walterb

for what it's worth, this Italian catalogue — E.Bianchi anni 80 (loosely, "Bianchi, the 1980s") — shows Sprint models available in 10-speed only, and without the water bottle and pump that came with mine. The Rekord 842 seems like a closer match, but, again, it carries a sticker that identifies it as such. Anyway, some beautiful catalogues at this site, though none in English.

* if the above hyperlink to the catalogue doesn't work, try going to the site at the URL below:

https://www.registrostoricocicli.com...-cicli-depoca/

walterb

And here's a 1982 Rekord 842 found on Italian ebay. Finally, same badge!

https://www.ebay.it/itm/Bianchi-Reko...UAAOSwxoxfJDbI

Wildwood 

For what it is worth = every catalogue had a small print Disclaimer: ____ that variations from printed spec are possible. Especially across international brands. I've a Zeus that has been labeled a couple of different model names/numbers by different experts. But I started with only a frame and fork, no components to match up.

Wildwood 

I have a 90s Pinarello entry level racer made from Oria hi tensile steel.
The Cadore model was not imported to USA, to my knowledge.
Handles very well and inspires stable confidence on downhills.
8.0 pounds for frame and fork. Not a great climber.

edit: it also fits perfectly - which seems to be as important as any other single characteristic.

T-Mar

For what it's worth, features tend to trickle down from high end models, to low end models, over time. While a Sprint my have been 10 speed and had no bottle bosses in 1980, it's very possible that it was 12 speed and had bottle bosses by 1982. However, as I stated before, I also can't rule one of the lower Rekord variants. You'd need the right 1982 catalogue, to be sure.

T-Mar

FYI, the Cadore was definitely imported into the USA in the 1990s, as I have Gita price lists from that era that mention it.

Wildwood 

Don't tell me the price - I overpaid for a NOS f+f a few years back - from Italy.

walterb

BINGO!

Friends, finally made it into the attic and emerged not with the sales receipt but something even better: the spec sheet! Model, price, components - everything is listed on there.

Drumroll please ...





So, T-Mar, you were not wrong to guess Sprint or Rekord but I was more right to lean toward Rekord 842. I wonder whether the No. 21-01 is a further designation, and whether the Rekord sticker you normally see on the horizontal tube was left off because of the inconsistent spelling.

T-Mar, you were right about the pedals and you raised a question about the crank. Now we know - it’s original.

My memory was right, at least, about the chromoly tubing and the original Ambrosio rims; evidently my current Gipiemme hubs came with the replacement Record rims, and I kept the original Ofmega skewers.

Friends, I want to thank you for coming along for the ride on this enlightening journey (at least for me), and I look forward to reading your further observations.

T-Mar

A tretubi frame would certainly explain the crankset. However, a 26.2mm seat post does not pass my sanity check for double butted CrMo tubing, which would typically use a post in the 27.0 - 27.2mm range. A 26.2mm post is typical of plain gauge, lightweight, hi-tensile steel. At the time, European tubing manufacturers typically used a single butted seat tube on their double butted tubesets and the only way to get close to 26.2mm post would be to install the seat tube upside down, with the butt at the top. Either that or Falck was an exception, having a tubeset with a double butted seat tube.

walterb

T-Mar, is there anything you would like me to check or measure on the bike to help restore your sanity? Certainly when I tried measuring the seat post by wrapping tape around it and marking the ends - imprecise, I know - i got more than 26.2. But that’s what’s stamped on the post.

walterb

what does this mean, please?

T-Mar

"Tretubi" is Italian for "three tubes" and is a generic term for a frame where the three tubes in the main triangle use a higher grade alloy than the stays and fork blades, typically to lower costs, at the expense of lightness. In the case of the posted specs, the main triangle is higher strength chromium-molybdenum, while the forks and stays are cheaper and lower strength hi-tensile steel.

BTW, my sanity is just fine. I made my assessment based on the reported post diameter which is consistent with a lightweight hi-tensile steel but atypical for butted CrMo. Any other knowledgeable forum member would tell you the same thing.

walterb

haha. Not questioning your state of mind at all - just responding to your “does not pass my sanity check” comment. I’m highly impressed with your depth of knowledge and genuinely grateful for your input. So ... which is lying - the spec sheet or the seat post?

stardognine

That’s exactly it, you got a pretty cool keeper there. 👍 And even if it doesn’t win any races, how much less cool must that be? 🤔😁😉

T-Mar

The spec sheet isn't lying but it's not the one for your bicycle. It looked familiar and I knew it wasn't from an actual Bianchi catalogue (they wouldn't include prices), so I went back through some of my Canadian mail order catalogues and found it in the 1985 Bloor Cycle catalog. Everything is the same, right down to the product code and price.

walterb

[QUOTE=T-Mar;21760882]The spec sheet isn't lying but it's not the one for your bicycle. It looked familiar and I knew it wasn't from an actual Bianchi catalogue (they wouldn't include prices), so I went back through some of my Canadian mail order catalogues and found it in the 1985 Bloor Cycle catalog. Everything is the same, right down to the product code and price.

YIKES! What a curve ball, T-Mar. My head is spinning. So what are we to make of this? Best guess:

1982, there is no spec sheet when I buy my bike. Or, if there is, it gets lost.

1985 or later, I come across a catalogue showing a spec sheet that visibly matches my bike in every way, component by component, down to the toe clips. "This is my bike!" I wrongly assume. I keep the spec sheet for my records, to be retrieved in the attic decades later during the Great Pandemic of 2020.

Ah, but does it visibly match in every way, really? Neither bike has the Record sticker on the horizontal tube normally seen on this model. So far, so good. But a closer look at the catalogue photo shows a sticker on the seat tube that is absent from my bike. Surely, this must be the Falck sticker, indicating chromoly tubing. If my bike doesn't have that sticker, it doesn't have that tubing. And suddenly the 22.6 mm seat post makes more sense.

Have I got it right, T-Mar?

Still I find it astonishing that the components of the 1985 bike are identical to my model (whatever it is) of three years before. But maybe it's not unusual. I don't know. I am starting to doubt everything. Is 1982 even correct? I am going by what I've been told about the serial number, and my recollection of buying the bike while at college (1982-84.)

So back to Square One. I think I need to resign myself to the reality that I will never know, with absolute certainty, what I'm riding — unless T-Mar or someone else on this forum pulls another rabbit out of the saddle bag.

Sigh.

walterb

UPDATE: So, according to the Registro Storico Cicli, serial numbers beginning with 2A , as mine does, correspond to a 1982 Tipo Corsa. Any reason to doubt this?

T-Mar

Bianchi did not incorporate model identification into their serial numbers. The 2.A only means that it is a 1982 model, manufactured during January 1982. Your bicycle is definitely not a 1982 Bianchi Tipo Corsa

walterb

Grazie, as always, T-Mar.

In that case, is it possible that mine is a 1982 Rekord 842? I know — I keep going back to that. But the one listed above (2D15xx) links to a photo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/115217...n/photostream/.) A close look at the seat post indicates a diameter of 26.6 mm — just like mine. Same frame, then?

T-Mar

Yes, they are the same year and seat post size (26.2mm), so they would appear to be the same frame, though that doesn't necessarily mean they are the same model. It was quite common to use the same frame for two or three models and just change some of the components. I notice in this case that the the cranksets are different, The only major components that appears to be the same are derailleurs and Binchi could also have spread them over two models. The differences could still indicate a different model. I've said all along that it could be a Sprint or one of the lower Rekord variants. I'm just not sure which one, due to the fact that it appears to a European market model.