Re: [CR]celeste

Matteo,

I'm certainly in no position to argue with you regarding what Italian words mean, but I have to admit I've heard that explaination many times over the years as a bicycle painter. It has always made sense to me, and as Jerry points out, is completely logical.

So I won't argue with you, but I like Jerrys' take on the matter. From now on I'll state that the word has a Latin root as opposed to Italian. Regardless, blue and yellow still make green, and that is what is responsible for the color of Binachi frames. I've seen the effect too many times to count.

Matteo, thanks for adding to our body of information. I don't want to be the source of creation for more urban ledgends in the bicycle world; there are plenty already. I spend a lot of my time trying to make sure that what we know is accurate and reliable. And also thanks to Jerry for passing along that valuable information.

BTW, once the color was formulated as "celeste" as we see it on Bianchis, the clear coat just made it darker and darker. I've seen some early Bianchis that are really light green and others that were considerably darker. The variation of color is tremendous. I just painted a Bianchi a few days ago and it is lighter than the one I painted a few months ago. I mix the color by eye every time, just because it's fun to do it that way. And there really isn't any good reason to use exactly the same Celeste every time.

Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA