LukeCarbone

So I had a friend in college and she needed help moving some stuff from her old house to her new dorm, so I helped her of course and in the process her grandma fell in love with me, we chatted and I helped her with her old car even, She eventually wanted to give me some money but I refused and she offered me a old bike sitting in the corner, not touched for years, she said well that ones worth money but what the heck you can take it, I took that baby and popped it in my back seat, the first place I took it was The Bike Palace its a very high end well known bike shop in San Pedro, CA. The second I walked in someone asked to buy the bike even being rusty, flat tires and cob webs, I refused and got the bike cleaned up, my friend the worker there T.J told me I got a steal and the bike was worth at least $2000.00 dollars. He said DO NOT sell a bike of this value . He said the bike was worth so much due to all original and everything was aluminum the bike is probably a couple pounds. Can someone help me get a value on this bad boy please

Bianchigirll 

$2000? I have quite a few bikes for the people who want to buy that. Just how old does your friend TJ and everyone else think it is?

the decal style, and unicrown fork place it as an early '90s bike. to me the Ergo shiftersa dn the fact that it has DT shifter bosses narrow it down even further.

I suspect the Campi componenets are from the Mirage. is there a name on the parts? (other than Campagnolo) what does the tubing decal say?

can you post some better/closeup pics of the components? what brand/model are the rims?

Peacob

I'm extremely doubting $2000. Judging by the stem/seatpost/saddle i dont think it was a top-notch race bike back in the day (unless those were just oddball parts slapped on to get it usable.). higher end? maybe.. Even so, i see no N.R. components, so i'm going to say you'd fetch (from what i can see in that picture) around 300-700 tops.

Some will say otherwise... but i know i would not pay over $450 in its current state

Peacob

Lets put it this way... if this didnt tip 1500, then you're sure as hell not going to break a $1000 for the bike in your possession.
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_5476wt_1093

wrk101

But his bike only weighs a couple of pounds. Surely that will drive the value up!

Bianchigirll 

the Campione de Italia was from the late '80s always a good solid midlevel bike, this one being no exception. N.R. was long gone as OEM parts when this bike began life on the drawing board.

PS perhaps my reply was not clear enough that I did not feel the OPs bike was not worth $2000.

PSS that Super Leggera from ebay is very nice looking.

LukeCarbone

They are all suppose to be very expensive parts.

Peacob

Well, for one, the tubing is dedacciai zero tre, which is essentially the "lowest end" of dedacciai steel, zero being #1, zero uno being #2, and zero tre being #3. Either way, its still not bad tubing, just the heaviest of the 3. As for the components, looks like some nice campy chorus brakes, headset, crankset, skewers are rusted. ...Really the rust on all the components is really killing the value.

You should take better pictures of the entire component itself rather than just taking a picture of the campy symbol.

You can tell it was from the late eighties because of the tubing used and the skewers.

Now that i see the pictures, my offer on the bike would drop another 50-75$. Definitely clean it up and get better pictures, really would help us better value it for you.

LukeCarbone

Say I cleaned this baby up made it shine like a pearl no more rust perfection condition, then what kind of value would we be talking?....there has to be somthing about the bike thats rare because when I was walking it into the bike store a elderly man instantly asked to purchase the bike , I refused knowing it must be worth alot.

? What could the potential value of the bike be? what pictures would you like to see

Peacob

As sheldon brown says here, https://sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-a-f.html#bianchi "Top-end Bianchi models from the early 60's through early 70's should be worth close to $2000."

Obviously, thats an estimated value, some go for higher, but again, top-end 60's/70's. Late 80's was a tough time for a lot of big name bike brands, and things cheapened up, so that stuff simply isnt sought after like the earlier years.

All cleaned up, and i'm going to assume completely clean of any rust (which i highly doubt you can ever get it to mint), but to give you a top value... Maybe 800-900, and thats IF you found the original stem and seatpost/seat/frame shifters.

I personally wouldnt pay over 500 if that stuff isnt on the bike.

