1960/61? Bianchi Specialissima "Campione d'Italia"
#26
blahblahblah chrome moly
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The only thing I know for sure is that the Campy headset on my Specialissima has four adjustment holes, and the cheaper headset on my Gran Sport had two. I haven't looked at enough Bianchis of this era to know if that was a consistent difference, i.e. one that you can count on.
I'll be very interested in what you find if you open up your headset. Please send pictures!
Oh BTW I noticed the Weinmann/Dia-Compe style housing stop hanger in your headset -- good design, except the way it curls down around the headset, because although it adds stiffness, it blocks the adjusting holes. You should probably try to find a flat-plate style Universal 61 hanger, which doesn't block the holes. That would have been the original part on your bike too. Actually I don't recognize that exact hanger on your bike, it's new to me -- maybe it really is a Universal hanger. But the flat-plate type works better with your headset.
Mark B
#27
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Well maybe we shouldn't use the name Gran Sport for the headset that isn't Campy, since that was a Campy model name too. Not incorrect, just potentially misleading. I just used that name because the less expensive Bianchi I took it off of was called a Gran Sport. Here's a Flickr album for that Gran Sport if anyone's interested. Despite the name, it came to me with a Campy Sportman rear derailer. I put a Gran Sport mech on there when I sold it, and the Sportman is now in my "museum" (box of old Campy junque)
The only thing I know for sure is that the Campy headset on my Specialissima has four adjustment holes, and the cheaper headset on my Gran Sport had two. I haven't looked at enough Bianchis of this era to know if that was a consistent difference, i.e. one that you can count on.
I'll be very interested in what you find if you open up your headset. Please send pictures!
The only thing I know for sure is that the Campy headset on my Specialissima has four adjustment holes, and the cheaper headset on my Gran Sport had two. I haven't looked at enough Bianchis of this era to know if that was a consistent difference, i.e. one that you can count on.
I'll be very interested in what you find if you open up your headset. Please send pictures!
Oh BTW I noticed the Weinmann/Dia-Compe style housing stop hanger in your headset -- good design, except the way it curls down around the headset, because although it adds stiffness, it blocks the adjusting holes. You should probably try to find a flat-plate style Universal 61 hanger, which doesn't block the holes. That would have been the original part on your bike too. Actually I don't recognize that exact hanger on your bike, it's new to me -- maybe it really is a Universal hanger. But the flat-plate type works better with your headset.
Mark B
Mark B
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The other 1960 Bianchi Campione d'Italia
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?
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?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/404020...57709261273887
I estimated the date as 1960 per the hub locknut dates. Generally Universal Mod. 61 brakes were found on bikes starting in 1961, but I believe the "61s" found on my CDI were the very first production brakes that may have been introduced in 1960. Note the front cable hanger which is more in the style of a Weinmann versus all other Universal hanger (i.e., stamped with hollow rear section vs. 100% flat solid metal). Also note the use of the red colored UNIVERSAL washers on the brakes. Seems that the red color was somewhat unique to the brakes found on Bianchi's.
These are the only two (2) CDI Specialissima models that I have been able to find. This model may have been to honor Fausto Coppi when he passed away in 1960???
Per Per Roberto Bianchi, an expert in Bianchi bikes in Italy,,,,
"The "Campione d'Italia" in racing version is quite rare, and is probably the last "glorious" model linked to a certain type of production of the past.Universally it is better known as "Specialissima", although this term is actually a common denomination for all racing bicycles; in your specific case, even the color is rare, because the absolute best selling color in those years was the "orange-coppered".
#29
feros ferio
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Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
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My introduction to the Specialissima came in the mid-to-late 1960s. I had received a bottom-of-the-line Bianchi Corsa for Christmas 1962. After my brother rear-ended a parked truck with his and had the frame straightened, the proprietor of Westminster Cycles (an Orange County CA Schwinn shop) snidely commented, "Yup, that's the cheap Bianchi frame. It'll do that every time." My pride of ownership was restored when I visited a higher-end shop at Five Points shopping center in downtown Huntington Beach. After I said, "It's just a Bianchi," the owner replied, "That's what we ride," and took me in the back to show off his and his wife's early 1960s Specialissimas. Ever since, I have had this "thing" for Specialissimas of that general vintage. The nearest I have come is my 1982 Tre Tubi Campione d'Italia, which is a blast to ride.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069