Bianchi Dolomiti, Made In Italy, etc.

Back in July 2008 the first reports of the Bianchi "Dolomiti" model first appeared. There was quite a buzz about is because a) it was a lugged steel, Columbus Spirit, Bianchi, b) has chromed lugs, c) is painted in the famous celeste color, d) used 1950s style graphics. At the time it was reported that the frame was made in Taiwan. Here's my first story from July 30th:

http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2008/07/bianchi-going-retro-in-2009-with.html

Fairly quickly the comments in the cycling forums were that it looked like the Asian made Kona "Kapu" (http://www.konaworld.com/09_kapu_en.cfm).

At EUROBIKE, in September, a Dolmiti was on display with a matching celeste fork:

At the Sea Otter Classic Expo in Monterey, California, April 16-19, 2009, a Dolomiti was on display. This bike had a "Made In Italy, Reparto Corse" label. Is this bike made in Italy or was it made in Taiwan (or Asia) but has it undergone sufficient "transformation" to qualify to be labeled as such? You can read more about transformation, if you haven't been following the blog, here: http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2009/04/made-in-italy-or-not.html)

Tomorrow, more information on the EU regulations regarding transformation and an example of how complicated the rules are.

Anyway, it's a nice looking bike......

Photos: Sea Otter photo courtesy of http://www.cyclingnews.com/

Stories, including cycling trip stories, for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact veronaman@gmail.com