LukeCarbone

The seat post is original its just been cut, everything on the bike is original, shifters high polly aluminum rims...its original

jet sanchEz

Offer the bike to T.J. for $1000 and see what he says then.

Bianchigirll 

this is a '96ish model not an '80s or '70s model. the parts on it look right for the period but I an not certain they are actually the original group, hopefully the OP will post some usable pics soon.

I agree better pics of the parts are in order but I still think they Mirage or a mismatch of Campy. for some reason people think any Celeste colored Bianchi is a valuable collector item.

the bike could certainly use a good cleaning, waxing and tune up. however if some one is willing to give $1000 or more for that take the money and run. if it is stock I wouldn't pay more than $400 to 500 depending on condition.

tugrul

It only sold for about $1100 new back in 1997 or so.

The Bianchi/Campy premium probably brings it close to $300 as is, and out to the $400s fixed up.

If somebody has more cash in hand, sell sell sell.

Peacob

Wow, suprising... And that stem looks horrible... welded!?

Bianchigirll 

the rims look dark or hard anodized not polished to me, actually the more I look at this bike the more I wonder if anything came on the frame.

the dark wheels would indicate a '95 model but the stem is more the style of a '96/97, the seatpost does not seem to match anything in the catalogs. some or all of these may have been substituted during manufacture but who is to say. one thing is for sure, the bike does not really seem to be uber valuable, I think most here would agree $500 may be tops, and is no where near a $2000 collector bike.

bibliobob

In a strong market, I'd try and sell it as is for $400. Fully overhauled (grease, bearings, cables) and cleaned up, I'd ask $550-600.

If anyone is offering you anything close to these numbers, take the money and run....

LukeCarbone

The only person who knows about bikes that I personally know is TJ or Tony from the Bike palace and he said it was worth 2000.00$...if someone wants to come take a look in person your more then welcome im in the South Bay, CA

tugrul

Have him put it on consignment in his shop for $2k then.

Bianchigirll 

I agree.

or perhaps TJ is just saying it is worth 2K so you spend a few hundred fixing it up.

Chilero

When someone insists on the high price and rejected offers to buy his new-found treasure, my suspicion is the bike was not a gift. A trade gone bad perhaps? If that's the case, me thinks someone is in denial phase.

In any case, Tony's valuation, or Luke's understanding of it, is off by a decimal point. I suspect the latter, since Tony's been around the block a few times as shown here:
https://thebikepalace.com/articles/hi...alace-pg42.htm

The bike is 90s not 70s
Not 2 pounds but 22 pounds
$200 not $2,000
Sport or entry level racer, not high-end.
Brake calipers and crankset spell Mirage, so-so components, not collectible or expensive.

Could be turned into a nice rider, with some elbow grease.

Just sayin'

LukeCarbone

Heres a video from youtube, I tried to focus on all the valuable parts, let me know thank you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXfhu5l5k30

Bianchigirll 

How does the bike ride? the video does not provide much help, other than showing the rusty bolts. I don't understand why you keep pointing to the Campi logo what we really want to know is wether there is a model name on the part and what it says. I can see on the rear derailleur that it says Campagnolo and then something else what is the other word? is that word or other words on other parts like the headset, shifter/brakelevers (brifters)?

are the rims Ambrosio? if so the wheel or wheels were rebuilt at one time, those rims were very out of fashion by the mid '90s when that bike was built.

LukeCarbone

What should I take a video of? The bike has many words on it, Im not to familiar with these bike terms, so if you could circle on my picture where you would like the video to be taken I can take a new video,

Thx, luke

Bianchigirll 

the rear derailleur is the think that moves the chain between the gears in the back.



do you see how this says Campagnolo and then has the group or model name next to it?

the brake levers, which on that bike are also part of the shifter system are the things you pull on to slow down or stop.



your brake levers are diffferent because the incorperate the shifters but they may have a model name down the front of the lever.


brake calipers are the part that grip the rim to make you stop


rims are the metal outer ring on the wheel that you mount the tire to.

a good still pic is better than a video.