velofinds

Hi all,

Was there ever a Bianchi Centenario lookalike? By that I mean a black lugged Columbus frame with celeste decals, saddle, and bar tape. Closest I've ever seen was this early '90s (believe 1991) Pista model:



Thank you!

armstrong101

If all you want is a bike that fits your description (and not the photo), google: black bianchi brava.

You'll get a black lugged columbus frame with celeste decals, saddle and bar tape.

Pgavindonnelly

I had a black Brava the same color scheme in the past. good look.

velofinds

Thanks. But did they in fact have Columbus tubing? Looks like chromoly.

armstrong101

I don't understand the misunderstanding. The late 80's Italian-made black Bianchi Brava, in my experience, was made either with Columbus Chromor, or Columbus Bianchi Formula 2, both of which are "chromoly" tubing. They can also be said to "have Columbus tubing". So what are you saying? Colubmus SL tubing?

velofinds

Looks like the '88 is the year to get. This is the '87:



(I also assume that means it was made in Japan.)

This is the '88, which has Bianchi Formula Columbus decals (and appears to be made in Italy):

Bianchigirll 

The simple answer to your question is NO. the Centenario was black nickel plated Columbus SLX and of course was festooned with special pantographed C-Rec.

The '90/91 Pista above was indeed a Columbus CroMor tubed.

In the U.S. market the closest look alike to the Centenario was the '89 Giro in the Matte Black paint with a Athena group. The '87 and '88 Brava shared the black with Celeste decal color scheme of the Centenario but was a Japanese built bike with a Tre tubi Tange ChroMO main and Mangalloy stays.

Oddly this paint is opposite the coveted Argentine Celeste used on the '88 Trofeo and mysterious '88ish X-4 which had a Celeste main frame and black stays.

velofinds

Excellent, thank you. So my search for an '88 Brava or '89 Giro begins.. the Giro would be the far greater catch of the two, I guess.

Bianchigirll 

Some one has mislabeled something here. The '88 Brava was basically the same Oriental Tange ChroMo frame as the '87 with a Unicrown fork.

Someone seems to have replaced this fork, perhaps with one from an '88 Trofeo but the decal on the crown is the wrong color for that. Something is definitely askew here. It is possible it is an early production '88 built the '87 sloping crown fork but whatever the case I suspect the Formula decal was wrongly added by a previous owner.

Bianchigirll 

IMHO Yes, but I would take either, that ChroMo/mangalloy frame is not a bad ride.

armstrong101

FWIW, up here in Canada I've only seen Italian late-80s black Bravas. I saw 4 last year, 3 in person, one in an ad (I was looking at buying one). All of them either were Formula 2 or Chromor. The image in the post above is the first black Brava I've seen with Japanese tubing.

The "unusual" photo above, to me, is perfectly not-unusual, and is the exact type of bike that I saw 4 times last year (with either that particular tubing sticker, or a Chromor one).

Bianchigirll 

DRAT! I knew that would rear its ugly head! Yeah I need to preface more of my statement with "In the U.S. market" yeah the Canuck bikes were slightly different until I believe '89 then they fell under the umbrella of Bianchi U.S.A.

armstrong101

Ahh... so now everything is starting to make sense. I've only known the Brava to be Italian, but evidently, most Americans only know it to be Japanese. Hence the unusual trail of posts made above, where I couldn't understand what the OP was asking.

So, to answer the OP - Yes it exists, but your best bet to finding a black Bianchi Brava made with Columbus tubing, is to look in Canada (or any other country that has Italian Bravas), as those are the only ones that appear to exist here.

armstrong101

Here's a Brava with Chromor.

Bianchi Brava on velospace, the place for bikes

Bianchigirll 

Yes it can be confusing, the Brava seems to have appeared her in '86 with a Formula frame and Suntour components, then in '87 it changes to Oriental built frame with 105. I suspect this has to do with the exchange rate being more favorable in the east.

velofinds

Hmm, what do we think this could be?

Edoardo Bianchi Campione D' Italian 48cm Bicycle | eBay

Bianchigirll 

It is a small '89 Campione de Italia built with a Cromor frame. It seems to have most of the Suntour/Ofmega/Modolo "Quattro" group intact except for the shifters and brake levers which were changed when the upright bars were installed.

armstrong101

First time I've seen a black CDI. I thought black Bianchis of that era in Tretubi or Chromor were all Bravas. I guess not.