Bianchi Bicycles
Edoardo Bianchi, a 21-year-old medical instrument maker, started his bicycle-manufacturing business in a small shop at 7 Via Nirone, Milan in 1885. It has been part of Cycleurope Group, the Swedish company of Grimaldi Industri AB, since May 1997. Bianchi pioneered the front wheel caliper brake.
In the 1940s, Bianchi employed 4,500 people in two factories. Stone further indicates: "Their road bikes did not really stand out from the crowd either. In all the catalogues of the period the tubing on the frames was not specified - it was just described as 'finest quality steel tubing' - though the British importers added that the tubing was double-butted. The frames are not especially light, nor are they particularly heavy.
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