Bianchi R super preserved

During the long winter that characterized this fatal cold period that began in October 2020 and, from a certain point of view, still ongoing in this 2021, we were informed of a great opportunity: an “unexplored” mine.
It happens that an our acquaintance informs us that in a house-workshop, which he inherited from his deceased uncle, there are objects that he thinks have potential for the museum, therefore, on the crest of enthusiasm, we start for a first reconnaissance tour.
During the journey by car, on a humid and rainy February morning, thoughts run but our mouths remain closed because kilometer after kilometer our passion tickles us on the objects that can be hidden in that building.
Arriving on site we find ourselves in front of a real house-laboratory, on the ground floor there is the workshop and the warehouse; here we are faced with components of great value: differentials of nineteenth century tricycles, english and frech wheels and bottom brackets and, more importantly, a BSA from the early 1900s!
In the first phase we only carried out a quick reconnaissance and we finish by loading the precious components and the BSA into the car; obviously we make an appointment for the second and last session.
After a couple of weeks on a bright Saturday morning we go back “to the mine” but this time we are equipped with a van and a car with a trailer to be able to load as much material as possible.
At a certain point our acquaintance tells us that in addition to the house-laboratory there is a second building that we have not yet explored, a house no longer in use used to store all those more recent Italian-made frames and components on the ground floor.
We are faced with many wheel frame components and any mechanical object present in a bicycle stacked without logic one on top of the other, but the surprise is coming…
Moving all this mountain of iron, aluminum and wood we finally reach the wall and there is hidden (submerged by an indefinite number of wheels) a super Bianchi R complete with rear brake lever handlebars and a canvas bag containing the main screws; at that point the heart begins to beat and desperate I look for the other components.
Moving like a hound between Margherita victory changes and Bianchi racing pedals I was desperately searching for the other elements of the Bianchi R super, at a certain point I reach a wooden ladder that leads to the first floor, and there inside a box of tin lying on a rotten wooden step are contained the brake arches of the R super.
The enthusiasm is so high that after unloading “the catch of the day” I put the frame of the R super on the stand in the workshop and start the phase that in shipbuilding jargon is defined as “procurement” or the supply line for construction.
The experience we want to share with you this time is not the description of a model or a brand, but the story of a recovery and the emotion that the recovery of objects we are passionate about gives us.
This leads to a very profound concept, namely that the fact that we are not the ones to find the bicycles but they are the ones who find us.

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