Neat bike, Tam.
Looking at those lug profiless and the deep, artistically pointed seat & chain stay ends, my imagination pictures the Reparto Corsa builder, realizing it was a special bike to be ridden by a special rider, putting a bit more flair and TLC into that frame... Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
Dale Brown Greensboro, North Carolina USA
-----Original Message----- From: Tam Pham <terminaut@gmail.com> To: CR <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 3:29 pm Subject: [CR]Monday morning Bianchi goodness...
Ok, well maybe it's not quite Monday yet but I snapped some photos of my 1950's Bianchi Pista and for those interested, they can be viewed at:
http://chainedrevolution.com/
This bike is from approximately 1954 and is thought to be a team bike of the Bianchi squadra, built by Bianchi's Reparto Corse unit. It seems to be a sprinter's bike with some noteworthy peculiarities such as 36-spoked front and 40-spoked rear wheels. I'm not sure if it's normal, but the rear hub flanges are spaced at a wide 76mm apart. The head tube lugs are shaped very similar to Coppi's "Pokerissimo" bike at the Vintage Velos site.
The finish of the frameset is original and the Bianchi-engraved cranks and wheelset are also original to the bike. The seating and steering aren't original, but I think they're fairly correct to spec with Ambrosio alloy track bars and stem.
It's funky overcast outside so the photos had an odd contrast, which I played with a bit to get an artsy look similar to some postcards that I received from speedbicycles.com. If you want to see the colors of the bike a little more accurately, there are some other shots at:
http://www.chainedrevolution.com/
Overall a very fortunate acquisition as I've been searching quite a while for a 50's Bianchi Pista, and this bike is a very well constructed one in mostly original condition.
Cheers,
Tam Pham
Huntington Beach, CA - USA