Finally got one! I’ve been searching for a Bianchi Superleggera on EBay for years, but most of them are in terrible shape: dinged, rusted, pitted so I kind of gave up hope… until I rebuilt my 1984 Bianchi Veloce and was bit by the Superleggera bug yet again (my dream bike as a kid – my dream bike 30 years later :) ) A quick search on Google listed one for sale in California; tiny picture, barely visible, I almost didn’t contact the seller. Am I glad I did! Karl from Costa Mesa, couldn’t have come across a nicer guy. He bought the bike new as a kid and had kept all the original parts – including the original Almarc leather handle bars; sounded too good to be true! He sent me some hi-res photos, the bike was gorgeous! Karl had kept it in his living room all these years and it showed; hardly a flaw in the original paint, glistening chrome, only the original Mavic OR10s were missing – but I found those too! Could it get any better? Karl, a picture of you with your bike ?
THANKS Karl (aka “The Real Santa”) !!
No comment ;)
I also wanted a Super Leggera in 1981 but I settled for a Campione del Mondo. It’s enough bike for me but still, I wish …
I still have the one I bought, still love it.
Wasn’t the Campione all super record? How about posting a picture!
Paul’s bike is beautiful but it has Piaggio seat tube decals. Did they take over in 1979 or 1980?
Being the second owner, I can’t be 100% certain if the Piaggo decal is stock or was added later. The paint is original as is the decal with the date of manufacture (it is undamaged and appears to never have been removed). I have another 1980 model that is identical… The bike is at my folk’s but I’ll post some closeups in the near future.
- Paul