Hello all, I paid a visit to the National Cycling Collection' (UK) the other day. Out of the many bikes there one had me intrigued - a Bianchi 'replica' of the type ridden by il 'Campionissimo'. The museum guide says '1950 Bianchi (replica) Ridden by Fausto Coppi in the 1959 G.P. Campagnolo. This was after his winning ride in the Paris-Roubaix that year'.
Anyway my question is this, what makes this Bianchi a 'replica' ? Is it a replica of Fausto's race bike ie; a genuine Bianchi of that era with a race number on it to make it look like Fausto's racing bike or a new(ish) frame built from scratch and kitted out with old parts and made to look like an old Bianchi (a genuine replica). It looks old to me. The man looking after the museum at the time (he wasn't the proprietor) didn't seem to know too much about bikes, or at least he couldn't any of my (simple) questions about an Evans they had there so I didn't ask him about the Bianchi. Experts, over to you!
The photos are here http://www.bikebrothers.co.uk/