Chuck wrote, just for reference:
"Well, it is with a heavy heart that I make the following announcement: My collection of Bianchi that start with a 1939 Vit-Marg equipped race bike and end with a 1995 Bianchi GB-MG Boys team bike, including a 1950 Folgorissima, a 1953 Campione del Mundo, a 1979 Superleggera, etc. etc. etc. are all for sale excluding the 1939 bike.
The reason being that Edoardo Bianchi, born in 1864 and having started Bianchi in 1885 at the age of 21, died in 1946 (cause of death, car accident) so the rest of my Bianchi collection is NOT GENUINE !!!
(sniff, sniff,...waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... sorry)
Forgive me Fausto, but you were riding and winning on a not genuine Bianchi. Si, si, it's a pity, no?
Ô¿Ô¬ Chuck Schmidt SoPas, SoCal"
********
Reflecting on this post on the way home from work after a late night tonight, I realized that Chuck actually proves my earlier point here. Even though he may not realize it.
Bianchi is one of those rare outfits in which the reputation for quality transferred from man to corporation. And since corporations live on indefinitely (until someone mis-manages them into oblivion, or they're sold), all Bianchis are authentic by definition. But the reason for this rests largely with the high quality and attention to detail that has been present in the pro shop all these years. The reputation, and the reality of quality, belongs to Bianchi's pro shop, as it has for many years.
Chuck also proves my point, as does Bianchi, by the fact that Bianchi has also made any number of cheap-jack bikes that were bought by people who thought they were getting Bianchi quality, and didn't. That's the downside of corporate power: buy the expensive pro bike, you get a Bianchi. Buy anything else that says Bianchi and you may be getting a piece of junk. Or at least a garden-variety production bike of unpredictable quality.
I'm done. My head hurts.
Charles "caveat emptor nearly always works" Andrews Los Angeles
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