1936 Bianchi "FOLGORE" Pista?? on eBay

[Freqman1]

I've seen a lot of different shades of Celeste. I would like to repaint my '47 Folgore which I know has the wrong hue on it. Anyone have a good match for this year/era? Thanks, Shawn

 

[kccomet]

yea that celeste is all over the place in shade depending on year. the first two pics is a folgore, the last a 61 specialissima

 

[kccomet]

edit from previous the last pic is a campione del mondo, this is a 61 specialissima. don't want you bianchi freaks calling me out. last year I couldn't spell bianchi , now I are educated

 

[corbettclassics]

Until 1952/53 Bianchi track bikes all have facing forward rear dropouts. They were pretty similar to the ones used on high end sport bikes and mid 1930s pre Cambio Corsa dropouts.
The frameset itself is legit, the serial number would be helpful to understand if the 1936 claimed is correct or not. Fork is not original.
The restoration work (from colour choice to decals) is totally wrong. The majority of components are good for a mid 50s bike, not a late 30s one.

@corbettclassics I highly doubt yours is an original Bianchi track bike, sorry.

Labile - you are correct that it is not "original" ... it is "restored". I also know where Frank Duesenberg's Bianchi Track bike is that he raced in the late 20's. And "no it doesn't have forward facing dropouts" as you suggest > note all 6-Day TRACK bikes had "rear facing dropouts" for a reason and they figured that out in TOC ..... unless the Italians didn't actually figure that out ... uh until the 1950's you say! But I never really followed Bianchi Italian bikes anyway for a reason.

It was very difficult to research during my restoration. I did research for several years before deciding on the livery it has now. Is it 100% correct? Probably not but the Italian I worked with in Italy who knew 1930's era Bianchi's helped me decide on this old 1930's "original varnish" decal set that came straight from an Italian collector. I wasn't too worried about it because it was fine with me how it was going to look. The decal set I used is an "original set" and not a reproduction. I was never really a fan of this Bianchi anyway so I sold this bike as soon as I finished it ( 15 - 20 yrs ago now ).

Note: All my research on these early Bianchi's regarding the Celeste green states they were really painted a blue color and over time the blue faded out to create the shade of green they now call Celeste. They were never painted this green originally back in the day. It was a blue that faded to the green that was created. This is what my research turned up when I tried to find out how Celeste green originally came to be ( hopefully you can advise us with some catalogue information showing the color names and when it started etc ). I can't really remember the first time they started painting these Bianchi bikes light green and calling them Celeste color ( again I hope you can advise us some more on this as it's always nice to learn more ). I'm sure the color I created on mine is not 100% accurate but then again I wasn't very intrigued by Bianchi's. If I was to restore this bike again then I would probably change the color slightly but use the same livery.

I think out of the 135 or more Track bikes I've collected that this was the only Italian Track bike I ever owned. I really prefer the Track bikes that dominated the 6-Day races throughout history.

 

[bulldog1935]

I've seen a lot of different shades of Celeste. I would like to repaint my '47 Folgore which I know has the wrong hue on it. Anyone have a good match for this year/era? Thanks, Shawn

Shawn, Tad @petritl has matched this paint before. I think you know him off the forum - would be worth a contact.

What bike did you ride today? | General Discussion About Old Bicycles

First real ride on my '42 New World since it's overhaul. Rode real nice. Things are starting to green-up here in mid-Michigan

thecabe.com

 

[labile]

Labile - you are correct that it is not "original" ... it is "restored". I also know where Frank Duesenberg's Bianchi Track bike is that he raced in the late 20's. And "no it doesn't have forward facing dropouts" as you suggest > note all 6-Day TRACK bikes had "rear facing dropouts" for a reason and they figured that out in TOC ..... unless the Italians didn't actually figure that out ... uh until the 1950's you say! But I never really followed Bianchi Italian bikes anyway for a reason.

It was very difficult to research during my restoration. I did research for several years before deciding on the livery it has now. Is it 100% correct? Probably not but the Italian I worked with in Italy who knew 1930's era Bianchi's helped me decide on this old 1930's "original varnish" decal set that came straight from an Italian collector. I wasn't too worried about it because it was fine with me how it was going to look. The decal set I used is an "original set" and not a reproduction. I was never really a fan of this Bianchi anyway so I sold this bike as soon as I finished it ( 15 - 20 yrs ago now ).

