FINDING THE SECOND BIANCHI SPRINT

The second Bianchi Sprint was an earned bicycle and acquired through a process that I have not included in the How to Find A Vintage Road Bicycle pages.  And the second Sprint had definitely not spent the bulk of its life hanging in protected storage somewhere.

Because of my apparent expertise in vintage road bicycle collecting and building a local doctor, Dr. Steve to be precise, had contacted me with an invitation to volunteer my time, effort and knowledge to an endeavour he was pursuing.  Dr. Steve had taken it upon himself to champion the development of a Bicycles for Humanity (B4H) chapter in Thunder Bay.  Bicycles for Humanity is an organization of volunteers who collect old bicycles, repair them and then ship them off, four hundred or so at a time, to third would countries and the needy people who live there.

The first shipment from Thunder Bay offered the citizens of Namibia 430 complete functioning bicycles and a hoard of parts, tires inner tubes and other sports related equipment.  The bicycles, parts and sports equipment were all given to the people in need.  Even the shipping container itself, bigger than some houses I've been in, was also given with the hope that it could be used as a facility to open a bicycle shop.  The results of this endeavour are just beginning to trickle back to our group.  We did a good thing, helping others less fortunate than ourselves while helping Mother Earth ride herself of evil waste in the process.  Today, our volunteer group has another container half full already, with another collection push planned for next Spring.

Volunteers in our group can earn bicycles by contributing their time and effort to help with any and/or all aspects of the B4H endeavour.  It was my good fortune to be given Bianchi Sprint #2 for the help that I have offered.  I should add that several other bicycles came my way through our group for a variety of reasons.  I should also add the "Ten Speed" style bicycle is not really a good bike for the conditions in a country like Namibia and that is why a few more than I perhaps deserved have been sent my way.  With this in mind, I do my best to help out as much as I can.

As found (or earned/given in this case), Sprint #2 appeared to be a mess.  Oxidation had formed here and there.  The drive chain was a stiff hunk of rust.  The shifters had slid down the down tube, scratching off what little art work remained.  And the saddle was not a sight for sore eyes but a way to make your eyes sore just by looking at it.  At first, I wasn't even sure that I would bother to take the bicycle home.  Of course, when I started taking a closer look, my interest was aroused.  I did bring the old steed home and hung it up in The Old Shed where it sat, pretty much forgotten, for some time.  Three or four months later, when I had the time to study the bicycle closer, my interest grew a bit more.  I had a good feeling that cleaning would work wonders.  And it did as can be seen by comparing before and after shots of the crank set.  Find out how aluminum foil can produce chrome cleaning results similar to those of the second Bianchi Sprint to come into my possession.  And the second bicycle was just my size!

NEXT - BUILDING THE FIRST BIANCHI SPRINT