To the distinguished gentleman from L.A., and to the distinguished gentleman from MT, and to all other vintage tifosi (word borrowed from G.P. ... thanks), I say the answers are easy. Perhaps there was never an actual "Specialissima" model in the early 1980s Bianchi line, and it seems to make sense given the additional note from the distinguished gentleman in NJ - that it describes the bike, not its' name. However, many of those top end bikes (including the one at auction) do have a Specialissima decal on the non-drive chain stay, and sans any other model name included in the decal package, it is absolutely and completely understandable that someone would assess their bike model as "Specialissima". I have photos of an early 1980s Bianchi bicycle frame (holes in the drop for the Portacatena mechanism) that I recently sold on Ebay (long ago enough however, to have the results no longer viewable in their archives). This frame sports beautiful chroming underneath the entire Celeste paint job (visible through various nicks and scratches throughout). It also sports the Specialissima decal on the non-drive chain stay. When being sold on Ebay, I advertised the frameset as "Specialissima", and fully BELIEVED that it was a Specialissima. Without a deep knowledge of Bianchi models of the time ... how could I think otherwise? Nary a one of the well informed "I told you so" Bianchi buffs out there emailed to inform me of my "error" in model assessment. In fact, I watched a similar auction for a Specialissima bike frame (in white) last year, end at over $700 for the frameset alone. Many of you will know, and I hope that the remainder of you will trust, that I do not intend to mislead or misrepresent items when I either show or sell them. Therefore, it seems obvious, at least to me because I know the truth on my intents, that many many people will believe they are riding or selling a Bianchi Specialissima model bike from the early 1980s (yes ... within CR timeline). Photos available upon request...
Ciao, Mark (w.c.w.a.j.g.a.?) Agree Southfield MI ~ ~ ~
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 00:07:43 EDT From: Bikerdaver@aol.com To: chuckschmidt@earthlink.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Bianchi Specialissima on eBay
In a message dated 9/28/2004 7:09:22 PM PST, chuckschmidt@earthlink.net
writes:
Bikerdaver@aol.com wrote:
> The Specialissima (aka Superleggera) was Bianchi top end model for 1983.
I don't really understand you're calling a "Superleggera" a "Specialissima". The term is not interchangable. Can you provide reference to a Specialissima model Bianchi?
Specialissima was used for a model name in the 1960s. None of my catalogs mention a Specialissima after that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- Chuck- I have had a chance to exchange an email with the seller. I agree with you that when I go back and look at all the info that we are discussing, it seems clear that its really come down to a matter of sematics. So the seller is callling it a Specialissima/Superleggera rather than just a Superleggera? We need to call him on "bad" labelling at the very worst, or at least that is what I might do! I knew that there was an interchanging of the Specilissima/Superleggera names over the years and regret that I got tripped up when I first made the CR list posting.
But I will also disagree with you. The Specialissima name appears in many
sources that go way beyond the 1960s and is not only interchangeable with the
SuperLeggera model, but associated with others as well.
1) If you look at the 7th photo down from the top in the posting
<http://ebay.com/<blah
eN
ame=STRK:MESE:IT>>
you will clearly see the Bianchi "Specialissima" decal on the right rear
chainstay. Ask the seller for a close up, as I am sure he will provide one.
2) If you look at the 1987 (off-topic) catalog, page 4, you will see a bike
called a "Specialissima Giro". Thats 3rd down from the Bianchi's top line up,
but as you can tell, they were using that term well into the late 80s.
3) I used to own a 1988 (off-topic) Superleggera. I know for a fact that that
particular bike was 3rd down from the top for that year as can easily be seen
in the Bianchi catalog.
4) I have seen a copy of a Japanese 1984 Bianchi catalog that has a model
called the "Specialissima X-3" being introduced that year. I know that
particular
model was brought into the US as a "Team Bike" as well, but it is Not listed
in any 1984 US catalog that I have ever seen.
5) The 1987(off-topic) Moreno Argentin replica is not listed in the 1987
Bianchi USA catalog, but the bike still exists in spite of that!!
So in sum, when we put our confusion about sematics aside, my short
response is that WE NEED TO DEPEND UPON ACTUAL PHYISCAL EXPERIENCE AS A
SOURCE OF
KNOWLEDGE. NOT ALL KNOWLEDGE IS CONTAINED WITHIN CATALOGS.
Think about it for a moment, do you think pro racers sit around and read
catalogs to figure out what their team bikes will look like? I don't think
so.
cheers-
Dave Anderson
Cut Bank MT