My New Bicycle - An Eight Year Journey

[b06tmm]

Back in 2005 I wanted a new bicycle so I went around to various places and test drove a bunch. I ended up getting a Trek mountain bike and I initially thought it was the "bee's knees". As time went on I started liking it less and less, I can't really explain it, we just never bonded.

During all of this time I kept thinking about one I test drove, a Bianchi Milano in Celeste green. At that time I thought it was too expensive, so I settled for the Trek. It got to the point where every time I got on the Trek I would think about the Bianchi.

Well, a few weeks back my neighbor was telling me that she was going to give someone her bicycle because they really needed one to go back and forth to work. Her bike was a steel framed little girl's model and this guy was over 6 foot tall. I just shook my head and said I would gladly give him mine, give yours to Good Will.

Now that the Trek was gone I started looking for Bianchi models that I could check out. I searched for local dealers and visited one last weekend that showed they had the Milano in stock. I went there and they said they had a few in their warehouse five blocks away and it will be about ten minutes to bring it by.

Sadly, like everything now, things evolve and the leather gripped goddess I remembered was now a composite rubber facsimile. Not that that is bad, but I was little disappointed. The one they brought by was too small for me but the guy said he had several larger ones but they were still in the box and they would have to build it. Although not exactly what I wanted, I put a deposit down and said I would be back in a couple of days to check it out. It appears I was about to settle again.

Well, I stopped by yesterday and what did I see? A 2005 leather gripped goddess! This shop said they used to be an official dealer for Bianchi but wasn't anymore and just happened to have some NOS stock still in their warehouse. The weird thing is I got the dealer info from the Bianchi USA web site.

All gushing aside here are a few pictures:







The styling and color may not be everyone's cuppa, but I sure dig it.

I had a trip computer, rear rack and detachable pannier installed at the shop. There are some ergonomic issues I need to tweak with the seat and handlebars but that will sorted out tomorrow as I have the weekend off!

I am a very happy person right now.

[Frosty]

How cool is that, finding an old/new friend!

[Dan Pierce]

Nice ride. Add a Brookes B17 and you'll be sittin' And grippin' leather.
dP

[East Bay Rider]

Cool bike. What're the odds of finding the exact bike you lusted aft all those years ago. Have fun.

[cop414]

Nice bike, be careful out there!

[Gharddog03]

Nice bike. All it needs is some good lighting. Designshine or dinotte!

[Sherwooddavid]

Great looking bike Tim...love the color !

[Dr. Robert]

Bianchi musta gone the way Bridgestone bicycles went...kaput, bah humbug, no-one loves steel, lugged bicycles any more....it's all titanium, aluminum & carbon fiber.....I still dig my 1989 Bridgestone MB-2, Ishiwata triple butted cro-moly steel, lugged, traditional double diamond framed MTB. 26 lbs. of bicycling fun.

[Colnago]

Originally Posted by Dr. Robert

Bianchi musta gone the way Bridgestone bicycles went...kaput, bah humbug, no-one loves steel, lugged bicycles any more....it's all titanium, aluminum & carbon fiber.....I still dig my 1989 Bridgestone MB-2, Ishiwata triple butted cro-moly steel, lugged, traditional double diamond framed MTB. 26 lbs. of bicycling fun.

Steel is still a brilliant material for bike frames, I have two and love them both....one's a Reynolds 753 from 1987 the other is a Columbus SLX from 1993.....I could never understand why steel tubing manufacturers never developed a suitable stainless steel alloy for bike frames....the usual carbon/manganese/molybdenum steels are great but they still rust....there is a lot of redundancy built into the thickness of the tube walls on carbon steel frames (for obvious reasons) if a suitable stainless alloy was used that redundancy could be removed saving lots of weight.....giving a superb feeling, lively, responsive great looking svelte frame with all kinds of options for polishing lugs, dropouts, hangers etc....and rust free!!!

[Andrés G]

Great story. Enjoy your new cool bike.

[b06tmm]

OK, got the ergonomics worked out in my dining room - good thing I'm single! Crap - maybe that's why.

Anyway, here's a little history:

Bianchi bikes have been around a long time. A very young Eduardo Bianchi opened up a bicycle repair shop in 1885, and right away began tinkering with the bike designs of the time. He made so many innovations with bicycle designs that he is to bicycles, what Henry Ford is to cars. He was one of the first to introduce the “safety bicycle,” so called because the wheels were the same size and it was closer to the ground.

