I'm starting a new project. I found an old Bianchi that was complete. The bike is rough but all the parts are there. I'm going to guess it's a 1997 or 1998.
No idea what these numbers mean, and I can tell you that Bianchi will be of no help either. Don't even bother contacting them. They really don't know.
I guess by "edge of tubing" you mean the edges of the lugs. Think twice about re-doing the edging. You need an extremely steady hand, a perfectly-shaped professional-quality brush, the proper paint in the exact right consistency and lots of freehand painting experience. The reason you really do need all this is that striped lugs really, really look like crap unless they're done perfectly.
I agree it only looks good if it's perfect. Perfect is not easy.
It seems that the Binachi records are about the same as the Ferrari records. It has to be an Italian thing. I know Ferrari used to change the serial numbers on his cars to avoid taxes back in the 50's.
Last wek I ended up having to drill the seat post out. We tried everything known to man. In the end only a big drill got the job done.
Could you show a picture of the complete tubing sticker? My guess is Columbus Nemo, which was a particularly thin walled steel, for light frames for light riders.
The tubing on your project bike is Dedacciai Zero Tre--one of a series from them. Zero Tre was third down the line in Dedacciai's competition tubing sets - Zero was top, Zero Uno second and Zero Tre third--it is a good third generation CrMo steel. Good stuff!
Is the downtube slightly ovalized? If so it might be the Trofeo model....
Are your plans to put a modern group on it, or try to recreate the bike as it was?
It's rough but all the parts are there. That's why I'm going to restore it. At least restore it as much as possible. I've done a number of cars over the years. This bike is a little too rough to leave it as it currently exists. One the other hand I'm not sure I want to do a show quality restoration. It would be nice to have something like the '52 I posted earlier though.
One of the interesting things is that the bike is silver. That's the original color. Do I paint it silver or do the green thing? The good part is I don't have to decide that for a while.
There are a couple of rules when it comes to restoring a car. I think they may apply to bikes as well. First, before you start add up the cost of everything you might possibly need. Then multiply that amount by two. You’ll be close to what the ultimate cost might be.
Next you should try to estimate the amount of time this project is going to take. Again, be generous. Now multiply that number by four and you might be close.
Up to this point I have about 4 hours in just getting the seat post out of the frame. I’ve also spent $245 on a bike that cost me $120. Oh well.
I've started a blog on this project that might interest some folks.
It's a San Marco Rolls saddle. They call it black rhino leather. I got it from an Amazon.com affiliate called We Keep You Cycling. It was $67.32 with free shipping and no sales tax. The interesting thing is if I had purchased this saddle from their own web side it would have cost $89.99. They sell things on Amazon.com cheaper than they do on their own web site. I thought about a Brooks saddle but it is a Bianchi bike. Best to keep it Italian. I like to stay with a theme.
I actually rode this bike today. I have no gears but at least I managed to get the brakes adjusted. That's progress.
I've spent $462 on this bike at this point. I'm over the value of the bike but that happens with any restoration. No one ever said restorations are an investment. Here's a breakdown of my costs.
This was sort of interesting. This happened with only 4 lbs. of air. It's a Vittoria latex tube. I haven't heard back from them at this point. View attachment 283075
Anyone else ever seen this happen?
I'm using MKS pedals. First, $25 the price was right. Secondly, they look like the old school Campagnolo pedals. They're definitely not Compangnolo quality but they're pretty decent. If you take them apart and add a little more grease they work nicely.
I don't think I'll get the gears working until after the paint. btw - This is one of the rarer silver bikes. Bianchi only seems to have offered the silver in 1998. That means I'm going to keep the silver paint.
I'll try moving the bars. The tape is sort of pathetic right now. I'm going to hold off on this for a while. I may try to get the gears working though. The next big step will be taking everything apart for painting.
A friend of mine called Bianchi the Ferrari of bikes. If indeed that's the case I own the Bianchi 308 - the bottom of the product line.
I own at least six sets of hex wrenches. The problem is I keep them in my shop. I keep my bike at home. I'm not very good at remembering to bring things home at the end of the day. Since the Bianchi requires a lot of hex head wrenches I decided to buy a set to keep at home.
These are from Bondus. They might not be Snap-On quality but they're very close. A similar from Snap-On would have cost over $50.
The best part was the set only cost $25.15. There were no shipping charges and no sales tax. That means I only paid $3.15 per wrench. That's about what you might pay for a Chinese wrench in a flea market.
You already know I love Amazon.com. Now I also love Bondhus. Throw Park Tool into this mix and I'm all set.
The one on the left is from Specialized and was purchased from the local Trek store. It uses a threaded valve and was made in China. It leaks very little air.
The one on the right is latex and has a non-threaded valve stem. It was made in Thailand. It leaks at least 4 lbs a day. I have to fill that one on a regular basis.
No complaints about either really. Just an observation.
btw - what are your feelings about threaded vs. non-threaded valve stems?
I'm still riding the bike. I think I've just about made the decision to have it painted very soon. I found a bike shop I like. My only previous experience was with the local Trek store. I'm sure they were a very capable facility but I just couldn't connect with them.
The best part of EA Bicycles is that they understand Italian bikes. They actually sell them. I feel a lot better about leaving my Bianchi in a store that sells Bianchi.
Taking your Bianchi to a Trek dealer is like taking a Ducati to a Harley Davidson dealer. It's just not right.
Keep in mind that when I say I'm going to get the bike painted that means everything has to come part. Everything.
Then it all goes back together - properly. This could get very interesting.
The bike is now in the shop getting all the little stuff taken care of. I'm going to hold off on the paint for at least six months. Right now I've spent $604 dollars on a bike that the Bicycle Blue Book is worth $217. All of the details are on my blog.
The good part about bike restoration is that even in the worst case you're only going to be out a few thousand dollars. In automotive restoration it's easy to be spend $50,000 to $75,000 over the value of the car.
It's always the little parts that make you crazy. While my bike came with most of the parts a few were missing. Like these crank dust covers.
Bianchi isn't a lot of help with these parts. They're interested in selling new bikes. That means you have to go to Evil Bay.
View attachment 284579 There are a lot of generic dust covers and a lot of plastic ones. It seems most bikes use a 22 mm dust cover.
I found a lot of Campagnolo dust covers but very few Bianchi one. Prices are all over the place. People are selling the same dust covers for $10 and $30. Those are Campy covers. You can get an entire Bianchi crank are set complete with all the caps and dust covers for $24.95. Then just try to buy a pair of Bianchi dust caps. Prices go as high as $60.00 for a pair.
I ended up buying a pair from a guy in Canada for $37.99 They say Bianchi and they're made out of aluminum. They might even be original NOS.
I've had my bike back from the shop for about a week now. I've been riding the bike every morning. EA Bicyles did a great job getting this bike working properly. The biggest problem was with the rear wheel. I knew the bearing was loose. I didn't realize the spokes were loose as well. EA took care of the whole mess and this bike is a lot nicer to ride.
I really wonder though if anyone in Florida needs 24 speeds. I track my rides and in the course of ten miles there's a 43 foot elevation change. Yes, Florida is pretty flat. I only use about 6 of the speeds in a normal ride.
While my first inclination was to use a blue handlebar wrap when I thought about it a little more I decided to use the Bianchi green. Besides it says Bianchi on it. The blue wrap was just a generic handlebar wrap. I can't do that to a Binachi. Can I?
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