20 miles like it’s nothing
This is the best bike I’ve ever owned.
edit: after doing some renewed research, it might be a Mario Confente frame. I guess he partnered with major brands and produced limited edition models. If that is the case, it was a partnership with Bianchi and Campagnolo
Is that a Suteki?
IDK what it’s origin is. I’ve been told it could possibly be a designer frame, like the engineer got to make it. Nobody can tell for sure except it’s got peek 1980s form to it. I received it as a gift from a widow and the original owner was a big cycling enthusiastic guy. My bike got stolen and my sister knew her. I was given a choice between this and a total carbon fiber monster but I thought it was absolutely too valuable and this one was the humble choice. Come to find, I probably picked the one with the most value. Multiple bike shops tell me to insure it at $5k because it might be one of a kind
https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/rennvelo-corsa-1284325456/ That one looks a lot like yours. Eddy Merckx Corsa racing bike from the 1980s or early 1990s. When it was new, it was probably one of the best that a consumer could buy. Where I live (Belgium) it’s not that unique however ;)
It’s very similar but the markings are different and mine has Bianchi and Campagnolo branded parts, where there is a brand. The frame has a serial number on the underside but it doesn’t fit in the normal Bianchi format
If it’s an Eddy Merckx frame, than you might find the serial number here: https://cadre.org/Merckx/
Not sure if it’s the same format, thank you for the suggestion
Not the same at all unfortunately, Merck’s formatting seems to be a mess, your serial number isn’t. Merckx’ bikes also seem to have stamped or etched branding near the serial number in that time period, so probably not Merckx. Sorry for wasting your time with that, it was wishful thinking on my part :(
Looking up that serial number and Bianchi i find back that another bike with serial number “AS435230” was a Bianchi Grizzly, manufactured in Japan in 1984. https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/70572-bianchi-serial-number-identification-55.html How that person deduced that is never explained :)
I looked at a bunch of the online images for the 1984 Bianchi and the Grizzly but they didn’t match up. It’s a beautiful mystery and maybe I will have to look deeper into it
It has the Merckx fit, even saddle with bars, high top tube.
It’s definitely good looking. That’s a great color.
What a great story, and it sounds like the bike has gone to a very appreciative cyclist! Beautiful machine.