Mark’s Mid 70s Bianchi Sprint

Posted

Today’s 10-speed entry is this mid 70s Bianchi Sprint from Mark in Long Island, New York.
Marks Bianchi Sprint

Marks Bianchi Sprint

Mark said:
Here is my 1970’s (not sure of the exact year) Bianchi Sprint. The bike has a 1973-74 Campione del Mondo sticker, and was brought to the US from Italy for my father by his mother. After sitting idle for decades, I decided to start using it. After riding it for a year with it’s original Campagnolo downtube shifters and derailleurs, I decided to upgrade to something more uh, reliable. I put a Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed (I know, different kind of 10 speed) brifter system on, out on a Campy Centaur BB, and new Campy derailleurs. I had to put Sakae cranks on with the original engraved Bianchi chainrings, as the original Sugino Maxy’s sat too far inward on the new BB. All the other components are original, including the 3ttt ‘Touriste’ stem and ‘Olympic’ bars, the Bianchi seat, Ambrosio wheels, Regina 5 speed freewheel, and unlabeled hubs. The 10 speed shifters require two ‘clicks’ to shift up on the 5 speed freewheel, and shift down perfectly. This bike it a joy to ride and I ride in Long Island, NY.

Mark, thanks for sending in this beautiful Bianchi.

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  • Jim

    I had one of these! It may have been the only racer in Halfords that day with toeclips, it was certainly the only one with alloy wheels. Very exotic in 1983 Edinburgh. I remember the shop guy saying they were unreliable, which somehow lent the bike a dangerous, unpredictable edge. Even at 11 or 12 I could see it was worth the £10 extra over the steel-rimmed Raleighs. I think it was £145 but it may have been £165.

    In the UK they had a white saddle but Ambrosia rims, yes. I think it was a Sprint 28c, to give it the full title. Still not sure what 28c means.

  • Essylu

    Hi!
    I just found this exact same frame w original stem & bars on my sidewalk (in Paris). It seems quite light. I was investigating the web to find out the type of tubing it has. Sticker says “tubi bianchi calibrati 1-20”. No idea what it means. Du you know what it is made of?

  • nikos

    i just found one of these beautiful bianchi, it needs to be replaced most of the parts on it,{ new groupset}Can someone tell me which model of compognolo should i buy to be the right one. Thank you..!!!

  • JIm

    My uk Halfords version didn’t have any campag on it originally, so I think you can use hwat you like with it. Regarding the tubing, I don’t remember any sticker saying it was anything more than plain guage (and they do tend to say if it’s double butted etc) so I’d guess it’s plain guage. But nice plain guage, well lugged and painted!

  • http://markspizz.net mark

    Essylu – I believe it’s just plain-jane steel tubing, no fancy columbus steel on this frame. That being said, it’s very light, well paintings, and stiff.

    Nikos – I have upgraded this bike to 8 speed chorus hubs, (130 mm, just fits the 127mm rear spacing), chorus derailers and BB, and record square-taper cranks. The bike is a pleasure to ride, the geometry of these frames is perfect for fast road riding.

    • Ferg

      Mark – my BB needs replacing on my bianchi sprint 28c. Can you suggest the exact model / size to replace it with?
      I am a newbie and stuck

      Cheers,
      Fergus