WolfgangVerne 

Was hoping to find some more information on this 1960/61?, Bianchi Specialissima I picked up a few months back. It's a bit smaller than I usually ride, so it may not be here to stay, but wanted to see if anyone knew anything about this model in particular. I've only been able to find one post on the CR list with another Specialissima also labeled with "Campione d'Italia." There was a suggestion there that this may have been a transition model from Bianchi's former top of the line model to the Specialissima that is more commonly seen. I know we have a few members who know quite a lot about bikes from this era, so hoping to get some clues on what if anything differentiates this from a normal Specialissima.

I've tried to assemble a decent collection of photos of the bike from different angles, but please let me know if there's anything else you would like to see. Full album can be seen here.



From what I can tell it has mostly original equipment, with the exception of a newer saddle, a replacement rear derailleur to accommodate a new larger freewheel (I did also get the original Campagnolo Gran Sport derailleur), and lastly, the original Campagnolo "No Record" Record hubs have been laced to 27" Mavic rims. Can't say with 100% certainty, but I'm pretty confident those would not have been original to the bike. The photos should give a good picture of the remaining components on the bike which I believe to be original, but please ask if there's anything I missed.



I believe this is a 151bcd Campagnolo Record crankset? Did a bunch of organizing and misplaced my calipers, so haven't been able to verify yet. Are there any other defining features to confirm the identity of it?

Thanks all! Looking forward to learning what I can.

Salamandrine 

Wow, what a fantastic bike! Sorry but I don't know much about the models from this period. It clearly has all the top of the line equipment of that era. Much later, the Campione d'Italia was a separate model a notch or two down from the Specialissima, but you probably know that.

Yes, that's a 151 Record crankset. You can tell immediately because of the distance of the chainring bolts from the end of the spider arms. They are much closer in the later 144 crankset. I believe there were two iterations. Not sure which one this is.

Of course it would have had sew ups originally. Probably got shod with clinchers in the 70s.

Brad L 

A quick measurement between the centers of two adjacent holes will verify it.
3 1/2" = 151mm
3 11/32" = 144mm.

WolfgangVerne 

Thanks! Yeah, I’ve seen the later version (I see a ton from the 80’s) from searching for this model through google and various forums. Unfortunately makes it harder to find anything about this specific bike as those were much more prevalent.

I assumed as much, but never have had one before, so figured I’d let some others take a look and let me know what they think. Thanks for the confirmation!

That would have been my guess as well. I’ve got two other bikes on tubulars at the moment, so perhaps I’ll try and find some for this one. May as well go all in

WolfgangVerne 

Got it, I’ll grab a measuring tape and verify. Thanks!

obrentharris 

Congratulations on a great find!
Universal 61 brakes are named after their year of introduction.
A bit hard to tell from the photos but your 151 bcd Campy cranks do not appear to have the raised lip around the pedal hole, so they would be 3rd generation introduced in 1962.
Others who know much more than I will fill out the details I'm sure. Attention Professor juvela .
Brent

juvela

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wonderful find, thanks very much for sharing it with the forum!

if bicycle from 1960-61 am slightly surprised to see it fitted with a Gran Sport front mech

depending on which Tullio timeline one reads the Record front mech launched in 1959 or 1960

one would expect a top-of-the line model such as the Specialissima to have received it
perhaps they ran out of the Record model front mech on the production line and elected to substitute the Gran Sport to keep things moving along...

yes, bolt circle clearly the 151
due to the presence of the raised pedestal for the shoulder of the pedal spindle would expect arms to exhibit the chromed "dustcap" on the inner face of the pedal hole

when wheels converted from tubs to wired-ons owner selected 27"
note how now brake pads are at/near to top of the respective adjustment slots

depending on actual model year there is a small possibility that bottom bracket assembly may be 3/16" ball rather than 1/4". this was produced for only about one year. fittings are clearly marked "con sfere da 3/16"

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iirc our T-Mar has written on the use of the Campione d'Italia transfer. do not wish to put words in his mouth so shall apologize in advance if i am mistaken. recall him writing that following a Bianchi victory this transfer was placed on all models for a time and is not a model name in this case. it is of course a potential source of confusion as it was also used as a model name, as noted above.

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PS - the Rampinelli bottle cage and Ambrosio Regolabile are each worth a small fortune.

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jeirvine 

What a fab find. I love the pump clip integrated into the shifter band. Have you checked the hub lock nuts for date codes? Assuming they are original, that would be a good clue.

WolfgangVerne 

Thanks Brent! The aforementioned post on CR calls this model out as a 1960 version, but as you said, the Universals would appear to indicate a 1961 date. At work right now, but I will check the cranks tonight and see if there is a raised lip to confirm which generation these are.

gbi

I might be wrong, but, I think the raised lip cranks came in two versions. The first version had a thinner arm and the raised lip was more pronounced. The second version had a thicker arm and a beveled raised lip. The op's bike looks like the second version.

juvela

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the Campag-Bianchi integral headset is an interesting component

it employs 1/8" balls

afaik it was only employed on the Specialissima model

all other Bianchi models with the integral headset used a Bianchi branded model. IIRC!

it never appeared in any Campag catalogue to my knowledge - not even the "Special"

yet it was distributed through the trade

a shop near my home had it available for purchase new as late as 1977, even though they had never been a Bianchi stockist

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WolfgangVerne 

Thanks! Was hoping you would chime in as I always learn something new. That's a good point on the front derailleur, perhaps it could be a replacement as well? Not too familiar on how these would have been spec'd originally.

