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I started work on a Bianchi Celeste this week. Other then wanting a Bianchi when I was a kid and restoring only a few I do not know much about Bianchis. If anyone can answer a few questions please comment below or if anyone would want to give me a general education on Bianchi’s. My first question is a Celeste a model or refers to any Bianchi painted in the Celeste color? It also seems to me that a lot of Bianchi’s do not have model names, is there a basic Bianchi unmarked model? I do know there are many stories of other bicycles repainted and have Bianchi decals put on them, that is not a problem here, the fork crown has the Bianchi badge, the seat stays have the Bianchi stamp and the head tube lugs have the Bianchi B cast into it.
This Bianchi is actually in pretty rough shape but does have a really nice Shimano 105 group set. The paint is rough, the alloy is dull and the rear wheel has a snapped axle. I am thinking though that there is a beautiful bicycle in there. The Bianchi will receive a total restoration with a new rear axle, new tubes and Continental Sport Tires, Ne cables and cable housings and new handlebar tape.
I normally start by tearing the frame down of its components but I had a little time last week before a bicycle that I had to restore at that time so I started with the wheels. I started with the wheels because I didn’t think I would have enough time to restore the components and i did not want the components boxed up and have the chance of anything getting lost, the wheels I could restore and put back on the bicycle.
The wheels are fantastic Shimano 105 hubs laced to some Mavic rims. The rear wheel axle was snapped so a replacement was found. The hubs where cleaned and polished very gently because the Shimano 105 decals where in really good shape and I did not want to loose them. The bearings where packed in new grease and the new tubes and Continental Sport tires where installed. The satin black rims where cleaned and just very slightly polished, the look of the Continental tires and black rims is stunning and mean looking. The wheels spin fantastic I am happy.
Later on I picked back up with the Bianchi and tore the frame down. The frame paint is in rough shape, very dirty, greasy and some scraps and rust. It also had a black grease or dirty deep into the paint. I started with a strong paint cleaning paste, that did okay, next I worked with a very coarse compound as far as paint polishing compounds go which cut a layer of paint but really did the trick. After the course compound I used a very fine compound to bring the shine out and then a protecting wax. The results are actually very nice, the Bianchi shines very nice, the I think combination of bad camera and the color of the paint doesn’t show how nice the shine really is.
Frame Polished – Fork
While the frame was being polished components of the headset and bottom bracket where in the crock pot. Not all could be put into the crock pot and had to be hand polished because of paint and plastic parts. The headset is a nice Shimano 105. The headset and bottom bracket turned out nice and spins so smooth and almost silently.
The stem is pained a grey, it is a little rough, a Bianchi label is etched into the side of the stem. If I owned the Bianchi I think I would have polished the paint off and hoped the etching stayed. The aluminum underneath the paint has a rough surface so maybe it would not have polished perfect, so it would be a risk I would only take if I owned the Bianchi. The stem paint did clean up nice and polished okay, I am not a fan of painted stems, Trek did this in the early 1990’s also, I usually polish the paint of the Trek stems also.
Headset, Stem & Handlebars – Complete
The brake calipers where dirty and dull, I decided to hand polish the brake calipers because I did not want to damage the Shimano 105 decals. This takes longer to polish but also I do not need to completely disassemble the calipers to get the power polisher into the little parts. Its hard to believe but I have a system so refined that it takes less time to disassemble the caliper and power polish the components and reassemble then it does to do it the way I did here. In the end the calipers look fantastic and after flushing and lubricating function fantastic, I have always liked the Shimano 105 calipers from this era.
Rear Brake – Installed
The derailleurs are Shimano 105’s, they are from the indexed down tube shift lever era. I really like 105’s from this era, They are not Dura Ace or anything but they work very nice. Here is a teaser, this set of derailleurs when the Bianchi was complete shift flawlessly, sharp, fast and crisp (I think those might be overlapping descriptions.) I can’t ask for anything better then it is shifting.
Rear Derailleur – Installed
Shift levers and brake levers are next. The shift levers did not shine perfectly, one elver has some staining, it was a balance between power polishing it to a perfect shine and loosing the Shimano 105 decal or hand polishing. I kept the decal. The shift elvers badly needed a flushing and lubricating, they where pretty gritty, now perfect function.
The brake elvers where in okay shape, I power polished the levers around the decal and hand polished the decal area. The brake lever hoods where pretty bad, they cleaned pretty nice but the rear brake lever hood is rotten and falling apart. I took final photos with the original white hoods, the white need to be replaced, the owner has new black Shimano 105 hoods and will install them.
Seat Post & Saddle – Complete
I realized I forgot the crank in the steps above so here goes. The crank is also a Shimano 105, the chain rings are the Bio Pace chain rings that where on everything in the 80’s. I am one of the few that actually like the Bio Pace chain rings on a road bike, hate them on a Mountain bike which they did in the era. The 105 crank arms are made out of very nice aluminum so they polished amazingly. Again I power polished around the 105 decals and hand polished the decal area. The crank looks amazing installed.
1980’s Bianchi Celeste Restoration – New Stuff
I actually got a chance to ride the Bianchi this morning. It was only about 50 yards back and fourth in the dead center of the street on a clear spot about a yard wide where the salt had dried and washed away, the rest of the street is still ice, snow and salt covered. The Bianchi road beautifully!! It shifts perfect, fast and crisp. The brakes seems to work very well, but i was not going fast at all. I wish I could ride it farther and faster.
Final photos below, again, quality is poor because camera needs a tune up and I took the photos late in the day, exposer times where near five seconds so it shows the lite quality.
Thanks for all the interest, business and kind emails from everyone.
