Tequila Joe

Below is a picture of the bike when I first got it. A Bianchi Campione Del Mondo 1987. I picked it up for $5 from a garage sale. What a deal! It has a Reynolds CroMo frame, full Shimano 105, Weinmann 36 spoke rims, Sugino Crank.


Here it is today. The morph is complete for now.

The red Jamis saddle came from my wifes Dakar. $0
One bottle cage from MEC $3
Egg Beaters SS from eBay $50
A little foam and electrical tape to make a chain stay protector. $0
The 14-28 Suntour freewheel was donated by my parts bike. $0


Some new bar tape. $12.
A BF friend generously donated a longer stem. A nice Bianchi stem at that! $0


2 Tioga Blood Hounds at MEC - $30


46 x 36 Chain rings MEC - $35 (Possibly the ugliest chain rings I've ever seen but they were cheap)


New Suntour Barcon shifters & cable stops from eBay – $24



Today was it's inagural "first bad condition commute" since it was finished. The hard pack ice along my route has melted for the most part. The bike handled very well on the slushy/gravel shoulder and was good through some areas where the snow hasn't been cleared.

What a difference from commuting on the Enduro with Nokian Extreme 294's! It felt like I was flying and I easily cut 10 minutes off of my average commute time today! It is almost as fast as my commuter bike, but it can handle the roads when they get rough.

I definatley recommend something like this as a project to anyone. So far, I'm into this bike for a whopping $159.

T.J.

jyossarian

Nice! No fenders?

Tequila Joe

I tried the Planet Bike fenders from my Falcon on this bike but the clearance was really really tight. The Tioga Blood Hounds are 35mm so I fear that they will pack up when/if I ride in muddy conditions. I'm currently looking for other options. Any suggestions?

Cyclist0383

SKS make some nice fenders in a wide variety of sizes. They should make something to fit your exact needs.

arcticbiker

Nice conversion! You can never have too many bikes and it's now getting used instead of cluttering up someone's garage.

Tequila Joe

I was looking at the SKS race blades. They aren't full fenders but seem to provide coverage where it counts. They have a wider 25mm-32mm size fender that may work wiht the Tiogas. The fenders fom the Falcon are much thinner.
https://www.sks-germany.com/sks.php?l...t&i=5289300000

I seem to have pretty good luck with older bikes. I bought the Falcon from someone that had it in thier basement for the last 30+ years. He bought it, rode it for a month to two, and then decided that cycling wasn't for him. It was virtually brand new when it came to me.

T.J.

Cyclaholic

I just love seeing old bikes lovingly rebirthed into beautifully functional machines like this one. Great job! I hope you enjoy many fun miles on her for years to come.

ViperZ

That was a great acquisition and a it looks like its a blast to ride

If you do the SKS race Blades or Planet Bike Speedy fenders let me know how you like them. A few riders in our club use them and like them a lot. I was thinking on a set for the Litespeed for rainy day rides. I was going to build a Rain Bike, but then after a 100km ride that rained for 80km of it, I realized what ever bike I'm riding at the time it starts raining , is my rain bike

Sure I may not have them on when I need them, but for the days when it may rain, I could snap them on quickly... Or I'll ride the Wedge with slicks on it as I'm leaving the fenders on that permanently.

Tequila Joe

Thanks Cyclaholic,
I love seeing old bikes get a second chance at life too. The first thing I thought to do to the Campione was convert it to a SS/Fixie. However, the drive train was in such good condition that I thought it to be a shame to waste it. I remembered that commuting on the Enduro w/ Nokian Extremes was overkill for a good portion of last winter because Chinooks regularly blow into town and melt most of the snow/ice. I tried riding the Falcon Commuter to save wear on the Nokians but it was sketchy at times because the roads have lots of gravel and still had slushy/snowy/icy areas. Alas, the CX experiment.

When I finished the build, I rode a few CX / light MTB trails in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. What a blast. I felt like I was driving a rally car. I'm looking forward to the spring when I can take it off roading again.

Hi ViperZ
I don't know if the Panet Bike SpeedEZ will fit or any full fender for that matter. The problem can be seen below. Since the Tiogas are so big, they leaves little clearance under the brake arch for a fender. I tried the Planet Bike Freddies from my Falcon on this bike and they werre very tight. No rubbing but only a few mm of clearance. I might get a CX fork sometime in the future as I have some canti brakes in my parts bin.



