Older frames and specs.
 

I have always done my own basic bicycle repairs and adjustments but have left major stuff for the pro at my lbs. This, I am about to try to change. I am not a complete dolt and am able to use a spanner if given the chance:D .

Thanks to a very kind forum member I will be in possession of a (new to me) older bianchi road frame and fork. Now, my question is to all of the mechanical fellows. How do you go about finding out the specs of these old frames that everyone builds up. Was there certain standards during certain times for things such as measurements for the dropouts etc etc. Or, do you just get out an old tape measure and go to town?

I am going to have to try to build this up and will have fun doing it. I just need to know where to look to ensure I am purchasing proper parts that will fit on the thing. I guess knowing the year and exact model of the frame is ideal. But, what if the thing has been repainted etc, and you can not get an exact year to look up specs on a manufactures website. Do you go by frame serial numbers to match models?

Perhaps it is one of those cases where if you have been around long enough you just build up the knowledge of knowing what was the norm during specific times.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Sometimes one measurement is worth a thousand guesses.

An older Bianchi road frame in Japan. That's going to be interesting.

Ok, first the dropouts...this is a matter of spacing, all you need is a simple ruler to check this. It's also easy to change.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/spacing

The major issue will be the bottom bracket. If it's an Italian-made Bianchi, it could be either the old Italian size or the standard ISO/English size. Newer Bianchis, even when made in Italy use ISO standard BBs...Bianchi was the first major Italian maker to come on board.

Quick and easy way to tell is to measure the width of the bottom bracket shell:

70 mm = Italian size.

68 mm = Normal ISO/English size.

Handlebar stem will be normal 7/8" (22.2 mm) size.

The only other areas of concern are the headset and seatpost, if you need to replace either of these. Headset could be ISO or J.I.S., but ISO is, by far, the most likely.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-headsets.html

Seatpost you'll need to measure or read the dimension from the bottom of the old seatpost.

Sheldon "Old Bianchis Are Great" Brown

Sheldon,

Thank you so much for giving me somewhere to start! Very much appreciated.