He also introduced the first bicycle with pneumatic tires and made many other innovations.

In 1895, he developed the very first bicycle specifically designed for women and he presented it to Queen Margherita of Italy. The bicycle was unpainted, and when the queen asked why, he told her it was because he wanted to see the color of her eyes first and paint the bicycle to match. The color developed was a greenish blue, and was called “celeste” (pronounced in Italian che-les-te) and became the signature color for Bianchi. If you look close, on the crest design of a Bianchi bike, you can see the Queen’s crown, the royal endorsement of the queen.

The above was taken from here.

Here is the crest:

[rolio]

Originally Posted by b06tmm

OK, got the ergonomics worked out in my dining room - good thing I'm single! Crap - maybe that's why.

Anyway, here's a little history:

Bianchi bikes have been around a long time. A very young Eduardo Bianchi opened up a bicycle repair shop in 1885, and right away began tinkering with the bike designs of the time. He made so many innovations with bicycle designs that he is to bicycles, what Henry Ford is to cars. He was one of the first to introduce the “safety bicycle,” so called because the wheels were the same size and it was closer to the ground.

He also introduced the first bicycle with pneumatic tires and made many other innovations.

In 1895, he developed the very first bicycle specifically designed for women and he presented it to Queen Margherita of Italy. The bicycle was unpainted, and when the queen asked why, he told her it was because he wanted to see the color of her eyes first and paint the bicycle to match. The color developed was a greenish blue, and was called “celeste” (pronounced in Italian che-les-te) and became the signature color for Bianchi. If you look close, on the crest design of a Bianchi bike, you can see the Queen’s crown, the royal endorsement of the queen.

The above was taken from here.

Here is the crest:

Wow! Thank you for that bit of history. I have the Bianchi 1885-120 year Anniversary road, full-Campy. She still rides as smooth as the day I bought her. And I have given her a name when we first met: Isabella. I would like to buy this exact model, OP's original pic. I just hope that now, it's not watered down too much.

[Cesium133]

Sweet bike and great story. It was meant to be. Always loved the signature color, too. Thanks for sharing!

[Widows Son]

Fausto likes your ride!!!!!! I'm trying to sell my Bianchi Campione D" Italia (in Celeste of course!!). The bike is about 15 years old and has about 100 miles on it!!!! Moved right after I bought it and have only ridden tow paths since. It's mint, and before I'd give it away at a garage sale, I'll hang it on the wall next to a picture of Coppi!!!

[JCW1980]

Congrats! Great stories too. I've always loved the celeste color on Bianchi's and have always had a jones for a mountain bike from them in that color. I love the Grizzly model from a few years back, but man they're hard to find. And like you said; I think a lot of their current stuff is of the new age, soft, plastic molded generation that I just can't get excited about. You may have inspired me to get back in the hunt for an older one!

Enjoy that bike and be safe!

[Colnago]

Great story and great bike....with great history....but like Dan said, you need a Brookes saddle on it just to round it off....it'll take a few month to "break in" but after that it will be like your favorite arm chair (well.....sort off...)

There's just something about that colour too......some love it some don't.....I love it

[skprd13]

Right on! Congrats, cool color!

Aloha

[Dan Pierce]

Steel is real!
dP

[Brenngun]

That's one sweet ride. Got a name yet??

[PanosI]

Sweet ride

[Lion]

Tim, very nice and I know you will enjoy your new ride. I have always liked Bianchi bicycles and almost bought a racing bike back in 1988...but please remember to wear a helmet as we do not want to see something happen to you. I was able to buy my dream mountain bike back in 2008 a Litespeed Sewanee full suspension and it is very smooth with tubeless tires. I also kept my 1990 Fisher Montare, mountain bike, which is a steel steed and I added a Paul's Rock Shox to the front for suspension. I did back in 1988 buy a Trek 1000 entry level racing bike and added Shimano Ultegra components along the way. Now I'm on the hunt for a "Cruiser" bicycle but will take my time and do my homework first. Not sure if I want hand brakes and deraillers for different gears or a pure single speed with a coaster brake!!!


Happy cruising.....Leo

[threemonkeys]

I love the color.

[Lol-x]

Congrats!!!
I've had a couple of Banchi bikes (still have a Marco Pantani replica).
Celeste Green to Bianchi is like Red is to Ferrari.
Enjoy

[drockadam]

Gorgeous Bianchi!

I have a 87' Bianchi Road Bike which is just fantastic. Still runs great!

[Watchdog]

Nice!