dragongc

Hey guys, so I grabbed another bike... at first i wasn't going to get it because i already had one vintage, but a series of events led me to believe that i should get it... (no one showed up for work today, i was late so i had my car, and it was on the way to work)

So i was wondering if you guys would help me find out more about this bike. The decals state it is a bianchi "professional" built in japan with Ishiwata (thanks roccobike!! i couldn't see it from the faded decal...) double butted CrMo fork and stays and a sticker "022". I searched bianchi professional, but its a bit vague and didn't get many good results...

The dropouts are suntour PRO and has suntour superbee front and rear derailers. it came with sugino super mighty cranks and kyotokuto pro ace pedals. it also came with dia-compe brake calipers and levers. The headset is Tange Levin Alloy 66S Japan. The front hub is a Suntour GPX and rear is Superbee.

If anyone can help me out, it would be great!

im uploading some pics now... itll be a little bit before theyre up...

thanks guys!

edit: pics!!

roccobike

"Ishiwata" tubing is the name you're looking for. OK I made my contribution for tonight. WHO'S NEXT.

YungBurke

those brakes look interesting

dragongc

theyre gran compe. are those any special? i could take some pics if you want

Jaeger

Looks very similar to my Bianchi, which I determined to be a 1982. It's a Japanese made Bianchi, with very nice Ishiwata 022 tubing, which is very comparable to the quality Columbus or Reynolds tubing.

I'd say the bar end shifters are almost certainly not original, but are upgrades from the standard downtube shifters at the time.

You should be able to identify the dates of manufacture by getting the codes off the cranks or seat post. See the Vintage Trek site for more details on how to do that.

unworthy1

Here's a catalog page from the '84 catalog (courtesy of mark Bulgier's site), it shows the Professional made of Ishiwata 022 offered as a frameset, with the alloy Tange HS. Oddly, the specs say it was painted Celeste or Amethyst, but the picture is of a black frame. So, yours was probably built up from parts, either by a shop and/or an individual. I think these JP Bianchis are a great value...so enjoy yours!
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Bianchi-84/9.jpg

dragongc

@jaeger - wow thats pretty cool. i didn't know that ishiwata tubing was that good. and yeah i'm pretty sure that the bar end shifters are not original, the downtube shifter mounts are still on the frame.

Thanks for telling me about the codes, i just checked the crank numbers and they are A-10 and A-11, which puts the crank arms at Oct, Nov 1981. the seatpost is C-81 (SR/Sakae) which means March 1981... so i guess my bike is from 1981? unless they hold onto parts for a long time...

@unworthy1 - wow, that brochure is pretty cool. although it doesn't make sense to me why they would advertise a black model of my bike when it is not in the colors available... maybe it was in 1981? Also, i always thought italian bianchis were worth more than JP bianchis, or is it just a better build quality?

I never thought that this bike would be this interesting when i bought it. most people just say someone told them that the bike they found in their attic was amazing, but apparently this one was genuine. The only problem now is that i am hesitant to ride it and one day accidentally destroy it... anyone wanna tell me that this bike is for sure something completely awesome and i shouldn't touch it? haha funny how people usually want to find out the opposite of this question...

Thanks guys!

Jaeger

Well, the Italian Bianchis certainly cost more, and still have far more value to collectors. The Japanese Bianchis provide great value, in that you can get very well designed and high quality manufacture in an affordable bike. That was true when they were new, and it's still true as a vintage bike.

So by all means ride that bike - I've ridden mine almost 3000 miles this year. It will provide a great ride and you don't really need to worry about damaging a highly valuable collector's bike, as the collectors tend to pay more for the genuine Italian ones with Campy components.

dragongc

@jaeger - thanks, thats good to know. now i can fix up the bike and ride it with a clear mind. and apparently, i've read that most of the parts i have are campy similar, so i get the look and quality without the name.

and i think i found out the exact year/model (or atleast exactly when it was advertised). i was looking through the site unworthy1 posted and found this:



it has the exact same description of my bike, and it comes in black!

thanks so much, you guys are a great community!

Jaeger

Yep, that looks like it. That was a racing-quality bike and Superbe Pro was Suntour's top of the line racing groupo. Most racer's back then would have been using Campy, but functionally the Suntour stuff was probably equal or better. Check out the Suntour versus Campy thread for an interesting discussion on that topic.

A very nice find. Ride it and enjoy it.

nortonlax

This post was a hero! Looks like I've got a 1982 Professional in Amethyst!

Bianchigirll 

In the US market the Professional was not offered in Amethyst in ‘82 only black. The ‘84 Professional did come in Amethyst though

‘84 Professional




Below is the information for the ‘82 Professional

3alarmer

...I think this one was from maybe 1985, and it was well equipped when sold new.

3alarmer

.
...I'm just gonna admit right now, that I have no idea what a "micro fusion fork crown" might be.

T-Mar

If the attached photo is your frame, then the serial number indicates it was manufactured in Japan during January 1984.

T-Mar

Micro fusion (casting) is just alternate terminology for lost wax casting, also known as investment casting. Take your pick of the three, though the bicycle industry prefers micro fusion casting or investment casting over lost wax casting. I guess lost wax just doesn't sound hi-tech.

James1964 

Thanks for your help on de-coding serial numbers on early 1980s Japan-built Bianchi frames, greatly appreciated.