Unless I can find somethng else that will work, i will likely get the SKS Race Blades as they don't seem to mount under the fork arch. They can be adjusted away from the tire to get some mud clearance. I'll let you know how they work once I buy them.

ViperZ

I love all the Porcupine mold pins on the tires

I suppose if it's that tight, that would not be good in muddy situations...

Tequila Joe

I've never seen so many moulding hairs on a tire before All those moulding hairs made handeling a little squirly. It felt like the front end was squishing out from undernieth as I rounded tight corners. It took me about an hour to clip them off of front tire. I will eventually get around to clipping the rear too although the hairs on the back tire don't seem to affect handling much.

Your right, the clearance under the front brake is so tight that it should pack up with mud really good. The clearance under the rear brake is a bit better. In hind sight, I should've went with 28mm or 32mm tires. I naturally thought that "bigger is better" and immediatly went for the 35mm tires without much thought. Oh well, the next set of rubber will be smaller. I've been looking for a CX fork for CX rides next year but am finding that 1" threaded CX/touring forks are hard to come by. I have some canti brakes in my parts bin I can use if I find one.

For now, all this bike will see is commuting on gravelly/slushy/snowy streets for the rest of the winter.

Cheers!

TJ

Cyclaholic

it is

xB_Nutt

Nice job. Kinda reminds me of my own Bianchi commuter conversion...it's very satisfying to know you didn't have to shell out a bunch of cash and that your vision became a reality.


Started out like the one in the pic below. (I bought these both for $75 and my daughter is riding the stock pink and grey one) I've put less than $50 in it for drop bars, stem, bar-end shifters, brake levers and some black spray paint. The tires, seat, racks and fenders I already had on another bike.

LóFarkas

So what is a hedgehog doing sitting on your wheel?

Bikepacker67

How come in the before pic the frame looks cream colored, but in the after pic, it looks silver?
Just lighting? Seems like really distinct difference.

pinkrobe

Nice build! I'm always surprised that more people don't go the DIY route with an old bike. It's too bad that old CX bikes are so hard to come by. I'm tentatively considering going with a custom CX SS/FG frame so I can run full fenders with wider tires and canti brakes.

Tequila Joe

Ahh-ha! I knew it!

Tequila Joe

Nice build xB, she's a lot nicer lokking in black. Have you ever though about doing some light touring with this bike?

joejack951

I think part of the problem with old bikes is that depending on the area you live in, they command a high enough price that buying new is justified. That $5 Bianchi would fetch ~$200 on the local Craigslist. I sold my bro-in-laws crappy old Giant Perigee for $150 in less than a day (I just wanted it gone since it was many sizes too big for me). I do need to get out to more garage sales which seems to be the place to find ultra-cheap bikes.

-=(8)=-

Nice build !!! Wow !
5.00 bikes rock !
Is there some way you could fabricate a piece
of semi-flex plastic to scrape the tire as you ride ?
bolt it in between the frame and brakes ??

-=(8)=-

5.00 bikes are so abundant here I cant fit any more in my basement

Here is one of them. My winter beater. 5.00.

I Hope no offense for topic deviation(?)

Tequila Joe

The first picture is taken in my basement under Halogen work lamps. The second was taken in my foyer with only the flash of the camera so the bike as a whole does look more white in the second picture.

However, maybe you have a bionic eye. The rear tirangle was quite sctratch up and a bit rusty so I repainted it with some "Toyota Pearl metalic" that I got at the auto supply store. It matched the original pearl metalic fairly close but my paint was a bit whiter than the original.

T.J.

Tequila Joe

Nice score! Was it from a garage sale?

Tequila Joe

Me too. Especially for a commuter bike. I'm suprised to how many expensive bikes I see locked to the bike rack.

-=(8)=-

^^ Flea market.
I have 2 other Flea market Peugeots too.......
a Mixte, and my Son in Pa's college beater.
Other Vt flea market finds have been a 5.00 Panasonic DX2000
Chrome framer, a fabulous condition Schwinn World that only needs
a big ding worked out of the front rim, and a 5.00 Motobecane
that was last winters beater from the church fall sale. I dont think
I will ever buy a new bike again !
I think there is good Kharma in keeping an old soul running instead of
succumbing to NEW-itis !!