Italy gets Rad: Now at the Re-Cyclery

Archive Post from April 28th, 2020

​Bike: BIANCHI SUPER GY
Year of manufacture: 1997
MSRP in 1997: $2099
Trips for Kids Re-Cyclery Price: $300

What is Italian and goes boing boing?
No, not a kangaroo at Bioparca Di Roma.
In 1997 the answer could have been this bike, The Bianchi Super GY.

As a reminder, in 1997, Clinton (the Bill one) is President, the DOW year end close is 7908, average monthly rent is $576, Tyson bites Holyfield, Titanic was THE date movie, and Mountain Bike Action Magazine (in print!) was a real big thing.

And most notably, 2 Italians, Paola Pezzo & Hubert Palhuber, were the XC mountain bike champions of the world.

The mountain bike boom was in full swing. Hardtails were already retro with almost every bike manufacturer launching dual suspension bikes. Plus, every single one you’d look at was quirkier than the last one you saw. Weird was the new normal.  Bianchi, arguably the most famous Italian bike manufacturer, was not going to be left out of the game. That brings me to this bike.
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The Bianchi Super GY sounds normal enough on paper. Tig welded aluminum frame; Rock Shox suspension front and back; Shimano parts mixed with some White Industries bling; Panaracer knobbies. But just look at it. It is a rolling Mullet, normal up front but what the heck is going on back behind the seat tube? A raised chainstay parallelogram rear suspension? This does not seem like it comes from the land of Pininfarina. Oh, look there is a sticker, not the Campione del Mundo rainbow on the down tube.  Look back towards the wonderful weirdness, hidden in the jumble of welded tubes, linkages and pivots, that would usually be called a downtube, is “Designed in the U.S.A.” framed by jagged shards of red, white and blue.

ow I understand this bike a little better. Bianchi, wanting a piece of the booming American market, appropriated some American culture and got a little “Rad”. I wonder how that worked out.
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I will simply leave you with the awesomeness of the GY’s ad copy in 1997.