beng1

Was out riding the Fuji around town today and spotted three bikes sitting against two garbage dumpsters outside a local restaurant's kitchen. It was mid-morning and the establishment was not open yet but I rode around to the front of the building and the owner was there and said I could have the bikes, A Bianchi, A Schwinn ten-speed road bike and a Magna MTB. So I rode home and went back in my van and loaded them up. Once I got them home I tried putting air in the tires of the two road bikes and the tubes held air but threatened to burst through the sidewalls of the tires as they were old and cracked. Later in the day after running some errands I stopped at a favorite dumpster outside a local bicycle shop and there were a pair of foldable Specialized 700c tires with tubes sitting right on top of the rubble in the nearly full dumpster, they were worn in the middle but had no other problems, so when I got home I swapped them onto the Bianchi. The Seat on the Bianchi was badly torn up so I found another seat in a bucket in my garage and put it on. A few strategic squirts of WD40 and I took it for a spin up and down the block. Frame is about three inches too small for me to be useful though. Schwinn is too small for me too, so will strip it for parts if I can not find it a home. I like the green paint, the model of the Schwinn is not known as it's lettering is weathered off. Front wheel bearing on Magna is shot, seems to be missing all or most of it's balls. Fun bicycle day.

Rxffy

Hell those are rad finds! The Bianchi doesn't even look like it was ever locked to anything serious

juvela

-----

"Arnie" began life as a Varsity ca. 1970


-----

stardognine

Nice scores all around, congrats! 👍

My front tire was 1 of 2 that were sitting "next" to a dumpster, along with tubes, over in Davis. It was the same day as a yearly event, where folks tune up their bikes, to welcome Summer. Similar deal, only light wear in the center, on one tire, but the other one had a bad slice on the sidewall. It's a Vittoria Terreno, in 700c x 37c, so a good match for the nearly new 700 x 37 Continental I have on the back.

I have no problem with scrounging for good tires, lol. 😁

beng1

According to it's serial number and it's emerald-green paint, it is a 1979 Varsity Sport, so good guess.

T-Mar

Despite the fact that it's missing the Campione del Mondo decal, the Bianchi appears to be a 1987 Sport SX.

juvela

-----

Thanks very much for the correction!

My error in not looking more closely at the machine's rear mech.

Hope you have lots of good fun working with these three finds.

-----

beng1

I was serious it was a good guess, you got that it was a varsity, and I don't think they changed in the 1970s at all except in details so small it does not matter. I am not a Schwinn guy, so I could not tell a continental from a varsity or supersport etc. if the labeling on the frame is removed, I have to rely on serial numbers and old catalogs and other info on the internet.

lunch money

Nice score! That Bianchi looks like a fun bike. Sell them to buy something that fits. Something nicer like the bianchi with more sport/race geometry, so you don’t have to turn the seatpost around.

beng1

Update. I parked the mountainbike outside against a public park fence by my house and after a few days it vanished. I saw a number of kids looking at it before it disappeared, so hopefully is being repaired or used for parts. A short stumpy relative of mine who rides a LOT and has lost 40 pounds riding a mountainbike on the road over the last year wants to try a road-bike again and he is going to give the Bianchi a test drive. I found a neighbor who likes old Schwinn bikes and he is supposed to look at the Varsity, so they may all be out of my hair in the near future and to maybe better fates than they looked like they were going to have a bit ago.

John E

Nice color on the Bianchi.

Original equipment matched 1982 Campione d'Italia specs. Frame date is late 1981. "Charcoal" color not found in catalog listing.

iab

Wait. So you aren't giving away a free Bianchi?