Cl904

Late 80s Viner I picked up yesterday in a trade. Shimano tricolor group and. Cormor tubing.

Cl904

Some detail shots...

Drillium Dude 

My latest (and likely my last):



DD

PilotFishBob 

Beauty.

P!N20

You don’t have to lie to us, DD.

KonAaron Snake 

Since this has turned into a post your Italians thread (I have a few less, but still some goodies):

Drillium Dude 

Thank you

DD

Drillium Dude 

But I really am cured! Truly I am

Hey, I never thought I'd be able to quit smoking, but this summer was 5 years.

Thinking I might pull this off, too

DD

Drillium Dude 

Did it used to be about something else? I'm prolly missing something - I can be quite thick sometimes

DD

Gary Fountain

......and such a nice one to finish on. I think Piaggio era is a plus. Reparto Corse built???

Great photo with the Bianchi celeste painted house in the background.

Last one! You must be happy but a little sad too.

Drillium Dude 

Thank you, Gary. A top-tier Bianchi from this era has been in the back of my mind as a grail bike for quite a number of years. It all came together at the end of July. And you know, I'm not sad at all because the ride is sublime. I've even been considering paring down my collection to concentrate on this and only one or two others.

It is for sure Reparto Corse-built, and likely it was sold as frame/fork only since there's no model name present on the top tube. Research suggests it would have been known as a Specialissima in this guise, even though the Super Corsa and Super Leggera share the exact same frame as mine.

I've fallen in love with this bike quickly and it feels brand new. It has so few signs of use I wonder how close to brand new it really is.

DD

Gary Fountain

Hi Drillium Dude, it sure is a grail bike and I can really empathise with you as seeing it as a 'till death keeper'. Let's hope that's many years off. Leaving 3 bikes must be pretty difficult as I have been thinking of doing exactly the same thing but I find my final 3 can change from day to day, haha. I know, one day, you will show the final 3 and, just running your bikes through my mind, I know your selection process must be difficult too.

Isn't "Specialissma" such an image evoking name for a bike model? A Reparto Corse built Specialissma has been on my mind since the mid 1990's but I've never come across one for sale (except on line). Yours is exactly what I would wish for, even the size, and I know this particular bike is in the best of hands.

Great photos of this fantastic bike on your link and I love the painted highlights. I also love the black TT cable guides that I think are original. The black saddle and bar tape is perfect. 3TTT saddle - wow it is all there. The gear levers are quite special too. Love it! I'd consider changing the original looking Campy grey brake cable outers for black coloured outers just to be similar to the factory models - but I do understand and appreciate the original owner most likely assembled the frame and components. It must be very original as you suggest.

Congratulations on your new ownership of such a lovely bike.

Drillium Dude 

Don't you have a high-end Bianchi, too? Or did at one point? IIRC, you had an older version with red decals.

And you're right, I should find some black cable outers to duplicate the catalog bike look. Plus, these are rather short. Oh, and I'm going to shellac the bars tomorrow to try to preserve the current color as Newbaum's black tape fades to brown too quickly for my taste.

Thanks again

DD

KonAaron Snake 

I’m the thick one - got confused about which thread I posted to.

Gary Fountain

I've got an '82 Bianchi Campione del Mondo - a very nice bike in pretty good condition but not really in the same league as your new beauty. It's a factory built frame, of course, but not Reparto Corse. The shellac will be great. I saw some other photos on Flickr and you look perfectly at home on the Specialissima.

I must admit that I did get on our local ebay this evening to see if there were any high end Bianchi's - hahaha - look what you've made me do.

The '82 Campione del Mondo - I may as well show it:



It's lovely and it did take me a while to build but.......I just can't seem to fall in love with it. I sold it once and bought it back a couple of years later but.......its a nice bike.

Gary Fountain

This has got to be the best bike colour ever! What a beauty.

Further - I don't think I have seen another 60's Pinarello come to think of it? 60's bikes are hard to find anyway but this is something quite special. It does look to be highly influenced by the earlier Legnano's.

Did you resurface the saddle? if you did, I take my hat off to you. It looks as unique as the bike.

KonAaron Snake 

Galmozzi built pinarello from about 68’...you don’t see many pinarellos pre-boom.

tkamd73 

1982 Champione Del Mondo ( from a previous thread)

mhespenheide 

That's got to be a replacement fork, though, yes? I've never seen a unicrown fork on something as early as '82.

tkamd73 

Yup, free frame given to me by a mech at my local LBS. looking at the fork, assumed it was crashed, upon further inspection quite obvious, but who cares if it’s free. Actually, replacement fork was from Bianchi, someone cared. Wasn’t free to fix it, but well worth it. Kudos to Yellow Jersey, they did the repairs and repaint.
Tim

Gary Fountain

Very classy. Brilliant restoration. Just love the Universal centre-pulls.

Gary Fountain

Hi BradL, your Fiorelli looks to be quite a time capsule and your Colnago must be a real joy to own - a rare beauty. Congratulations on two really interesting bikes.

Hi Joluja, your Ciocc really stands out and I bet you get a lot of admiring looks when you take it out for a spin. I see it has my absolute favourite 80's saddle - a Concor Confort and my favourite gear levers - Simplex Retrofriction.

Hi C194, thanks for the photos of your Viner. You don't see them all that often but I did have a neighbour that rode one and he loved it. I see yours is made from Columbus Cromor which I find to be a really good, and a little under rated tube set. I think it had a poor reputation when it was introduced due the wrongly perceived notion that a seamed tube would give an inferior ride. I have found that I can't tell it apart from Columbus SLX. How do you find it?

Hi HPL, nothing like a late 80's / early 90's Colnago. I reckon they're the complete package - the style, the looks, the ride quality. I can't make out the model either. My initial thought was a Super but with the 'apostrophe' cutouts on the head tube lugs - it's got me scratching my head?

Hi Gios - your Compact Pro features another one of my favourite frame colours and so recognisable too. Flite saddle and Dura ace - it's a bit of a time capsule too.

KonAaron Snake 

The saddle is a Rudi rhm special - the man is an artist. I have three of his saddles, and they’re very comfy.

I have seen some photos of other early pinarellos - a Cinelli built and other galmozzi, but not in the same condition. It really is pretty rare and special to find one like this...it came from slotcar55 in Italy.

Gary Fountain

Imported from Italy. That must have been nerve-racking waiting for the post and hoping it didn't get damaged. I have to agree, a really special bike.

Thanks for the info on the saddle too.

Gary Fountain

Here's something I know absolutely nothing about - a 90's Bianchi. Even though it's yellow I can still detect a tiny little bit of celeste. It looks like it could make a great commuter and/or a great winter bike. Good luck with the resto.