# 97(?) Bianchi Campione D'Italia- good deal? guesses on weight?



## tailgunn (Aug 10, 2006)

Looking at this on ebay. Don't know much about Bianchi. Anyone venture a guess on the weight? Could this be a sub-20 pound bike with some modern components? Should I keep shopping?


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

Is this the bike?
Bianchi Campione de Italia Campagnolo Mirage Group Celeste Road Bike Steel | eBay

I'm not a big unicrown fan. The bike does seem to say "Made in Italy" on the head tube which is a plus. I don't have a good list of Bianchi frames, but according to Bikepedia, the bike was made with Dedacciai chromoly, double-butted tubing which I'm not seeing a lot of information on. I assume it is somewhat lower quality than the Reynolds 531 or Columbus SL.

I'm not seeing an actual weight of the bike. You could, of course ask the seller to weigh it.

Anyway, for a mostly lugged bike, I'd guess somewhere in the low 20's. Perhaps around 23 lbs. But that is only a guess.

I wouldn't venture to say it is "modern". But, it does have an 8-speed cassette with Campy Ergo shifters which are a big plus (over the older 5x2 and downtube shifters). However, the Campagnolo Mirage group isn't a top end group set (which also won't give you the weight savings as an all carbon Campy Super Record group set.


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## armstrong (Jul 9, 2013)

If that's the bike, then it's way overpriced. You can get a lot better Bianchi in celeste with that kind of money, even on Ebay. If you're somewhere where there is an active Kijiji/Craigslist community - you're best buying local since you can save on shipping.

As it is - I don't know a lot about Bianchis from that era (I have 3 late 80s and one early 2000s), but it has the word "superset" on the tube decal, which I *believe* basically is a newer term for "tretubi" which means the 3 main tubes are "Columbus" or whatever interesting steel, whereas the rest of the frame (not including the fork) is not (correct me if I'm wrong). This bike is almost definitely not made of SL.

If you're concerned about weight, steel basically should be last on your list. Vintage steel bikes are invariably heavy (in my experience anyways). You're better off with aluminum for weight considerations. Otherwise, you need a premium tubing (SL, SLX, etc) if you want your vintage steel bike to be relatively lighter than average.


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

armstrong said:


> You're better off with aluminum for weight considerations.


Mid twenties isn't bad for steel road bikes prior to the CF craze. I suppose my CF bikes will come shortly, and then hopefully I'll feel the difference.

As far as aluminum, there is actually just as much variability as there is in steel. So, a basic 6061 aluminum frame may in fact be heavier than many of the steel frames (although not as heavy as your basic straight tubing Murray). One really needs the "high tech" aluminum frames that some manufactures experimented with to really save weight.


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## tailgunn (Aug 10, 2006)

Duh, I didn't post the link.

Bianchi Capione D&apos;&apos; Italia Road Bike | eBay

Couple of years ago I built up an old, light Diamondback road frame to right at 20 lbs, which is fine for me. But 23-25 is a bit much. I don't want aluminum; rode that for years and when I went to back to steel I wondered why I tortured myself with AL. I have a CF Tarmac now, but I miss steel. Not specifically looking for Bianchi, this one just caught my eye.


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## tailgunn (Aug 10, 2006)

I let it go. Thanks.


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

Sorry, I was out this afternoon a bit... have to put some miles on the bike sometime, as well as doing a few errands. 

The red looks nice. Not all Bianchis have to be blue-green.

Lots of classic Dura Ace, but it looks like only a 6 speed freewheel cluster and downtube shifters. The final price wasn't bad, but it isn't a spectacular bike either. I wonder if the two bikes on E-Bay are different ages with the Campy bike having 8 speed, and the Dura Ace having only 6 speed...


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## armstrong (Jul 9, 2013)

Now that red bike was actually a pretty good deal for whoever bought it. If you're willing to go non-celeste, you can actually pick up some pretty nice Bianchis at good deals. Celeste always goes for a pretty big premium.

As for the CDI, I own 2 Campione D'Italias and I think it would be really hard to get it to 20 pounds, although that bike with DA probably would've been as light as you could get one to be. Anyways - good eye on finding that listing. If you keep it up, you'll be able to pick up something else nice too I'm sure.


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