joeyplumley

Be gentle - my first post here! I'm new to road bikes, but been a casual rider since I could walk. Now I want to get into road bikes for exercise, possibly commuting, and have so far picked up 2 Huffy's (I know, I know) and a vintage Bianchi (women's frame - it's the miss's), all for a grand total of $7 so far.

Pics are below. Questions:

1) What can you guys tell me about this bike? S/N is M83110006. Owner said it "Was $300 back in 1973". I was hoping it'd be newer. Looks like it's been taken care of though.

2) Are the rims original? I would think only Schwinn would use that funky rim size of theirs (see tire picture). Are they steel?

3) Would this be a good bike to start road riding with? Is anyone going to get mad at me if I start changing (upgrading) components since it's "vintage"? I won't paint the frame, I promise (even though it's purple and has 2 Fuji rainbow stickers. I guess I can name her "Purple Haze").

3b) What would you guys replace on it? What upgrades CAN I do? (With a budget of around $50-$100). I'm thinking cranks/pedals, cables, and new wheels/tires (all used of course).

3c) What can I do maintenance-wise on it now? Do I need to repack any bearings? Lithium grease for the cables, right? It's in pretty ridable shape as it is, I just need bar tape.

4) Do I really need a casette tool to get that "dork disk" off? That one is exceptionally large.

So far I've removed the rotted out bar grips (will retape possibly today) and removed the chainguard thing on the crank sprocket (it was dented and rusty). Also spent about 2 hours with some steel wool.





Any input? Thanks in advance.

Mos6502

New wheels and pedals would be good upgrades. I have a similiar Fuji of similiar vintage and I like pretty much everything else about it. For $6 you got a good deal.
And the tires, that size was pretty much standard on 10-speeds back then.

Rabid Koala

Nice, lower end bike, more like a $125.00 bike in 1973 rather than a $300 one, though.

The rims are steel. I'd leave the brake caipers but get Kool Stop pads for them. New wheels and crank would be good. The Suntour GT is heavy but shifts well. You do need a freewheel puller, not a cassette tool to get rid of the dork disc.

A little work and it will be a nice rider. $6 was a pretty good bargain. Have fun!

cuda2k

new wheels and tires (I like the DuroWinner II tires currently onsale at Nashbar), last set of 27" alloy wheels I bought were from bikepartsusa.com (for about 90 shipped). I'd also suggest picking up a new freewheel for the new wheels while you're at it. Everything else looks pretty good. If you prefer it, downtube shifters are cheap and plentyful on ebay. I tossed the stem shifters on my old schwinn traveler after about a week.

joeyplumley

Can I put a different size (but similar) wheel on it? Something more modern so I don't have to hunt for this old tire size? 700C?

I have gear pullers, so I guess I'll take off the disk in the back.

Downtube shifters are a really good idea, my leg hits them where they're at every once in a while when going up a hill - not the ideal time you want a random gear change.

Can I use the rear sprockets with a new wheel? What parts are interchangable with new bikes?

I may be taking the alloy wheels off the lady's Bianchi - she rides about 1/4 of what I do ( which is 15-20 miles a week). Also, is "Suntour AR" better than my Suntour GT? That's what's on the Bianchi.

T-Mar

The original owner is correct on the vintage, but not the price, which would have been about $100-$120 US.

The wheels are likely original, though the tires aren't. 27" x 1-1/4" was the standard size, nothing funky about it.

I concor with Rabid Koala on the updates: new brake pads, aluminum rims/wheels and an aluminum cotterless crankset will make a big difference. Going to a new derailleur will not make a niticeable difference unless this one is worn or damaged, so I'd pass on that upgrade. However, given the costs of these upgrades and the labor involved, you may finf it cheaper and easier to shop for a better, used bicycle.

