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Help identifying vintage Bianchi frame

Old 05-03-22, 10:37 PM
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Help identifying vintage Bianchi frame

I just recently acquired this Bianchi frame. The decal says it's slx. I'm curious to know the year and model, but having trouble. The decals look 88-89 ish but can't tell if it's a super leggera, giro, or Mondial. I know there are small differences but I'm not expert enough to notice. Was wondering if someone can help me. I've read alot of posts here and it seems like Bianchigirll is the ultimate expert. Any details would be helpful. I'm not going to sell it. Just going to build and ride.




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Old 05-04-22, 09:48 PM
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Read through the catalog again today I think its either a Giro or Superleggera. The differences look minimal. Looked at the headset and aero post and neither indicated chorus or athena, which would be the difference. The headset just says campagnolo brev int and the seatpost only says made in italy and 27.2 . Is there anyway to tell?
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Old 05-04-22, 11:34 PM
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Seat post is Chorus.

Cable stops are Dura Ace. Bottom bracket is a lower range Shimano Octalink.
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Old 05-04-22, 11:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Mackers
Seat post is Chorus.

Cable stops are Dura Ace. Bottom bracket is a lower range Shimano Octalink.
thank you! How could you tell that the aero post is chorus and not athena ?
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Old 05-04-22, 11:41 PM
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The Athena lacks the shield engraving.
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Old 05-04-22, 11:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Mackers
The Athena lacks the shield engraving.
Interesting! Thank you so much!

What about the headset can you tell of its chorus or athena ? The difference in giro vs supperlegera is chorus vs athena. I'm starting to think this is a superleggera.
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Old 05-05-22, 03:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Taymob
Interesting! Thank you so much!

What about the headset can you tell of its chorus or athena ? The difference in giro vs supperlegera is chorus vs athena. I'm starting to think this is a superleggera.
It is very likely a ‘89 Superleggera or Giro frameset. The both used the same one and the Superleggera used it again in ‘90 but the Giro model was dropped. The Giro had Campanutello Athena so would match with the seat post, but I think that headset might be from the mid to later ‘90s.

Bianchi USA ‘89 catalog page





This is the ‘90 page for the Superleggera
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Old 05-05-22, 07:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll
It is very likely a ‘89 Superleggera or Giro frameset. The both used the same one and the Superleggera used it again in ‘90 but the Giro model was dropped. The Giro had Campanutello Athena so would match with the seat post, but I think that headset might be from the mid to later ‘90s.

Bianchi USA ‘89 catalog page





This is the ‘90 page for the Superleggera
Thank you so much Bianchigirll ! Are you saying that the seat post is Campanutello Athena and not chorus ? How can you tell the difference ?
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Old 05-05-22, 05:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Taymob
Thank you so much Bianchigirll ! Are you saying that the seat post is Campanutello Athena and not chorus ? How can you tell the difference ?

It is almost impossible to tell the difference between the Chorus and Athena seatpost because they are the same post. 🤪
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Old 05-05-22, 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll
It is almost impossible to tell the difference between the Chorus and Athena seatpost because they are the same post. 🤪
thank you for your wealth of knowledgeBianchigirll
I wonder if theres a weight difference ? If the weights were known then i could tell. Also someone said in an earlier post that the athena doesn't have the campy logo, is that not accurate for this time period ? I did look at some athenas on ebay and that is the case. The logo is missing.

I think well never know if its a superleggera or giro, which is annoying because i want to decal it lol.

2 more questions if you have a sec.
can anything be told from L9 /serial number ?
also it looks like the dropouts were stretched is that normal ?
Also the itm stem seems to look more like the 1990 superleggera than the other 2 in color. In the pic they're both black in 89, but the 90 looks more grayish.

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Old 05-05-22, 07:47 PM
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Here is my recently acquired 1988? Giro. I believe its all original except the seat and seatpost. I swapped out the Campy because the bike is somewhat large for me and the aero portion of the post was beginning to dip into the seat tube.

The Columbus sticker on the seat tube is completely gone, but is this an SLX frame? It does ride very well.

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Old 05-05-22, 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by spudly
Here is my recently acquired 1988? Giro. I believe its all original except the seat and seatpost. I swapped out the Campy because the bike is somewhat large for me and the aero portion of the post was beginning to dip into the seat tube.

The Columbus sticker on the seat tube is completely gone, but is this an SLX frame? It does ride very well.

yeah thats a Slx for sure.
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Old 05-06-22, 01:55 AM
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Originally Posted by spudly
Here is my recently acquired 1988? Giro. I believe its all original except the seat and seatpost. I swapped out the Campy because the bike is somewhat large for me and the aero portion of the post was beginning to dip into the seat tube.

The Columbus sticker on the seat tube is completely gone, but is this an SLX frame? It does ride very well.

it’s an ‘89 the ‘88 Giro was a Dura Ace bike.


Originally Posted by Taymob
yeah thats a Slx for sure.
How do you know?
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Old 05-06-22, 05:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll
it’s an ‘89 the ‘88 Giro was a Dura Ace bike.




