steine13

Learned Friends:

This bike has only been ridden 35 miles, so the tires are in great shape

I have no idea what it's worth to within a factor of three, but it does look interesting.
Thanks in advance for any opinions and educated guesses.

cheers -mathias

Chombi1 

Really nice Bianchi with really nice components.
I much prefer the 1st gen Campy Chorus gruppo that's on this bike more than C Record/Delta.
The Chorus gruppo just works so much better (If you turn off the Synchro indexing.).
The C Record/Delta gruppo just gives away too much performance to aesthetics.
Not familiar with the Bianchi Superleggera's frame. What's the tubing, is it SLX or one of Bianchi's "Formula" tubesets?
Tubing material will be a big factor in pricing the bike.
As I see it, because of it's mint, original condition, It might bring in up to $1K to the right buyer.
Cool!, I see the bike was bought in Berkley, Michigan......
I went to highshool in Berkley High....(Maroon and Blue!).....

3alarmer 

.
...no idea on the value, but whenever I see a top end bike like this one, that was bought and never ridden, I always wonder about the story of how that came to be.

steine13

>> I always wonder about the story of how that came to be.

Unspectacular and fairly obvious, I think: Bicycling is hard. Maybe harder for those who can afford to plunk down $1300 in 88 money on a whim.. those folks tend to be older.

I have a Trek 710 that's sort of like that.. it may have 100 miles on it or 500, but it can't be a thousand... retired gentleman buys it to ride with his son. Bonding and all that. And then doesn't ride.

Where else would we get all the pretty bikes?

cheers -mathias

Polaris OBark

I bought my 1987 Bianchi Superleggara in 1987. (I still have my receipt.) It took every last penny I had at age 23. I bought mine in Berkeley, CA (not Berkley MI) when I was a grad student. I rode it hard for 2 years until the frame cracked. It got warrantied, but it took another year.

cyclophilia 

Are you asking for a favorable purchase price estimate, or as the seller?

Polaris OBark

The quote "it does look interesting" implies he is not the owner (but possibly is interested in becoming the owner).

steine13

>> Are you asking for a favorable purchase price estimate, or as the seller?

I purposely avoided stating that, because I wanted a "clean" valuation.

I would have liked to say "I'm selling", but then I'd be responsible for the crummy pictures, plus I don't want to lie to y'alls.

My wife sent me the pictures, which she got from a friend who is a dealer in various specialty antique goods: boat motors, fishing lures, stuff like that. In the process of wheeling and dealing, someone offered him this bike for $1200, which struck me as either high or idiotically high, and he sent the information to the missus, since it's no secret I have a bike habit.

We have an understandable tendency to, ahem, HELP each other buy bikes, so a "buyer" valuation often includes a bonus for wanting it -- it's simply silly to lose a bike you're after over a hundred bucks.

"Seller" valuations are, I think, generally more straightforward: Ask this much, take that much... that gives a realistic range.

I searched this forum for Superleggeras -- they aren't exactly rare -- so I have a bit better idea. These are high-end bikes, and well regarded.

It's not my cup of tea -- I prefer sport tourers and the like -- and it's not my size either... looks like a 57, 58 to me, but it says 55 cm on the bill of sale. At any rate, Twelve hundred bucks is kind of silly unless it's somebody's life ambition and wall art.

cheers -mathias

cyclophilia 

Your use of the adjective "idiotically" seems spot-on accurate in this context.

3alarmer 

.
1. the valuations on this particular forum always run pretty low, IME.
2. it wasn't long ago that such a bike, in such condition, would have been listed on ebay at $1200, but I haven't kept up with ebay pricing.
3. there does seem to be a practical cap on what local sales will bring, for any older steel bicycle. It seems to run in the $600-800 range.
4. everyone who shows up here, who sells on a regular basis (i.e. more often than me), seems to agree that the local market (for this sort of bicycle) is paralyzed right now.
5. if I were selling this, I would list it on ebay, with a local pickup only ad, and proceed from there if I got inquiries about shipping.
6. a bicycle that is not my size is of little value to me, so I tend to mentally value them less.

VtwinVince

In my market, that would command some fairly serious money. It's a beauty.

TugaDude

As always, supply and demand are in play. Somewhere there's a bike fanatic who has been hoping to see a Superleggera in this condition and this size and will be willing to offer top dollar for it. You might find that person here, but then again, you might not.

So ebay is probably a good choice, IF the seller is willing to put up with the fees and the fact that the purchaser is always going to win in a dispute. Or so I hear. Then there is shipping. Local sales restrict potential buyers, but shipping can be a hurdle for some, not so much for others.

It is a beautiful bike with great components and undoubtedly will make someone very happy. Happy to spend $1,200.00 though? I doubt it. But I've been surprised before.

I do believe that the price estimates here tend to be towards the lower end. I think there are a number of reasons for that.

Polaris OBark

As a collector's item, paying $1200 might have been optimistic, but for the bike, that is only a little more for what I paid for the 1987 version in 1987 dollars. My graduate stipend that year was about $12K, so that was 1/10 my annual salary. Apart from the frame cracking 2 years later, it was one of the best purchases I made. They did eventually service the warranty, and I still have that bike. I've since modernized it with 11-speed Campagnolo Athena. It is a great bike for someone who might actually enjoy riding it. It looks like in 1988 they replaced the crappy dangerous modolo brakes with some decent ones, so there is that.

I can't see the stem logo, but it looks different from what I had on the 1987 bike, which was also Modolo. It was recalled, due to a tendency to crack.

If you just want to recover $1200, part it out. The weird irony is that the whole bike is "worth" much less than the sum of its parts. Someone looking for those wheels, or brakes, or crankset, or maybe even the frame, will pay proportionately much more.

georges1

very nice bike

brixxton

As has been said the bottom has fallen out of the market, even here in S.F. where 2 years ago you would have had a bidding war for a beauty like that. if you put it on the wall and waited for the electric craze to be over ,maybe, you could make a few dollars. Personally if it was my size and I could pick it up for $800 it would be something to ride on sunny days. It could sit with my other beauties that dropped $$ this year,best of luck.

Kabuki12

Very nice bike but sadly , as was stated, will probably not sell for what it is really worth. The prices of older steel bikes is pathetic right now . It’s a great time to buy. A good buy in todays market is not more than 800 in my humble estimation. There are exceptions though.

Bianchigirll 

I know I'm wicked late to the party but that is a beautiful bike. One of those was a first Italian Bianchi and I really miss it, it was a great riding bike. Unfortunetly the frame cracked, but on the bright side I was able to use it as credit towards my fabulous Proto