To accomodate 700C rims, you have to lower the brake pads about 4mm. It looks like you may have just enough adjustment, but you won't know until you try. FWIW, 27" x 1-1/4" tires are still readily available. There shouldn't be any problem putting the frewheel on a new set of wheels, providing they are freewheel compatible (as opposed to cassette) and they are not an old set of wheels off a French bicycle, which often had different threading.

roughrider504

From my view of the pictures, it looks like 700c will fit. I second the downtube shifters. How does your leg hit them? Maby try to put them up more towards the headstet when you install them. I just picked up a used Suntour accushift clamp on shifter for 3$. I have pedals like that, and they work well if you use clips and straps.

joeyplumley

I should've clarified - my right knee hits the shifter as it sits now on the stem - the one on the right for the rear deraileur is "down" when climbing hills. I need to find a better solution.

And as always, I'm keeping my eye out for a better bike. That's why my budget for this thing is so low. It seems solid for now.

<typing as I look at eBay wheels and tires>

roccobike

Nice bike Joey. I think you did great. The condition of the components looks really good. I have three old road bikes and would not have hesitated to purchase your bike at the stated price. With regard to the rims, I know I'm probably wrong, but as I looked at the pictures, I didn't see any rust. I've only seen steel rims that clean on one other yard sale bike, oddly enough it too is a Fuji. Is it possible those are alloy rims? Before you toss them, I think you should check them with a magnet to be sure. Like I said, nice bike.

Little Darwin

If your knees are hitting the stem shifters, I strongly suspect that the bike is too small for you.

Cheap 27" tires are very easy to find (check your local Walmart or K-Mart. I would think that most bike shops still stock them as well... available all over online.

Also, bu the pics, those look like alloy rims. probably no need to replace them.

I would make the bike ridable, but not spend a lot of money upgrading... save the money you would have spent upgrading in buying a higher end vintage bike.

tolfan

nice looking bike I like the purple. I'm kind of new at restoring myself but have a good bit of youthful experiance with road bikes. The bike looks pretty clean but you might want to take it apart and detail all the parts. Cola and tinfoil works wonders on surface rust like on breaks and rims. sines ok too. If you dont want to spend a lot the the old saying" If it aint broke dont fix it" is a good rule of thumb. If your going to throw away the rims throw them my way I'm short a couple. send me your address on the private mesage thing and I can send you a set of cables to help get you started no charge.

joeyplumley

Rims are steel ;( - I just checked w/ a magnet. I'll be swapping them w/ the alloys from my fiance's Bianchi - no big deal. (probably take her crankset too)

As for tires, I found some Cheng Shin's on ebay for $9 each (shipped) - 27X1 1/8.


DGregory - I feel the bike is too small for me as well (all three of my bikes actually - they're all the same size). I measured 21" from center of crank to top of seat tube; 20" from crank center to top of the top tube. That would be 53cm and 51 cm respectively. I'm 5'10", I've been looking for a bike around 56cm.

joeyplumley

Also, should I swap my Suntour GT derailleur for the Bianchi's Suntour AR, or are these about the same quality?

silversmith

I'm not familiar with the GT.

But I really like the AR. I've got 3 of them and keep my eyes out for more.

roccobike

From "Sunset for Suntour", Suntour had 13 different quality road deraileurs. The GT is second from the bottom or twelvth out of thirteen. The AR is eighth. But check carefully because the ARX is sixth. I have an AR on one of my bikes. It performs well, but I also have a BL (fifth), I can tell the difference. If over-all condition is the same, I think I would make the change to the AR, especially if it's an ARX.
By the way, you can read "Sunset For Suntour" by entering that term on your search function, Frank Berto is the author. I would enter a location here as others do, but I am 'site identification challenged'.

FRANKIEJ

I wouldn't. The GT is an excellent derailluer, one of the better parts on your bike. I've used both AR and the GT and I think the GT is the better unit. A classic.

infinityeye

a gear puller will not remove a freewheel!

joeyplumley

haven't had time to work on it this week. I'm holding off on modding it too much - may be getting a newer road bike in the near future. So, this one would become the "gentleman's" bike - maybe shellac'd wraps and a brown leather saddle? Sounds kinda cool. The wheels are in such good shape (true and hubs are "tight"), and the polished rims really gleam in the sun.

