I restored this little blue Bianchi last year, starting with just a beat-up old frame and fork. It was a Bianchi Backstreet from 1990, an early “hybrid” that combined the frame of a hard-tail mountain bike with 700c wheels. It was constructed from good quality Tange tubing and was fully lugged.
After sandblasting the frame, I re-painted it a deep blue and gave it matching fenders. Then I added a brand new 26-inch wheelset with a Sturmey-Archer S-RC3 three-speed internally geared rear hub. I also added a brand new crankset with a single chainring. The handlebars were NITTO brand, and I added cork grips wrapped in deep red cloth bar tape to enhance the grip.
The result was a classy townie bike / commuter designed for cruising around the city in style. Mechanically, it was extremely simple: no brake levers, just a coaster (“kick-back”) brake and the gear shift lever up front. It sold to a petite girl at the beginning of the spring season this year, and I hope she’s still riding and enjoying it.
Click “Read more” to see a gallery of hi-res photos of this bike.