At St. Ives Cyclery we offer the full range of Bianchi road bikes. For premium Italian bicycles look no further than Bianchi. We offer complete bikes or custom builds to suit all riders and budgets.
Exactly as there are different riders, there are also different ways to achieve your goals in cycling. And the Bianchi Road Range is ready to meet all your needs, with the attention and care, that is its distinctive feature ever since Edoardo Bianchi opened his doors many years ago.
About Bianchi
Cars, motorcycles and bicycles. Bianchi's experience is unlimited. Nowadays as well as the past races of champions, the brand with the royal eagle as its badge belongs to the history of Italy.
Everything started in 1885 in Via Nirone, in Milan, Italy when Edoardo Bianchi, launched himself into his entrepreneurial adventure, deciding to open a machine shop with the money he had earned as an apprentice. Italy then was about to experience an industrial boom. Bicycles were in the founder's blood but growth and popularity came later together with the first vehicles equipped with an engine: first with three wheels, then four and again with two.
In the twenties, Bianchi's production was complete and encompassed cars, motorcycles and bicycles, all popular and appreciated around the world. Those years were rich in creativity and innovation. Champions like Costante Girardengo and Gaetano "Tano" Belloni raced and won in the saddle of a Bianchi bicycle. So did Tazio Nuvolari, standing out on Bianchi motorcycles. Everywhere, the Celeste jerseys was synonymous with victory.
Then WWII broke out: in August 1943 the factory buildings in Milan were bombed, 58 years had passed since the start of the factory. In 1946 Edoardo Bianchi passed away at the age of 79, the symbol of the rebirth was the 125 2T Bianchina motorcycle.
During the following three years, Bianchi came back gradually to normal production rhythms and as it was before the war, meantime in cycling, the legendary Celeste jersey was on Fausto Coppi's shoulders, the hero, who conquers all the major races of that time, among which 5 Giro d'Italia, 2 Tour de France, one world championship and even one time-trial at Vigorelli velodrome in Milan in front of a delirious crowd. Then it was the turn of Felice Gimondi, the 'home' champion, the first to bring cycling back to the ancient splendour of Coppi's era. Gimondi even won the Tour de France on his debut (1965). Then continued with the Giro (1967) and the Vuelta (1968), then the Giro again (1969) up to the world triumph in Barcelona in 1973. In between many classic races and again the Giro d'Italia at the end of his career in 1976.
His successor became Moreno Argentin, winner of several classic races; four Lièges-Bastogne-Lièges, Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallonne (three times) and the striped rainbow jersey, the nicest of his victories, won in Colorado Spring.
In more recent times other special wins came from champions like Gianni Bugno, Mario Cipollini and Marco Pantani, the "Pirate" who in 1998 did the prestigious double win of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France on his Bianchi. The latest champion is Danilo Di Luca who, in his debut year on his Celeste bike, won the first title of ProTour Champion.
