[TahoeMartin]

Hello Everyone,

I have a 1996 Bianchi EL/OS frame/fork that I bought about 12 years ago, and I think that it is a 59cm, but it could be a 57cm frame; I would like to nail this down before I try to sell it.

[Someone here mentioned that they had a 1996 Bianchi Bicycle catalog; if I could check some of my measurements against that catalog, I could solve this mystery. Anyone?]

Here are some of the measurements I have (none of these are perfect):

head tube: 5 1/4"; 133mm
seat tube (c/t): 22 3/8"; 56.8cm
seat tube (c/c): 21 3/4"; 55.2cm
top tube (c/c): 22 1/8"; 56cm
wheelbase: 38 1/4"; 970mm

The bottom bracket features the following code, stamped into the bottom: "57f111c". The serial number - on the rear dropouts - looks like "7126" or possibly "TI26".

Can anyone help me to positively determine the Bianchi frame size for this?

Thanks!

Martin

 

[kbwh]

It's a 57 cm. Bianchi measured c-t back then, and still today they use c-t as nominal frame size.

 

[wim]

Agree, it's a 57 cm frame and should be listed as such. I would drop the inch designations in the item description. With road bikes, inch frame sizes are used mainly by resellers who don't know what they're talking about and/or are selling department store junk.

The bottom bracket stampings may have the size in there somewhere, but you'll never know. Bianchi is singularly unhelpful in decoding those letters and numbers.

 

[TahoeMartin]

It's a 57 cm...

Thanks, kbwh!

 

[TahoeMartin]

Agree, it's a 57 cm frame and should be listed as such.

Thanks for the confirmation, WIM.

I would drop the inch designations in the item description. With road bikes, inch frame sizes are used mainly by resellers who don't know what they're talking about and/or are selling department store junk.

Agreed. I indicated the dimensions as inches since that what I actually measured, and these values served as the basis for the converted metric values. (This also gave others the opportunity to check my math!)

The bottom bracket stampings may have the size in there somewhere, but you'll never know. Bianchi is singularly unhelpful in decoding those letters and numbers.

I wondered about that, since the bottom bracket stamping begins with "57...".


Thanks again!

 

[wim]

I wondered about that, since the bottom bracket stamping begins with "57...".!

Most likely, that is the frame size stamping.

 

[Ride-Fly]

Hi Martin!

It's me RIDEFLY (Tommy) who inquired about your bike. You showed up on RBR! Great to have ya here on RBR! Another forum you should check out is www.bikeforums.net and go to the Classic and Vintage forum- there is a lot of useful info and knowledgeable posters there, as there are here. Hope you find someone to buy your frame/fork- it sure is nice! I thought you said the frame had a 57cm C-C toptube and a 140mm headtube length in our email conversations? In this thread you said it has a 56 TTL and 133HTL. If those are the accurate numbers, I could fit your frame, even though I would have very little seatpost extension. Not a really big deal but just a PITA when throwing the bike on a work stand.

Did you take the bike out of the packaging? Any really good close ups of the frame/fork?

TJ the ride-fly!

 

[TahoeMartin]

It's me RIDEFLY (Tommy) who inquired about your bike. You showed up on RBR! Great to have ya here on RBR! Another forum you should check out is www.bikeforums.net and go to the Classic and Vintage forum- there is a lot of useful info and knowledgeable posters there, as there are here. Hope you find someone to buy your frame/fork- it sure is nice! I thought you said the frame had a 57cm C-C toptube and a 140mm headtube length in our email conversations? In this thread you said it has a 56 TTL and 133HTL. If those are the accurate numbers, I could fit your frame, even though I would have very little seatpost extension. Not a really big deal but just a PITA when throwing the bike on a work stand.

Did you take the bike out of the packaging? Any really good close ups of the frame/fork?

TJ the ride-fly!

Hi Tommy,

Yes, I've taken more close-ups of the bike - especially the few scratches in the paint.

Upon closer inspection, I also found that the headset is Campy Chorus.

I've also taken better measurements (in my office with all the components removed).

Finally, I've re-listed it on ebay with a starting price of $500, and a buy-it-now price of $1,250. This is for the frame, fork, and headset.

Thanks for your help,
Martin

 

[Keeping up with Junior]

That's my bike!

I have a 1996 Bianchi EL/OS frame/fork that I bought about 12 years ago...

Have that same frame I bought as a complete bike with Chorus nine speed in 1996. I still enjoy riding it from time to time now and raced it a couple of weeks ago. I would ride it more but it is so unique and irreplaceable that I keep it for those special days and ride my easily replaced bike on a day to day basis. Whoever ends up buying it from you will have a unique piece of equipment and history as I believe that 1996 was the last year Bianchi made high end steel bikes in their Reparto Corse productioin facility.

 

[TahoeMartin]

Have that same frame I bought as a complete bike with Chorus nine speed in 1996. I still enjoy riding it from time to time now and raced it a couple of weeks ago. I would ride it more but it is so unique and irreplaceable that I keep it for those special days and ride my easily replaced bike on a day to day basis. Whoever ends up buying it from you will have a unique piece of equipment and history as I believe that 1996 was the last year Bianchi made high end steel bikes in their Reparto Corse productioin facility.

Thanks for the information!

You don't happen to have the Bianchi brochure for this bike, do you? I am nearly certain that this is a 57cm frame, but one person is claiming that I should be selling it as a 55cm frame. I could confirm this if I could refer to the brochure with a geometry table.

Anyway, here are the measurements I have:
SEAT TUBE (c/t): 570mm
SEAT TUBE (c/c): 550mm
TOP TUBE (c/c): 550mm
CHAIN STAY (c/c): 400mm
HEAD TUBE: 130mm

Thanks!

 

[Keeping up with Junior]

Yardstick

Thanks for the information!

You don't happen to have the Bianchi brochure for this bike, do you? I am nearly certain that this is a 57cm frame, but one person is claiming that I should be selling it as a 55cm frame. I could confirm this if I could refer to the brochure with a geometry table.

Anyway, here are the measurements I have:
SEAT TUBE (c/t): 570mm
SEAT TUBE (c/c): 550mm
TOP TUBE (c/c): 550mm
CHAIN STAY (c/c): 400mm
HEAD TUBE: 130mm

Thanks!

When I bought my Bianchi it was listed as 56cm on the LBS price tag. I don't have a brochure or anything official from Bianchi. The serial number on my bike is 57****T.

Here are my measurements from my training log. Not at home to double check but this is what I have listed:
SEAT TUBE (c/t): n/a
SEAT TUBE (c/c): 56cm
TOP TUBE (c/c): 56cm
CHAIN STAY (c/c): 40.50cm
HEAD TUBE: n/a

I suppose based on this and that most bikes are measured center to center that perhaps you should list it as a 55 but so long as your measurements are accurate unless the guy is sending you a check tell him to FO and mind his own business.