Any replies, comments, tomatos, please reply to me off list, as I'm not currently on it. Stevan Thomas
12.21.07 Bianchi Integrated headset models, 1949 through 1973
Coppi won the TdF in 1949 and 1952. He won the Campione del Mondo in 1953. I suspect, that any model post 1953 is more likely to be a Campione del Mondo. Considering the "model year" for bicycles, a 1949 win in June would result in a 1950 model bicycle, as in the Tour de France model that would have been produced through the 1953 racing season. Italy being Italy, it can't be ruled out that some "Tour de France" models were actually produced in 1949 to take advantage of the victory. Upon Coppi winning the Campione del Mondo in 1953 (more prestigious than the TdF?), the model would then evolve to the CdM for 1954. It certainly would have to be considered that any TDF models in process, may have still been sold as TdFs, although it can't be ruled out that some may have been decaled as CdMs for marketing reasons. The TdFs I have seen have had the larger 4mm adjuster screws in the rear drop outs. It is unknown how long this continued, certainly no longer than 3 years. The 3mm adjuster screw likely appeared either late in the TdF model or early in the CdM model. The successor of these are the "Team Issue", Specialissima and Competizione that we know from the early 60's through about 1974 when Bianchi dropped the integrated headset. It should be noted that about 1970, the dimensions of the integrated headset were changed so the lug had a thicker wall and the race had a correspondingly smaller outside diameter. The races were also then made by Campagnolo, with their normal cup and cone arrangement instead of the previous "vee" race headset. Other distinguishing features of these last frames is the diamond shaped reinforcement on the seat stay brake bridge and the serial numbers being stamped in two sets of three, on the sides of the seat lug. The right side of the lug has the year code and the left side has the production sequence code.
To be expanded later
Reference below: Bianchi TDF and CdM
Fausto Coppi won five Giros d'Italia and two Tours de France with the support
of Bianchi and its Reparto Corse. WWII not only interrupted Bianchi's
business, but also the career of Coppi. The "Campionissimo" won his first Giro in
1940 and set the world hour record in 1942. After a three year hiatus due to the
war, he achieved his greatest accomplishments in pulling a "double" - winning
both the Giro and the Tour in the same year, and he did it twice (1949 and
1952). In 1953, he won the World Championships aboard a Bianchi that had an
integrated headset - an innovation many decades ahead of its time. The only racer
in history with a more impressive dossier than Coppi was Eddy Merckx. Had it
not been for the interruption of WWII, Coppi may well have superseded the
achievements of Merckx.
As if the destruction of the Bianchi facility in WWII wasn't tragic enough,
tragedy struck Bianchi on several fronts during the 1940's and 1950's. Edoardo
died in a car accident in 1946, Fausto Coppi's brother died in a sprint finish
of the 1951 Giro del Piemonte, and in 1959 Fausto himself died from malaria
at the young age of 40.
Leadership in Bianchi passed to Edoardo's son, Giuseppe, and his
restructuring of the company nearly brought it to its knees. After the Italian government
paid its financial debts to Bianchi, the company survived the 1950's, and in
the 1960's Bianchi became a dedicated bicycle manufacturer, ceasing production
on its cars and motorcycles.
http://www.ebykr.com/
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