Hello-
I need some education on Bianchis. I am familiar with Bianchi's later
efforts, besides, the later 1980s and newer bikes are "off-topic" for this
group.
More specifically, I am confused on Bianchi's efforts from the mid
1970s to the mid-1980s. From what I have seen, it appears that the uppper-end
monikers varied from year to year; superleggera vs. specialissima vs.
champion d' italia vs. ? Its been hard for me to keep track of all the name
changes. I have even seen different name decals on the same bike:
specialissima plus champion d' italia! What does it mean? what was the top to
bottom ranking of these bikes from year to year?
Additionally, when did they start/stop chrome plating underneath the
paint? I thought they quit that in the early 1980s; however, I have seen what
was allegedly a 1986 Champion d' Italia that had chrome plating beneath the
paint. Furthermore, when in the 1970s or 1980s, did the chrome plated head
lugs disappear? And how come Bianchi chrome plated and used Campy drop-outs
on the lower end TreTubi constructed frames?
How about the fork crown? when did it change from flat to semi-sloping
to fully sloping? I have seen 1985 Superleggera models that were exact in
every detail except one had the semi-sloping crown whereas the other had
fully-sloping! What year did Bianchi stop using Campy drop-outs, start using
Bianchi-stamped drop-outs, and then switch to GPM drop-outs?
Idealy, I would like to get some xerox copies of any catalogs that
other list members would be kind enough to sell me. In the meanwhile,
answering my above questions would at least get me started in the right
directions. Cheers,
Dave Anderson
Cut Bank MT