1998 Bianchi Nth Steel is Real Build Thread

[MuchAlohaNui]

Hello to those who found themselves in here. A long story short and historical summary... I originally bought the bike for VGC green/skinwall Wildgripper tires and VGC blue SID front fork and was going to flip the rest of the parts and frame. The bike originally had a mix of XT m739 and Avid components. The original owner (me being the second owner) bought the bike as a frame-only option from Bianchi in 1998 for 3,000 DM in late 1998. The original Rock Shox Sid fork (shown below) was purchased in early 1999. The green/skinwall wildgrippers were also purchased in early 1999 as a spare set and the celeste colored Nth grips (shown below) were also purchased as a spare set in early 1999 by the original owner. While not NOS, the tires and grips are vgc.

From what I came to learn (with some help of user Ibbz), the steel frame is quite rare and in person, very nicely made. Over time I went back and fourth about keeping or selling the frame and I suppose somewhere along the last four months or so I decided to keep it. But not in the configuration from when I picked it up. This frame was Bianchi's premium steel frame and the SID fork was Rock Shox new high-end fork of the day, but the components to some extent didn't live up to those key points. Plus, I admit, I am pretentious at times so the XT/Avid stuff needed to go.

The original XT bottom bracket was shot, over tightened and binding while spinning the cranks. There was a bit of corosion found in the bottom bracket shell that needed to be neutralized and dealt with. The original Race Face stem had rusted bolts and a bit of corrosion and that needed to go. The fork stayed (after swapping on a 99' red SID long travel for a bit) and the green wildgrippers that came with the bike are on my Yeti-built Homegrown Team bike (and is a separate build in and of its self). The frame when stripped was checked for rear derailleur alignment and rear dropout alignment & width before the rebuilt took place.

1998 Bianchi Nth x34st:

Frame: Bianchi proprietary steel frame
Fork: Rock Shox SID XC 1998
Crank: XTR m950
Rings: XTR m950
Chain: XTR IG90
Cassette: XTR m950 8-spd
Derailleur F: XTR m950
Derailleur R: XTR m950 SGS
Brakes: XTR m950
Brake Pads: XTR m950
Brake Levers/Shifters: XTR m951 ST
Hubs: XTR m950
Skewers: XTR m950
Spokes: DT Swiss
Rims: Mavic SUP 121
Tires: IRC Mythos XC F: 1.95, R:2.10 (Mahalo @prof farnsworth for the tires, @ibbz for facilitating the sale)
Bottom Bracket: XTR M950 NOS
Stem: Roox Danny's SID blue
Headset: Ritchey Pro Logic
Bars: Race Face Air Alloy
Grips: Bianchi Nth
Seatpost: Roox
Seat: Flite Titanium/Bianchi colab
Cables: Jagwire Celeste

 

[ibbz]

Beautiful frame and I love the loudness!!

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Beautiful frame and I love the loudness!!

I actually enjoy the grade school, primary color scheme. Of course, my opinion is biased because this is my bike, but I think it works pretty well.

 

[ibbz]

I actually enjoy the grade school, primary color scheme. Of course, my opinion is biased because this is my bike, but I think it works pretty well.

Likewise I really like it - and works really well
Reminds me of @kingoffootball Raleigh RSP 853 he used to have!

 

[kingoffootball]

I actually enjoy the grade school, primary color scheme. Of course, my opinion is biased because this is my bike, but I think it works pretty well.

In some ways, it feels like the green should be bold ..... but then it's a Bianchi, so the green has to be celeste.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Bold green, like Starbucks apron green would look cool as well. Though, the logos are sprinkled with Celeste green so I thought a little bit sprinkled here and there would be ok plus the bike needed new cabling anyways. I know some people pretty much go 100% celeste or nothing, but that's just too much for my taste and I am not a die-hard Bianchi fan anyhow

 

[Mod-Master]

It’s lovely

Have to say, I’m not a fan of the red xtr crankarms, I would paint them the bianchi green then put an xtr sticker on it.

Otherwise it looks awesome

 

[aates]

Very lovely! Are those nth grips new or original ones?

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Very lovely! Are those nth grips new or original ones?

Originals. The original and previous owner bought several sets of these and green Wildgrippers when he bought the frame in 1998 and kept them as spares.