How do you know?
The best way to ensure it's SLX is to pull the bottom bracket. Reach up into the seat and down tubes, you should be able to feel rifling at the butted area of the tubes.
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Old 05-06-22, 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Taymob
thank you for your wealth of knowledgeBianchigirll
I wonder if theres a weight difference ? If the weights were known then i could tell. Also someone said in an earlier post that the athena doesn't have the campy logo, is that not accurate for this time period ? I did look at some athenas on ebay and that is the case. The logo is missing.

I think well never know if its a superleggera or giro, which is annoying because i want to decal it lol.

2 more questions if you have a sec.
can anything be told from L9 /serial number ?
also it looks like the dropouts were stretched is that normal ?
Also the itm stem seems to look more like the 1990 superleggera than the other 2 in color. In the pic they're both black in 89, but the 90 looks more grayish.
​​​​Bianchigirll not sure if you saw my questions. If you could provide any insight I'd be grateful.
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Old 05-06-22, 08:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Taymob
thank you for your wealth of knowledgeBianchigirll
I wonder if theres a weight difference ? If the weights were known then i could tell. The Superleggera and Giro used the same frame so there wouldn’t be the same.

Also someone said in an earlier post that the athena doesn't have the campy logo, is that not accurate for this time period ? I did look at some athenas on ebay and that is the case. The logo is missing. They must be referring to a later group. Athena and Chorus seem to share several components

I think well never know if its a superleggera or giro, which is annoying because i want to decal it lol. **** I wouldn’t worry too much about that unless you plan to built it exactly like one of them. ****

2 more questions if you have a sec.
can anything be told from L9 /serial number ? I can’t but someone else probably can. The style of the Bianchi decals, frame markings, dropout style, shade of Celeste and the SLX sticker on the fork all point to this being a frame that was used for those two models.

also it looks like the dropouts were stretched is that normal ? I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Also the itm stem seems to look more like the 1990 superleggera than the other 2 in color. In the pic they're both black in 89, but the 90 looks more grayish.
. The bars and stem are the same make and model on both years, the ITM 400 anodized lazer etched. Differences in color could just be lighting and type of camera or film used (no digital then) or a slight difference in the anodizing batch.


……
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Old 05-06-22, 08:48 PM
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Suggest taking another good look at that DS dropout before you ride it. Maybe it’s just the photo, but it looks a bit sketchy.
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Old 05-06-22, 09:23 PM
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Originally Posted by gkamieneski
Suggest taking another good look at that DS dropout before you ride it. Maybe it’s just the photo, but it looks a bit sketchy.
Yeah , that's what I asked Bianchigirll about. Theres an odd gap. She said she sees alot like that. I'll have my lbs checkout too. This frame has been ridden quite a bit so I'm not too worried about it.
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Old 05-06-22, 09:25 PM
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Originally Posted by gkamieneski
Suggest taking another good look at that DS dropout before you ride it. Maybe it’s just the photo, but it looks a bit sketchy.
I agree! Almost looks like someone used JB Weld or something to secure it. Whitish residue on chain stay looks weird along with the gap where the dropout slides into the seat stay.

Could L-9 be 1989 and L for the month?
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Old 05-06-22, 09:28 PM
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Originally Posted by TugaDude
I agree! Almost looks like someone used JB Weld or something to secure it. Whitish residue on chain stay looks weird along with the gap where the dropout slides into the seat stay.

Could L-9 be 1989 and L for the month?
Lol, it's not that bad. it looks like a gab from stretching to 130 or something. It's only the one side though. The white is from the guy riding over paint. I'm gonna try and take that off tomorrow.
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Old 05-07-22, 08:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Taymob
Yeah , that's what I asked Bianchigirll about. Theres an odd gap. She said she sees alot like that. I'll have my lbs checkout too. This frame has been ridden quite a bit so I'm not too worried about it.
I would worry. May even need a metallurgist to check it out. I "snapped" 2 Bianchi Columbus frames, one at the drop out plug in and another 1/3 of the way forward on the chainstay. That gap is not right. If it snaps, you'll lose some control and it will feel like you broke your rear axle.
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Old 05-07-22, 10:09 AM
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Whilst this is a top line frame it's still a production bike. While we don't like to see things like this on a $1500 bike they happen. I've always suspected that these, like many other "hand built" highend frames were built by teams, one building front triangles and building rears and one putting them together. who knows we've seen little gaps like this on bikes of all levels
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Old 05-07-22, 04:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll
Whilst this is a top line frame it's still a production bike. While we don't like to see things like this on a $1500 bike they happen. I've always suspected that these, like many other "hand built" highend frames were built by teams, one building front triangles and building rears and one putting them together. who knows we've seen little gaps like this on bikes of all levels
I agree with Bianchigirll . I cleaned her up today and it looks like it left the factory like that. Tomorrow she'll get a buff and wax.






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Old 05-08-22, 12:41 PM
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Bianchigirll last question. When I look at the catalog there seems to be only one difference in The frame between superleggera and giro. The Superleggera says chromed fork ends, where the Giro does not. These forks seem to be chromed. What are your thoughts ?



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Old 05-10-22, 07:01 PM
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Anyone know the BB size?
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