Can you help to identify these frames, bikes or parts?

I'm not sure about the decals. I'm gonna check it this Tuesday. Should it be under the top coat or on top? Because my Eddy merckx is on top of the Coat.

I bought this Bianchi in France about 5 years ago. They old guy I bought it from told me that it was built for, and used by, the 1976 Italian junior cycling team (it's a snug 52cm frame). He also said something about the Olympics, but my French isn't/wasn't that good so I didn't get it all. 1976 was an Olympic year, but I didn't think they had 'junior' teams.

It was kitted out with Campag Nuovo Record cranks, FD, RD, BB, headset and brakes. The chainrings had been updated with Super Record, and the brake levers replaced with C-Record. (He said he'd sold the NR levers when he upgraded them many years ago). Wheels are Record hubs on un-named tubular rims. Saddle is an original-looking black suede 3TTT, on a 3TTT areo setpost (another upgrade I assume), stem is 3TTT Record, with Cinelli bars. I've still got everything, down to the top tube cable clips and bottle cages, and have sinced sourced NR brakes levers and seatpost to complete the set.

I've found similar things online, but nothing exactly the same (fork crowns slightly different, seat stay markings slightly different, etc). I think it's a Specialissima, or maybe a Reparto Corsa, and I'm assuming it's Columbus tubing, but I'm not sure, so I'm after any info and advice on it. The are no name decals, and no tubing decals.

ID numbers on the seat lugs are '5.6' (May 1976?) on the drive side, '417' on the other side.

Thanks for any details....

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It's a Campione Del Mondo, early 80's rather than 76. IT'S a Tretubi model,the main tubes are Columbus SL tubing. The forks and stays are made of Columbus Aelle tubing which are seamless Manganese Steel not Chrome-Moly alloy. Aelle forks and stays have slightly thicker walls than Columbus SL tubes. Hence a bit heavier. The old boy probably up selling you a French bike shop fantasy ;) Bon aventure ;)

It's a Campione Del Mondo, early 80's rather than 76. IT'S a Tretubi
model,the main tubes are Columbus SL tubing. The forks and stays are
made of Columbus Aelle tubing which are seamless Manganese Steel not
Chrome-Moly alloy. Aelle forks and stays have slightly thicker walls
than Columbus SL tubes. Hence a bit heavier. The old boy probably up
selling you a French bike shop fantasy ;) Bon aventure ;)

Thanks for the info, what exactly tells you from the pics that it's a Campione Del Mondo?
I'm not so sure about it being 80s, though. Bianchi's 1981 catalogue states that all Bianchi's have brazed on cable guides by then.
(And no bike shop fantasy, a nice old guy selling through the classifieds over here, met and had a chat with him, he'd had the bike for years but said he was getting too old for it now.)

I've got one myself. It's an 81 model. None of these catalogues are accurate, especially as Italian frames, like American movies tended to.land in the UK 12-18 months after their introduction in Italy.

The tretubi models are pretty much below middle of the range Bianchi. The panto on the seat stays and forks is later and not as ornate as the top end models with the Bianchi crest. No chrome chainstay, fork crown or head lugs, that's the dead giveaway for a middling bianchi. Think 531 main tubes Carlton, rather than SBDU 753 Raleigh. A nice frame though. Good find.

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/28267220@N05/sets/72157623655271692/

Here's an 81 Del Mondo, virtually identical to yours except the small chrome on fork crown. Note, no chrome head lugs or chain stay. These were bizarrely specced with a mixture of Gran Sport, Record and Super Record parts.

Here's a Specialissima from the mid 80's carrying the same features as previous models: Chrome fork crown (full not partial) and chainstay.

http://www.veloaficionado.com/blog/when-the-new-dog-digs-up-the-old-dog-part-6/

Interesting, and thanks for the feedback, but I don't agree that the 81 Del Mondo you linked to is identical to mine, certainly not compared to others that resemble it more closely. I don't know about the chrome bits, but there is 1976 Specialissima online here:
http://speedbicycles.ch/velo/265/bianchi_specialissima_1976.html
Mine much more resembles this than the 1981 Del Mondo you linked to.

The 12-18 month delay to the UK isn't really relevant as it's never been to the UK, only Italy and/or France.

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Philbythesea, It looks very similar to my Rekord 748 (1970s) frame, with the exception of the fork crown panto, which on mine has the whole word "Bianchi" on it.

