Düsseldorf dentist Carsten Rademacher (57) only discovered his love of classic steel bikes in 2013. For eight years, he has been gripped by Bianchi fever - he has built up a collection that, according to him, covers the entire steel era between 1925 and 1990. His love for Celeste has changed his life.
TOUR: Your enthusiasm for steel wheels began at the L'Eroica 2013. didn't you have any connection to bicycles before?
CarstenYes, I had nothing to do with cycling or cycling at all before. I'm still surprised that it got so out of hand. But I'm not an isolated case - TOUR has also often reported on collectors. I've read what got them into it and it's actually similar things.
TOUR: And what is it?
CarstenThe fascination for this old steel in this fast-passing time, in this throwaway society. A bicycle with which you can get around and which is an object of art. That's how it started for me and when you buy your first old bike, let's say, and you use it in Italy, you feel this Italian flair and this ramshackle charm. There are all these people, they all have this same virus, they are all crazy about these bikes. It's a combination of several factors that really gets you hyped up. Where you say: "Wow, that's something really special, you can pursue it a bit more intensively. It almost becomes an obsession, which always happens quickly when you're collecting. You're quickly scrutinised a bit strangely.
TOUR: Your first bike wasn't a Bianchi ...
CarstenNo. My first one was from Holland, a Gazelle racing bike. It was actually really well made, so pearly coloured, and I rode it. And I was surprised how much fun it was. Then I took it with me to Italy for the L'Eroica and there was this whole thing that still resonates with me. I then started travelling the 80 kilometres to work by train and bike instead of by car. So I cycled part of the journey and sometimes the whole distance. I had time to think about the issue on the train. What else is out there, what kind of parts are there, what are the special things and then of course you always come across collectors and other crazy people. And because I like the colour, I started collecting Bianchi.
Team bikes from Bianchi
TOUR: But it quickly became about special Bianchi racing bikes ...
Carsten: Basically the bikes that everyone likes: Specialissima and all the top wheels. Then I read a book about the history of Bianchi and the whole development of the individual steel wheels. It describes the entire steel era and I orientated myself on that. I wanted to have all the bikes that Bianchi built in the top segment, with all the small changes and with all the different frames. They always have to be original.
TOUR: How did you acquire the knowledge?
CarstenI had time on the train and I got to know the right people in Italy who have been involved in this Bianchi topic for ages and who also know all the team bikes from the 60s, 70s and even older. They know exactly which components belong on them.
TOUR: How did you get the bikes?
CarstenI've got to know a lot of people in Italy who send me photos of bikes without me asking. I have the feeling that some of them are constantly swarming around Italy looking for bikes. I don't really search any more - I get these beautiful things.
TOUR: The bikes and parts also cost a lot of money ...
CarstenYes, I've just got some mudguards. Wooden mudguards for the 1925 Bianchi M. These are original mudguards, they even have the Bianchi eagle embossed on them. I paid 600 euros for them, for example. Or pedals from old bikes: if the bike is from the 1940s, you pay 500 euros for the pedals. If you can get any at all - they don't really exist any more. Many parts are so rare that they have virtually no price. If someone is prepared to pay this or that, then they'll get it, otherwise not.
TOUR: Have you ever had cases where someone tried to foist something on you that wasn't original?
CarstenYes, of course. I just saw a Bianchi on Facebook today and everything that could possibly be wrong was wrong: the paintwork was wrong and all the components were wrong. It's such a market to rebuild these parts. Some of them look so bad that you can recognise them from a distance. But sometimes it's also well done. I'm the admin in a Vintage International group on Facebook. I also like to help out there to put a stop to the shenanigans that are going on. My aim is to keep the Bianchi story as authentic as possible.
The bike with which Rudi Altig won Milano-Sanremo
TOUR: How did you get Rudi Altig's bike?
Carsten: I need to expand a little on that. I rode the bike that Johan De Muynck used to win the Giro d'Italia in 1978 in the L'Eroica. Incidentally, I was offered this by Felicie Gimondi's daughter. The daughter suddenly wrote me a message and said I had a contact to Pietro Piazzalunga. He was one of the most famous bike mechanics who looked after all the teams. She said: I have the contact to the family, they still have the bike in the cellar and the original Maglia Rosa with it. And then she said: you're coming to Italy soon for the L'Eroica: come to Bergamo and we'll meet at the mechanic's family. And then I was able to pick up the bike in the hallowed halls of this mechanic, where all the teams were looked after at the time. That was my special experience. And when I was in Italy with the bike at the L'Eroica, one of the judges of the competition for the most elegant bike approached me. He said: "You're German. I have Rudi Altig's bike - if you fancy it, I'll sell it to you." I then paid for it over the year and a year later he brought me the bike.
TOUR: Is the L'Eroica an annual fixture for you?
CarstenYes, that always works. That's a nice date, but they're not only available in Italy now, they're L'Eroica are also available in Germany and other places. I've also taken part in the Dolomites and in England. The Retro Ronde in Flanders is also always very nice.
TOUR: Presumably you keep bumping into people you know?
CarstenYes, we write to each other beforehand in WhatsApp groups: when are you there, are we travelling together and so on. And then we meet up and have a good time. That's also the nice thing and it always resonates that you meet really nice people.
TOUR: What kind of bike do you use? Do you also ride the valuable bikes on the gravel tracks?
CarstenI don't use any of the professional team bikes or the other high-quality bikes. I don't ride them on a track like this.
TOUR: You also have a Bianchi carbon bike for commuting. Isn't it difficult to sacrifice riding comfort again?
CarstenNo, not at all. It's such an emotional story. It's great fun to take these old treasures. I love looking at them again and again - I can't get enough of them. And they ride really well. Of course, it's more the bikes from the 70s or 80s that are good to ride. I don't ride the ancient bikes from the 30s and 40s.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
