serial number. however, i did find an article that was very helpful: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...one6001985.pdf. my bike looks identical to the pictures and the bottom of the article pages say july 1985. so, based on this, i'm assuming my bike is a stelvio, made approximately in 1985. as far as i can tell, my bike had all original components. i converted it to a fixie, but kept everything i stripped off. you can see a picture of it here: https://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/...3&id=588416848.

wildchild62565

I wanted some help to identify year and the origin of my veloce. It has been painted, sports a carbon fiber front fork and has a really crude looking serial number that reads h5m09723 any imput would be appreciated. If it helps it was born with the celeste color.

Bianchigirll 

Hi Johanna_von sorry I don't have a facebook account. can you post a pic here or do you have flicker or photobucket? you want PM me and I'll give you me email so and I'll post them

Bianchigirll 

Hello wildchild, welcome to the forums. unfortunatly once a bike is repainted, unless done a reputable painter and to original condition, a bike looses it's identity. the pic is too small to make any ID claims anyway. you best bet is check for date codes on the components, assuming they are original. is that shimano sti? i don't recall a veloce being equipped with shimano

wildchild62565

The person I received it from pretty much built it from the ground up with sram crank, 105 derailleurs, bontrager wheels, deda stem and the left shifter is a durace and the right is a 105 he told me that it was equipped with campy when he received it and changed it over. That was about a year ago and I tried contacting him to get the specs on it with no prevail. Is there any specific tube diameters, butting techniques, or anything I could take a better piture of to help authinticate the bike?

Bianchigirll 

no specific measurements but most steel Bianchis from the mid to late '90s had that larger ovalized DT. vertical at the top then sort of becoming round in the middle then horiontal at the bottom. there isn't anything stamped on it?

wildchild62565

There isn't any markings on the bike, but I can kinda see on the bottom of the frame where the Celeste(I think?) is showing through where the the paint was sprayed thin. I can tell the frame material is very different than my old 78' traveler, but I just want to make sure its a bianchi. The only date is the march 2008 printed on the crank. I will check the DT asap

-Ok I forgot about the seat is endorses the Bianchi insignia and so does the composite seatpost

Livs

Just bought my first Bianchi! Could anyone offer some help identifying it? Someone took off the model sticker, so no help there. It's most likely early 80's, but not sure as to exact year.

Bianchigirll 

Nice looking Bianchi. is it all 600? do the brake levers match the calipers? (same color and '600' style) what kind of hubs? are the remnants of the tubing decals on the fork and the seattube a greenish color?

it somewhat looks like a '86 limited but the color is wrong. the decal style (unless replaced, but I doubt this because the of the remnants of the tubing decals) make it a '85 to '87ish bike.

Bianchigirll 

HI sorry I have not been watching this. unfortunatly unless you can get Bianchi to itentify it by the serial number there is no real way to determine the year. unlike the earlier lugged frames there were no 'embellishments' on later frames. (a "B" on the HT/DT lug, engraving on the seatstay caps, style of dropout)

since the bike has been rebuilt, on cheap from the sounds of it, the date code of the cranks is questionable. if the seller could not be bothered to find matching shifters I doubt he would care if the components matched the year of the frame. seats are seats, I had a Colnago seat on one of my Bianchis for few weeks and I have put lots of 'takeoff' bianchi seats on other bikes.

your bike likely is a mid 2000s Bianchi of some model but the exact year and model may never be known.

Livs

I believe it was originally full 600, but someone replaced the crankset, FD and BB. The 600 stuff is all 6207 (calipers and levers, hubs, RD, freewheel, pedals). Tubing and fork decals are celeste-ish Formula Two. By any chance, do you know any sources of Bianchi decals? I've founds some for the fork and tubing, but I'm specifically looking for the model sticker once it's figured out.

Bianchigirll 

OK what is the crankset, FD, BB and headset? unless cyclomundo (is that right?) can make them I am not aware of anyplace to get model decals. if you replace the tubing decals make sure you get the green Formula 2 ones.

do you have any closeups? I think this bike had the components swapped at the shop maybe. we did it a few times when the only difference was the color of the frame. someone wants a red Limited but it only comes in blue or celeste. you swap parts with a Brava or Vittoria

Livs

I'm sorry, I was mistaken! Upon further inspection, the calipers are 6208 and the levers 6209! Both are very clean, so may be replaced as well. Not a spec of rust on the calipers at all! The hubs, RD, and pedals certainly seem to be original in their condition, however. The hubs and pedals are 6207, and the SIS RD is 6208. The shifter (single, as one isn't 600) is 6208 as well. The fork has a sunken "B", if that also helps. The front Ambrosio 19 extra super elite may also be original, as well.