I like to have a bike w/ a theme going to help it stand out from the crowd. New bikes have "newness" and "technology" (and "$$$") written all over them. A vintage bike, in my opinion, has a little more character when it's trying to look old, more so than taking 30-year old parts and mixing them w/ new stuff. Just my opinion.

We'll see how it pans out this week. I'm still new to this whole bike thing, so everything's undecided right now.

cyclotoine

unless you ride in a lot of rain I would leave the wheels, and everything for that matter except maybe the get DT shifters. It's way too small anyway and you are looking for a larger bike so there is not point in starting to tear apart a perfectly good bianchi. You could sell if for 60 bucks and put that towards a better bike.

bigbossman 

+1 - "What he said". This thread had me scratching my head early on, but cyclotoine has succinctly stated what I've been thinking..... the bike is too small, and low end. And yet you want to tear apart a running Bianchi to "upgrade" it? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Clean it, replace broken bits, overhaul it, tune it, but other than labor and NECESSARY parts, leave it be. Sell it and use the money to find a better candidate for your attentions. Don't destroy the Bianchi,unless it is already a basket case. And if it is, restore IT to riding condition.....

joeyplumley

Well, didn't realize the bike was too small for me. It seems OK to me, but I guess I would be more comforable if it was bigger. I haven't really ridden anything other than a 21" road bike (the 2 huffy's and the Fuji are all the same size).

The main objective here was to have a bike I could ride for cheap, so I was mainly asking about the interchange-ability of parts on a bike, and which components would be worth keeping and which should be replaced.

The Bianchi isn't exactly in good shape. Wheels aren't true and the frame is rusty at the butt-joints (previous owner left it outside for many years it looks like). Still working on getting a cable unfrozen (rear brakes). But hey, it was $7 at a garage sale (along w/ a Huffy). I got $25 for the Huffy already, so just thinking I could use it for parts.

Looks like I'll probably keep them both the way they are and just clean them up.

Standover height is about right, but the handlebar feels too close. Does the stem look short to you guys? I'm thinking I could replace that with a longer one.

cuda2k

That stem IS short! I'm guessing maybe 50 or 60mm? You may find a 100 or 110mm a much better reach. But before you go and do that, I don't see anywhere in thread a statement of your height. Seems you've got a 52/53cm there based on the inch conversion to cm. I'm a hair over 6' but with extra long legs and I typically ride a 58cm. My friend rides a 52cm and he's probably about 5' 6" or so. Just to give you a base line of sizing. There are a LOT of good sizing information out there to help you find what size would work best for you.

joeyplumley

I missed out on the ebay auction today (a newer road bike - Pinarello), so will be riding this bike at least for the next couple weeks. I'd like to make it fit me if possible.

It was a woman's bike, the guy who sold it to me told me (his girlfriend's bike).

All numbers are +/- 1", due to hazy memory:
Height: 5'9"
31" inseam

Long arms (since we're talking about stem size) - shirt size is 16-34/35

I think I'll look for a new stem here shortly. Hopefully find one for around $10, or do a swap-ola from anothe bike.

I've ordered my Velox bar wrap and have the shellac already. Should be a fun job. Now if I could only find a Brooks brown leather seat......

beaverstuff

Hi,
The only person above that had anything valuable to say was Bigbossman.
First, easy on the steel wool and stay clear of the decals. Coat them with clear fingernail polish to protect.
Second, remove the front fork and take a look at the steer tube. If Ishiwata is stamped on the steer tube, you've got a real winner, not a cheepo.
Many folks were talking about size being appropriate for you. If not, that doesn't mean you should trash the bike. I have three 67.5cm Fujis from the early 1980s - love them. If there is any mention of VALite tubing on the frame, by all means especially protect that decal - worth the whole bike!!
Jim near Baltimore