I'll check the bottom bracket tonight to see if it calls out the smaller bearing size.

Ahh, that is good to know. I had assumed it might have been a model distinction due to its later use as a model name, but your explanation makes sense as well. Does anyone know approximately what dates these additional transfers would have been added to the Bianchi line-up?

The bottle cage on there is actually a modern re-production. Bike did not come with any original cages, so opted to go that route as an original is outside of my price range at the moment. Perhaps in the future though if I decide to keep and potentially restore this bike.

juvela

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she's in fine hands now!


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WolfgangVerne 

Agreed, it is a nice and tidy way to incorporate it without the use of a separate clip. I believe I did check the date code at one point, but can't recall the date at the moment. I'll check tonight and confirm.

jeirvine 

DT frame pump does block a bottle cage down there. Probably why it didn't catch on.

bikemig 

This bike is beautiful. It's great finding a bike like this which is pretty much all original. I have a '71 Whitcomb that came to me with a campy pump clip integrated into the downtube cable guide as the bike came with campy bar end shifters.

Is this a 57 cm?
Is that a Shimano crane RD?

bulgie 

I once had a circa-62 Specialissima and a ~64 Gran Sport apart at the same time, so I took pictures of the headsets, made a little webpage about them here. As you can see, the non-Campy Bianchi headset uses V-races, like the Stronglight Competition, rather than a cup-and-cone. Upper and lower races have the same Vee shape, and the balls touch at four places instead of the usual two places as with cup-and-cone.

As the pictures show, the Campy parts have the <C> stamping in them, but you have to remove the parts to see the stamp -- not visible from outside. The Campy top screwed race has four pin-holes for adjusting with a pin-spanner, versus only two holes in the Gran Sport, so this may be a way to tell if a headset is Campy. Can anyone confirm, did the non-Campy Bianchi headsets always have two holes for adjusting?

Interesting to me that on the early '60s Specialissima, both races pressed in the head tube are cones, compared to the more usual setup where the lower head race is a cup, with a cone on the crown. This headset has the cup fitted to the crown. Later Campy/Bianchi headsets reversed that -- the lower head race was a cup, using a cone on the crown. I think that later model was late '60s - early '70s. I made a little webpage about that later head cup here.

You can tell which one you have (newer or older style Campy) without disassembly, because with the earlier one, you see the crown race turning with the fork. On the newer one, that thing that looks kinda like a Bianchi crown race is actually pressed into the head tube and does not rotate with the fork. Either newer or older style can be installed on the same frame, so the later headset may be found on an older frame, say if the original headset wore out.

Note on knocking the head races out of the frame, if you need to do that: You need a fairly sharp-edged punch, because the ledge that you have available to hammer on is very thin. The cone inside diameter is only slightly smaller than the head tube ID. You can't use the Campy "rocketship" 4-pronged headset punch (or clones thereof) because the Bianchi head tube ID is quite a bit smaller than a standard head tube. So I used a drift punch, long enough to go through the head tube, but since it was an old punch with a rounded tip, I had to take it to the bench grinder and remove the rounded off tip, making it very sharp. Hit the cone on one side then the other, going back and forth as many times as it takes, quite a few hits required in my experience. The cone is very hard and the punch does no damage to it.

Mark B in Seattle

bulgie 

One cheat that might make it more ridable is to assemble the adjustable stem backwards, turning it into a riser stem.


In case that's not obvious -- take the extension part out of the quill part. Rotate the quill part 180°, then re-insert the extension. Now your -17° stem is a +17°.

The stem in the pic is also from an early-'60s Specialissima.

Mark B in Seattle

Miele Man

Which is probably why a lot of riders used handlebar mounted water bottle cages and bottles.

Cheers

Salamandrine 

Yeah, or vice versa. They seem to be co-dependent. Why not mount the pump there if you've got the space. DT was a pretty common place to put your pump into the early 70s.

I suspect handlebar mounted water bottles were/are more aero. Nobody talks about this. Not allowed under current UCI rules.

WolfgangVerne 

Thanks! It is nice to find something so old mostly intact. Only changes I made were some new bar tape and the addition of the handlebar mounted bottle cage.

I measure ~56cm center to center. Rear derailleur is a Shimano Titlist GS long cage.

WolfgangVerne 

I believe this may be the 2nd generation style Record crankset as referenced above? Attempted to photograph the lip as well as I could from my small shed.

horatio 

Sweet bike! Congrats.

WolfgangVerne 

I pulled the locknut from the hub and it has a date code of 61. So I believe that would confirm this particular bike to be from 1961?

Also, out of curiosity, does anyone know what the purpose of this screw is?

WolfgangVerne 

Thanks Mark for the informative post! Will be a huge help when I get to servicing the bearings.

I snapped a few more photos of the headset from closer up. It appears my headset has two holes in what I would consider the lock ring and then two holes in the upper race. Would this mean that it’s a Gran sport headset? Or am I mid-reading your post?