Thanks for the input. There's a 70s Rekord 748 on here:
http://www.steel-vintage.com/bianchi-rekord-748-vintage-bicycle-detail
The seat stay connections match, and on first look I thought the lugs did too, but on closer inspection the ones on mine are a bit longer and pointier I think.

I thought I found a site a couple of years back with 70s/80s Bianchi catalogues to download, but can't find it now.

What's the general model naming logic and hierachy from the 70s, between Rekord, Reparto Corse, Strada, Specialissima, Campione del Mondo, Classic, Super Leggera, etc...?

I can't tell you the model naming logic. To find out what mine was took me hours of trawling. I can tell you that on 70s models like mine, the frame number is on the top front of the steerer tube. Also, the Rekord 748 is made from Columbus Zeta tubing.

The acid test is the weight (the fact that yours has no chrome rules is out for a high end frame). A bianchi Specialissima in Columbus SL should weigh no more than 1925gr, frame only.

Your three tube tretubi del mondo will likely be 2100gr+.

The acid test is the weight (the fact that yours has no chrome rules
is out for a high end frame). A bianchi Specialissima in Columbus SL
should weigh no more than 1925gr, frame only.

Your three tube tretubi del mondo will likely be 2100gr+.

Thanks again for the input, but what evidence do you have to back up your assumptions about the frame, as the 1981 del Mondo link you gave is clearly not "virtually identical" to mine? Certainly less identical than the 1976 Specialissima in the link I found, and the pictures I posted. On the other hand, though, I can't see any visual difference, framewise, between this 1977 Campione de Mondo CX:
http://www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/232/bianchi_campione_del_mondo_cx_1977.html
and the 1976 Specialissima I linked to previously:
http://www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/265/bianchi_specialissima_1976.html
apart from the paint job.
They are both 70s though, not 80s.

And why does not having chrome fork crowns or chain stays so categorically rule out this being a 'high end' frame? (and which models do you consider 'high end'?) What makes you so sure on this? There's no chrome showing on the seat stays or fork crowns on these:
http://www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/436/bianchi_specialissima_professionale_1974.html
http://www.speedbicycles.ch/velo/298/bianchi_super_specialissima_1976.html

Mine has chromed dropout faces (front and rear), if that helps...?

Weight-wise, I weighed it tonight, 2.925kg.
According to Velobase, the headset is 195g, the BB 290g, and lets say 10g for the seat bolt, so that's about 500g off.
Which leaves 2.425kg for frame and forks.
325g for the forks would be pretty lightweight, no?

The 1925g is can be misleading too, depending what frame size it is for. They usually give weights for 54cm or 56cm. Where did you get this figure from ?

Weight:

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I got here from the link you sent. It's a complicated one. As others have suggested dating from this period is a hazard.
Issue is Bianchi were buying other builders left right & centre, plus producing en masse, though a lot of those were Falck(?) or similar lower grade. Campione del Monde is thrown around like a cock in a cheap night club. It means literally nothing. You can find "campione del monde" with a 5 speed valentino group.
You have to take those dropouts seat tube stamps and B pantos with some interest. I'd say a late 70s Bianchi, it NOT Bianchi... probably a provincial buy-out, the weight seems too much to me to be a home factory product?

EDIT: Just seen your weight work out, I reckon Falck, good quality steel but not the lightest. So I'd agree with some others about it being a "french fancy" in a way... I'd say it's an out bought Italian frame builders RELATIVE high end Bianchi... tenuous

Definitely a three tube Del Mundo.A full SL with forks would be about 2355gr. Yours is much smaller than the reference 54cm so should be coming in at c 2200gr. Try weighing it again without BB, headset. Velobase weights are often 'imagined'.

The extra weight in your Mundo is the Aelle forks and stays.

The evidence I have is a beat up Del Mundo I in my workshop from 1980, which is virtually identical to yours.

No chrome on an Italian frame normally = budget. Especially with Bianchi. All about the finish, with the Italians.

Btw, Falck = proper budget. When I was a snapper we'd buy unbranded Falck frames for £60 brand new, to rot through the winter with. Nice thick tubing!

It's worth noting that like Raleigh, their top end (Team Pro) bikes were often plagiarised by themselves all the way down to £100 entry level bikes. So it's true to say there are more than a few versions of the Del Mundo. I have one with 18-22 carbolite tubing, which is about as shit as you can get.

But it's still a bianchi... I'm not saying your bianchi is shit, but I don't believe it to be as 'top of the range' as you clearly do.

Here's a Columbus tubing catalogue from the late 70's:

http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/columbus/columbusoldfullcat/index.html

Chrome.

