So I bought this bike new from Pro Bikes in Asheville, where I grew up. This was in 1987 or 1988. I was in the 10th or 11th grade. Rode this sucker for years, around the curvy, hilly Asheville area back roads and in a couple of races. Then when I went to college it was left at the house. The house sold, my dad moved, and the bike moved with him. He rode it a bit but it ended up beside the garage, in the weeds, where he lives in Weaverville, near Asheville. This is where I found it in 2015. I had boys of my own and I decided to restore it with them (if I could get them interested) and they could ride it. They helped a little, but largely watched with an interested eye rather than interested hands.
But it was almost fully restored and my oldest son rode this bike in the same triathlon I first rode the bike in, in Cohutta Springs, Georgia. I think it was about 25+ years after I’d ridden in that race. I also raced in that race with him, but we did a relay, so I ran and he rode the bike (my wife swam). I restored this bike in 2015 but am just now getting pics up here and this blog post published.
The picture below is the bike on rack, just rescued from the weeds beside the garage in Weaverville. There was a significant amount of cutting of weeds and vines so that the bike could be freed from its captivity.
Here is the bike before is is cleaned. This is straight from the back of the garage.
And these are after it has been restored. I decided not to repaint because the original paint job was not bad. A few chips and spots, but overall it was in great condition. Just needed to be cleaned and polished. The brake hoods, in the “before” pictures look black, but they aren’t. They are white, but they’ve rotted so badly that they appear black. I replaced them with NOS original hoods that were used on this model of bike.
I did replace the handlebar tape, hoods, brake pads, down tube gear shifters, the saddle, rims and wheels, tires and tubes, chain, rear cassette, all cables, bottle cage, and left off the tri-bars and replaced the computer. Total cost to refurb this bike was about $275.
And here are pics of my kiddo riding this bike in the same tri I rode in. I first rode this bike in a triathlon at Cohutta Springs in 1989. Kellen rode this restored bike in that same race in 2015. It was the first race for both of us.
From Fourth Island 
I just bought the same bike at Goodwill for $13.09. it’s in pretty good condition but it needs new tubes and tires and tape. I’m not sure how well the derailleur works yet. Great job on your restoration!
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I just bought the same bike at Goodwill for $13.09. It seems to be in pretty good shape, however I may need to replace the tires tubes and handlebar tape. I’m not sure yet how the derailleur works. Great job on your restoration!
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$13.09 ?! That’s probably what it cost me to buy a single tool to work on the bike, lol. Oh well, it was good fun and I didn’t do it to save money. For thirteen bucks there went my hopes that it might be a valuable classic one day!
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Not to rub salt in the wound, But I was recently given one of these for free! I would say it’s in 6/10 shape. I have fallen in love with the bike. So, I’ve been looking for good rebuild and restoration examples. Yours is one of the best! Would you mind sharing where exactly you got your brake hoods?
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And that’s a great deal, can’t find a better price than free! 🙂
I replied to your brake hood question as well, although I’m not sure if it replied directly to you, or just posted a comment on this thread. I found them on eBay, but it took several weeks of checking every day before I ran across them. And they weren’t cheap, as I recall.
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Thanks. This was a fun bike to restore since it was my very first road bike. I looked for the hoods for a few months and finally found a pair on eBay. I wanted to find the exact same original seat but couldn’t find a new one, so settled for a similar seat. With luck, you might find them if you keep checking regularly.
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WOW! Thanks for the reply! I wasn’t sure if this was a dead thread or not. I have already begun the careful teardown as well as the search for replacement hoods. My bike is the same color as yours. I believe Bianchi called it “New Blue”. I’m going with a slightly different accessory color scheme – with the exception of the bar tape and cables. I love the white/blue contrast!
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I still have the site, but I’m not terribly active on it, unfortunately. Yeah, this Bianchi bike has been super reliable. Not a lot of issues with it, and it rides nice. I thought of repainting the entire frame when I did the restoration, but I wasn’t sure I could match the original New Blue color so I just left it the same and didn’t paint it. I’d love to see pictures once you get yours done. Bike restorations are so much fun.
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