HELP & ADVICE ON Weather to Rebuild this Low Pro Bianchi

stringfellow1946

Senior Retro Guru
Ok People I need some advice on whether I rebuild this Manki Banchi Low Pro?
I paid £85 for everything you see in the photos its 9 speed C-Record.
The bike was supposedly an ex Mercatone Uno team bike ridden in the tour of Italy, according to the guy I got it from but no riders name is on the bike (unusual). My mate paid over £2000 for it at the time.
I know the bike has the wrong forks in it as when my mate bought it a few years back he asked me to change the forks from 650c to 700c ones & he no longer has the original 650c ones (DOH).
The frame has bubbling of the paint in various places BUT the main problem is there are two hairline cracks in the down tube just underneath the r/hand gear changer boss. SEE PHOTO 6
Question is!
Is this worth preserving as a piece of history/development even though its has cracks in the down tube, as it will never be ridden again.

All & any suggestions/advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks
Chris
 

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£85!! The parts on their own are worth loads more than that! Are the cracks structural or just in the paint?
 
The cracks seem to stem from some bubbling, so they might just be cracks in the paint. Then again, they are near the shifter boss, so maybe the tube was damaged when they fixed the boss to the tube...

Without a rider's name on it or any definite info as to whether it was actually ridden by a pro in the giro or not, then if the frame is cracked I don't think I'd bother repairing it. If it is just a crack in the paint though, and it could be ridden, then I'd probably fix it up, even if it's not a pro bike. can you press the tube inwards easily at that point?

Does it have a serial number? if it does then maybe bianchi could tell you when it was made and who for. If it was a pro bike, then depending who's it was I might think about fixing it up as a show bike, depending on its history it might be a shame to scrap it, even if it can't be ridden.

if it doesn't have a history then I say sand some paint off and see if it's cracked - if it is and you're going to scrap the frame anyway then you haven't lost anything, if it isn't cracked then touch up the paint again and you've got a nice TT bike.
 
Old Ned":2lyp6asb said:
£85!! The parts on their own are worth loads more than that! Are the cracks structural or just in the paint?

No I don't think they are as Structural like they would be if was around the B/Bracket area or the head tube. I will maybe scrape some more paint away to see if as I suspect that it is the alloy thats cracked & not just the paint.
 
foz":3rus4r6c said:
The cracks seem to stem from some bubbling, so they might just be cracks in the paint. Then again, they are near the shifter boss, so maybe the tube was damaged when they fixed the boss to the tube...

Without a rider's name on it or any definite info as to whether it was actually ridden by a pro in the giro or not, then if the frame is cracked I don't think I'd bother repairing it. If it is just a crack in the paint though, and it could be ridden, then I'd probably fix it up, even if it's not a pro bike. can you press the tube inwards easily at that point?

Does it have a serial number? if it does then maybe bianchi could tell you when it was made and who for. If it was a pro bike, then depending who's it was I might think about fixing it up as a show bike, depending on its history it might be a shame to scrap it, even if it can't be ridden.

if it doesn't have a history then I say sand some paint off and see if it's cracked - if it is and you're going to scrap the frame anyway then you haven't lost anything, if it isn't cracked then touch up the paint again and you've got a nice TT bike.

Hi yes there is a frame number on the bottom bracket, so like you say maybe contact Bianchi. I stress that the frame will never be ridden agin in my life time its purely a case of wether its worth preserving without doing any repairs to the cracks, but to just keep it as is, as a sort of snapshot into the past 1996-7 of what Pro team T/T bikes were like.
It wont cost that much to get sorted as It only needs is a saddle & a pair of Wheels plus I already have a pair of 9 speed shamal's (all be it the front is a 650c). If I do sort it out I would like to put it back to how it originally was with a 650c front forks & wheel.
 
if you're never going to ride it again but want to build it up as a show bike then I'd go ahead as it is, in that case it doesn't matter if it's cracked or not! don't even scrape any paint off as that would affect the looks a bit too!
 
foz":3iw4di12 said:
if you're never going to ride it again but want to build it up as a show bike then I'd go ahead as it is, in that case it doesn't matter if it's cracked or not! don't even scrape any paint off as that would affect the looks a bit too!

I've just scraped a 1mm section of paint off & its 100% cracked. Not unusual for a Bianchi as I've had two others in for repairs in the past that were cracked badly just below the front mec mounting & the bottom bracket. This is the first Bianchi that I've seen cracked at the gear mounting bosses. Mind you I've seen a Titanium frame brake clean in half across the down tube by the gear lever bosses whilst working on a race.
 
Bianchi TT Bike

I have just built the same bike from a spare brand new spare frameset..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25403378@N ... hotostream

from my research it seems that the team bikes were never built in Bianchi but in france, they are the same as the Cofidis team bikes in 1998 as ridden by Dave Millar and badged as an MBK,, and they have pictures of Pantani visiting the factory for his bikes,,

The quality of the welding was far better than the Bianchi built ones with smooth welds,, and a differant seat post clamping system..

I know somebody in France who has a genuine Cofidis team bike and its identical to the Bianchi ones...

Mine was painted by Andy Perks from this site...
 
More photos of the frame
 

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Re: Bianchi TT Bike

orbeas":nm40gl1j said:
I have just built the same bike from a spare brand new spare frameset..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25403378@N ... hotostream

from my research it seems that the team bikes were never built in Bianchi but in france, they are the same as the Cofidis team bikes in 1998 as ridden by Dave Millar and badged as an MBK,, and they have pictures of Pantani visiting the factory for his bikes,,
I know somebody in France who has a genuine Cofidis team bike and its identical to the Bianchi ones...
Just had a quick look at the stage 20 the final TT of the 1998 TDF Bobby Julich of team Cofidis is riding a Fondriest bike NOT an MBK, so not sure where you did your research?
 
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