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It's not that I believe it to be top end (I'd like it to be, obvs, but I'd accept it to be a mid-range tretubi model), and it's not that I doubt your many years of experience. It's just that your Scientologisr certitude that you are so absolutely right (the Bianchi catalogues are wrong, Velobase is wrong, Speedcycles is wrong, the man in the shop - who wasn't a man in the shop - is wrong), and that any suggestion of evidence to the contrary is to be ignored as loudly as possible, makes me want to double-check everything you claim.

• Your "virtually identical" 81 Del Mondo link wasn't identical at all.
  
• Your 81 del Mondo has now become a 80 del Mondo.
  
• "no chrome rules is out a high end frame" is now "no chrome normally = budget"
  
• 52cm is not exactly "much smaller" than a 54cm, for the weight. It's 2cm smaller.
  
• I still can't find any examples of 80s models with top tube cable clips, so I'm still inclined to believe this is more late 70s than early 80s.
  
  

Still, thanks for the information anyway, it has been helpful.

The weight of your frame and the features on it don't point to a high end Bianchi. In fact the weight does suggest a budget tubeset and I'd agree with the poster above, probably an outsourced, non factory frame.

That's about the short and tail of it. You might not like the answer, but you can't make an SBDU 753 out of a bog standard 531 Team Rep. However hard you wish it. Same with Bianchis.

Just for shits, this is the 2016, £2500 homage to the 70's Specialissima. Click the chrome work, tasty:

http://www.bianchistore.de/Roadbike-Bianchi-LEroica-2016-Campagnolo-10sp-compact

Thanks for the information.

I'm tempted to take off the BB and headset and weigh the frame on it's own, just to confirm its weight, but not right now.

I'll settle for a mid-range late 1970s model, probably with Columbus SL or Falck main tubes, and probably with Columbus Aelle or Falck stays.
Now to dig out all the components again...

if you're stripping it, have a good look inside all the tubes at the BB end, any spiral/helix points to Columbus SLX, while SL has spiral/helix in headtube only

also, what's the seat-post diameter?

edited: SL/SLX misinformation, as pointed out by SS below

Right, it's a slow Friday afternoon and I can't leave work yet.
And before I have a go at removing the headset and BB...

On the scales, it's 2.925kg
That's frame, forks, headset and BB (and even seat bolt and rear drop-out screws).

Headset (Campag Record / Nuovo Record).
Velobase says 194g:
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=CD06D513-5A57-42C6-9595-C82BCADD1DB6&Enum=111&AbsPos=23
Here says 190g:
http://www.velovilles.com/en/parts/headset/Nuovo-Record.html
The Bike Stand says 195g:
http://www.thebikestand.com/weights.html
Sheldon says 196g for the very similar Campag Victory headset:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/weights.htm
Based on these, fair to say it's between 190g and 200g?

Bottom Bracket (Campag Record / Nuovo Record):
Velobase says 290g:
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=94887591-6A54-48DE-902E-0CC0C279076B&Enum=119&AbsPos=21
Here says 284g:
http://racevelo.com/bottom-bracket/373-campagnolo-nuovo-record-bottom-bracket-1-15-vintage-115mm-36x24f-italian.html
Here says 325g:
http://www.vintagebikesandparts.com/product/campagnolo-nuovo-record-bottom-bracket-1046a-70-ss-120-36x24f-thread-axle-113mm-2/
Here says 280g:
http://www.cyclollector.com/fr/boitier-de-pedalier/823-boitier-de-pedalier-campagnolo-nuovo-record.html
Based on these, fair to say it's between 280g and 330g?

5-10g for the seat bolt...??

Forks.
I'll update this when I eventually get around to dismantling the frameset.
Meanwhile, there are some examples of individual fork weights here:
http://www.classicbikeshop.eu/Classic-frames.html
50cm to 56cm frames on there have steel fork weights ranging from 600g to 750g.

So.....

Minimum weights:
Fork (600g) + BB (280g) + headset (190g) = 1070g
Average weights:
Fork (675g) + BB (305g) + headset (195g) = 1175g
Maximum weights:
Fork (750g) + BB (330g) + headset (200g) = 1280g

Therefore, weight for the frame only...

2.925kg - 1.070kg = 1.855kg
2.925kg - 1.175kg = 1.750kg
2.925kg - 1.280kg = 1.645kg

I'm really going to have to take it apart and weigh the parts separately now....
(and definitely double-check my scales)

Seat-post diameter I'm fairly sure is 27.2.
I'll check that again too.