JBHoren

BB SN: JS932848
Crankarm: 89H

BB is stamped "VP", next to the left crankarm (looking from the bottom)

Derailleurs are Suntour XCE, crankarms are Sakae SXC, triple is Sakae Roundtech, stem is Nitto Dynamic II, brakes are Dia-Compe XCE, handlebars are Sakae.

Can we verify its provenance? (I wish I could decipher the SN)

Here are photos:

Livs

Just got the first chance to take some quick pics. Not the greatest, but they show the essentials. Once it's cleaned up a bit and completed, much better photos will be in order . I also found an identical paint shade coating a Squadra, so I'm leaning towards that being my bike's mystery identity.

Bianchigirll 

Hello JB. great looking Volpe! according to me catalogs it is a '90 but someone made a minor change and took of the Suntour "Command" shifters and put the barcons on it. you did a great job of cleaning and polishing this bike.

even though I hate black wall tires they look pretty good on that bike. I think it is ahtr wheelbase and clearance. the tires are not shoved right upgainst the frame and also the box sextion rims don't add another 2" of black to the depth of the tire.

Bianchigirll 

Livs great pics but now I am confused. is this bike blue or a violet color? the first pics make it look blue. if the frame decals are the greenish Columbus decals and the color is violet it is a '86 Limited with a few changes. very nice looking too.

Livs

It's definitely a blue color just exactly like this one:

https://gallery.me.com/rockyshores/10...20side/web.jpg

The only thing that puzzles me is that from what I'm reading most Squadras of the era came with Ofmega original components? Not quite sure. I'm almost certain that this bike was 600 out of factory, however. Or, at the very least, my unearthly attachment to 600 stuff leaves me hoping so . One other question. I ended up paying $250 for it. Good deal, or am I a sucker?

Bianchigirll 

well the seatstay caps are different, but that might just be a case of "stay cap de jure". I think you have a '86 Squadra frame that at some point had 600 installed on it. now the Squadra, Brava, Limited and Nouvo Alloro all shared the same frame that year. it could be as I said previously it was done in the shop to accomidate a customer's size or color. it sould have been done at the factory, they needed to build 30 52cm limiteds but only 52cm Squadra frames were available. it could have been bought as a Squadra and the original or subsequent owners changed the parts. at a shop I worked in we had a real nice '85 Vittoria with all Victory but we could not sell it until we put 600 derailleurs and shifters on it.

if this bike fits (is that stem too high?) and is in rideable condition I think you got a great deal for 250. it is likely top dollar for that bike but if you bought it to ride it great deal. thos Formula 2 Superset frames were real nice. I believe the tubes were somewhere between a Alle and SL quality, so it should be an awsome ride. congrats on a great ride!

JBHoren

I can't take credit for its cleanliness; that goes to the person from whom I recently bought the bicycle, who took the photos.

WRT the barcons: I dislike 'em, so I bought a pair of NOS Shimano Sora STI shifters (triple/7-speed) on The Bay -- I'll update the photos, once I get them installed.

Here, too, I'm making a change: The present tires are 700x35, but barely measure 28mm. So... I ordered a pair of Michelin Pilot City tires, in 700x40 (but don't worry... there'll still be room to spare between them and the fork-blades/seat-stays).

As for the color... G-d, but I want it in Celeste!! Perhaps as next Winter's project... but now it's Spring/Summer in Alaska, so it's road time

Bianchigirll 

[QUOTE=JBHoren;10746703]

WRT the barcons: I dislike 'em, so I bought a pair of NOS Shimano Sora STI shifters (triple/7-speed) on The Bay -- I'll update the photos, once I get them installed.QUOTE]

Sora STI? hhmmm you may need to find a Shimano or Sachs 7spd freewheel, those 'brifters' may not index on that suntour one.

Livs

The stem was indeed pulled higher it seems before I got it. Though I like the stem, I'm actually considering looking for a new one. Cinelli, possibly? Not sure yet. I'm now fairly certain it's a Squadra, but I'm noticing the stamp on my fork and seat cluster seem to date pre-1985 from what I'm seeing in catalogues and photos? I may be mistaken, though. Once I do some work on the bike, I'll check the serial under that plastic piece to be certain.

JBHoren

What about Sunrace? D'ya think that a Sunrace 7-speed freewheel cluster will index correctly with those SORA brifters? I'm thinking about an 11-34 that they made (like the Shimano "Mega 7" -- 11-13-15-18-21-24-34).

Bianchigirll 

yes I think the sunrace will work, they were shimano spaced. just be careful that the RD can handle a 34t cog and the chain wrap need for a 11-34 and 28/38/48