Casual Rider

I've always been a big fan of Bianchi ever since I bought a Champion de Italia back in 87. And recently I made an impulse buy and bought an 83 specialissima.


My problem is I am not sure of the exact model. It appears to be a Super Leggera with pantographing everywhere, but it doesn't have the a model name. It only says "specialissima" on the left chain stay. Interestingly, under that, there is a decal that says "Esclusivista".


The parts all appear to be original. The handlebars are leather wrapped with stitching and the brakes levers have multiple colored vertical lines. The groupo is Campagnolo super record. The front chain gear has the word Bianchi pantographed on it, and the B and last I have the dash on them (I've seen other bikes where the dashes are missing). And what I thought was really cool is that it has a chrome fork with Bianchi stamped on the top and a Columbus special tubing sticker.


So any idea what this might be? Anyone ever heard of the "Esclusivista" decal before? Also, why do some bikes have pantographing with the dashes and some do not.
And finally, the bike is no celeste. It is a white or light champagne color.


I'll try to post some pictures later.

BlueDevil63 

In '83 the Specialissima was a frame only product. It was basically the same as the Super Leggera/Super Corsa frame. I have seen a number of these frames built up with Bianchi panto parts (I had one myself, picture at the end of this message). Never saw the exclusivista decal though. My '83 Specialissima built as a Super Leggera:

Bikerider007

Let's see that decal and bike. Sounds like it could be a very nice find.

Casual Rider

Being a frame only product expains a lot. Like I said mine has an all chrome fork and I awhile ago I saw a similar one with chrome only on the top of the fork. Unlike yours these are rounded at the top and say Bianchi in a U shape instead of more square and a large B. Since my frame is white I guess all chome was the best option since the others were all either all celeste or partially celeste.

The other curious thing is I've seen some with either a B on the shift levers on the word Bianchi. Mine are more of a loop shape with a hole in the middle.

Casual Rider

Here is the decal I mentioned above.

BlueDevil63 

That looks like maybe a bike shop decal?

Bianchigirll 

I kind of thought the Specilissma thing was a precursor to the Reparto Corse idea of an elite top group of bikes.

It could be a regional market thing. Looks like a pretty bike and chance we can see more?

Casual Rider

When I get back home I'll post more pictures.

Google Translate comes up with "exclusivist by bike" and Voghera "is a town and comune of 39400 people located in Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Pavia".

I have no clue what "exclusivist by bike" means. Maybe it is a shop or group or something in Italy.

Also, do you know the significance of the dashes on the B and the I on the stampings and why it appears some bikes in 1983 had them and others did not? I see it a lot more on older bikes I think.

Edit: Apparently "Inbici" is a bike magazine in Italy.

BlueDevil63 

I see esclusivista inbici Voghera. Voghera is a town in Italy. I think it means something like exclusive bike from Voghera.

The Specialissima was a top of the line bike in the 60s. It disappeared for most of the 70s and then came back as a frame product in the early 80s. The Specialissima frame of the 80s was the same frame used in the Super Leggera and Super Corsa bike models. Here are pages from the '83 catalog.

Casual Rider

Thanks!
I see it the specs it says for enthusiasts who want to design their own bike. So maybe this was a bike ordered from Bianchi with the special color and fork and then the super record components. Then possibly built in Voghera?

That brings up the other weird part. I didn't see any white Super Leggera's in 1983, but I am not sure about the Supr Corsa. I also never saw crome forks in the catalogs. But even though you can't see it in the following picture, the fork has a Columbus sticker and "Bianchi" in a U shape at the top (where other's have a large B).

Here are a couple bad pictures I found. I need to take some good ones and post them.

himespau 

It's a nice looking mystery.

BlueDevil63 

More pics when you can will help.

smith_Jr

Casual Rider

What would you like to see? I still need to take some better pictures, but I have the ones above and these. I was told the bike sat for years, and so I have a good clean-up job ahead of me. It has all the original parts too.

My guess at the moment is it was some kind of special ordered bike for Inbici magazine or related team/group.

BlueDevil63 

I wanted to see that fork crown. That is later, like 86 or later. That may be a later fork. The B with the dash is late 70s, early 80s. So maybe an earlier frame with a later replacement fork? What is the serial number? The white color is unusual. I have not seen these in anything but celeste in these years.

If you ever want to sell those brakes (or the whole bike) let me know. I have everything except those milled brakes on my Super Leggera and have been trying to score a set. I have the levers but not the calipers.

Casual Rider

The bike is still on a UPS truck somewhere in a box> I really want to find the serial number too.

It could be the fork is a replacement or there is a chance this was made in 83 but is an 84 model. I found a site with an 84 and a similar fork (though that site could be wrong too. (www .raydobbins.com/ebay/bike-bianchi/bike-bianchi. htm - this site won't let me post URLs yet) There is also a chance it is an older model because I don't think they made these white in 83 - that might explain the dashes, or maybe this really was a special order thing. It is still a mystery to me.

I really want inspect the bike and see how much work needs to be done. I know it is pretty dirty and there is a little rust. If is really bad I might consider selling the brakes. But my goal was to fix it up and keep.

BlueDevil63 

It looks really nice to me.

look566 rider

Cool looking bikes, for all who posted.

I hate all of you!

obrentharris 

I don't know what @Otis would charge to match that milling for you but it would be worth an enquiry. If you haven't taken a look at his drillium work it's a real treat:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54616231@N04/sets/
Brent

Casual Rider

Bluedevil63 (a Duke fan?) Has been very helpful. And after reading other posts in the forum I am sure he is right that "specialissima" for some years means that it was sold as frame-only or possibly as a special order kit. (Though wasn't the x4 a complete 'specialissima' bike?)


Does that make sense or am I incorrect?

Citoyen du Monde

Esclusivista in Italian means a dealer who has an exclusive (either a regional exclusive or a brand exclusive). When you write esclusivista in bike this means a deal who has an exclusive for bicycles. Since the Bianchi in question was built during the Piaggio period of ownership of Bianchi, it could be there was one shop who had the exclusive in bikes and another in mopeds or scooters (other products sold by Piaggio).

clubman 

That's a lovely Bianchi, congrats! Feeling nostalgic.

There's a dearth of Bianchi catalogues if you want to see Pacific rim models. Anyone link to the 1986 Japanese-Bianchi line-up?

It's cool to see 022 frames pics poised in front of Italian Columbus in post #9.

Casual Rider

Am I correct that "Inbici" is a Bicycle Magazine in Italy?

Or is it possible it was a store in Voghera?
That would make sense.

Citoyen du Monde

In bici (two words!) translates to "on a bike" or "by bike", for example if you want to say lets go by bike, you would say "andiamo in bici".

Casual Rider

Look at the earlier posts. The whole point is there is a label on my bike that says "inbici" - all one word.
You will see I already mentioned it translated to "exclusivist by bike" and Voghera,