Note: All my research on these early Bianchi's regarding the Celeste green states they were really painted a blue color and over time the blue faded out to create the shade of green they now call Celeste. They were never painted this green originally back in the day. It was a blue that faded to the green that was created. This is what my research turned up when I tried to find out how Celeste green originally came to be ( hopefully you can advise us with some catalogue information showing the color names and when it started etc ). I can't really remember the first time they started painting these Bianchi bikes light green and calling them Celeste color ( again I hope you can advise us some more on this as it's always nice to learn more ). I'm sure the color I created on mine is not 100% accurate but then again I wasn't very intrigued by Bianchi's. If I was to restore this bike again then I would probably change the color slightly but use the same livery.

I think out of the 135 or more Track bikes I've collected that this was the only Italian Track bike I ever owned. I really prefer the Track bikes that dominated the 6-Day races throughout history.

View attachment 1585899

Until 1949 circa Bianchi road/track bikes have seatpost binder bolt in front of the seatlug, not behind like yours.

It's impossible that yours is a 1930s Bianchi track bike (they had different lugset, dropouts and so on).
Yours could be a 1950s road frame with original rear dropouts removed.

The decal set you had where meant for luxury city bikes (I don't know how do you call them in English) and there was no metal badge attached to the headtube.

Bianchi changed the shade of its trademark colour several times between the 20s and the 90s, but in Italy we have useful sources to get the right shade of celeste based on the production year of the frameset. In any case, I have never seen an original or a restored Bianchi frameset with the same paint scheme as yours.

Regarding front facing rear dropouts, Bianchi wasn't the only Italian brand to use that specific dropout. Note that some of them have been ridden by non-italian riders (US track rider as well).

 

[corbettclassics]

Interestingly VeloBase has this badge as 1920's - 1930's. I guess Bianchi did use Badges as mine wasn't the only one!

 

[labile]

Interestingly VeloBase has this badge as 1920's - 1930's. I guess Bianchi did use Badges as mine wasn't the only one!


View attachment 1585956

Velobase says a lot of wrong stuff, I wouldn't take it as reference.
Bianchi road race and track bikes (M, Saetta, Olmo, Bovet and so on) from 1920s and 1930s did have a Bianchi decal on the headtube, no metal badge.

I'm not trying to convince you, but please be aware that we have spotted tons of fake Bianchi in Italy and to me this is just another example (I'm not in anyway saying that is your fault).

 

[corbettclassics]

Velobase says a lot of wrong stuff, I wouldn't take it as reference.
Bianchi road race and track bikes (M, Saetta, Olmo, Bovet and so on) from 1920s and 1930s did have a Bianchi decal on the headtube, no metal badge.

I'm not trying to convince you, but please be aware that we have spotted tons of fake Bianchi in Italy and to me this is just another example (I'm not in anyway saying that is your fault).

I agree that I'm not sure how true Velobase is but it's something to go from anyway. I can't remember correctly but I'm sure I found information on this bike confirming it was 1930's back in the day. Its been almost 20 years and haven't researched this marque since then. Everyone has an opinion on something just like Velobase, yourself and many other people. Who do we believe sometimes! Who would want to fake a Bianchi anyway!!!!!!

Note - when I got this bike 20 years ago it needed a restoration. I certainly didn't create a fake by any means ... I just tried to restore what I had acquired.

I'll try and dig out photos of F. Duesneberg's 1920 Bianchi that he raced in the 20's. Here's a couple for right now >>

 

[labile]

I agree that I'm not sure how true Velobase is but it's something to go from anyway. I can't remember correctly but I'm sure I found information on this bike confirming it was 1930's back in the day. Its been almost 20 years and haven't researched this marque since then. Everyone has an opinion on something just like Velobase, yourself and many other people. Who do we believe sometimes! Who would want to fake a Bianchi anyway!!!!!!

Note - when I got this bike 20 years ago it needed a restoration. I certainly didn't create a fake by any means ... I just tried to restore what I had acquired.

I'll try and dig out photos of F. Duesneberg's 1920 Bianchi that he raced in the 20's. Here's a couple for right now >>

View attachment 1586031

View attachment 1586032

well, this last bike you have posted is something totally different. I don't know if it's yours or owned by someone you know, but I'd buy it.