jonnojohnson

What would you say a fair price range is for a used (let's assume fair condition) 2004 Bianchi Axis?

Most of the reviews for this vintage on roadbikereviews seem pretty good.

Also what sort of things should I be asking or looking for in a used bike? I'm new to biking and extremely new to cx bikes so any help would be useful.

Cheers,

Jonno.

jonnojohnson

Well I purchased this last night so let's hope your answers would have been in the $700 plus range. I'll post pics of my first cx bike in the "show us yer bike" thread once I get the original stem put back on.

Sawtooth

Not sure about the Axis. In 2007, I paid $1000 for a two year old Dura Ace/Ultegra Kona Major Jake, if that helps.

Enjoy the ride from here. Too late to 2nd guess it. It is either worth what you paid to you or it isn't (if it wasn't, you would not have bought it )

jonnojohnson

Ok so the wheels are marked ETRTO#622-14 (Vuelta XRP Comp). Does this tell me what range width of tires I can put on this thing?

drumbum

'

Tire clearance will be determined in most cases by the frame clearance. On narrow road tires, the bead seat diameter will play a part but it's irrelevant here.

$700 seems alittle steep for a used 04 bike, but it all depends on it's part specs. Now that it's all good and done, go out and enjoy the bike!

jonnojohnson

Well I'm pretty happy I guess. My purchase new options were either a special order Redline Conquest Sport (no chance to test ride and all sales final) for $757 inc tax, K2 from Performance for $840 inc tax, Kona Jake for ~$930 inc tax. This was the only used bike I could find in texas that was remotely in my price range and the right size. I guess I coulda been more patient and waited for the perfect deal.... nah :-)

But I've found one flaw in my purchase. I've tried to adjust it (bringing back many memories of doing this as a kid) but I just can't get the fd to travel all 3 chainrings. I did notice that it wouldn't shift to the smallest ring on my test ride but I figured that was just an adjustment issue (oops). Also I asked the guy and he said the last time they tuned it at the lbs they had it travelling all 3 so I took his word. It looks like the original front derailleur (Shimano 105 31.8mm) has been replaced by a Shimano Deore LX. I've since found that this is a MTB fd. From what I have found on these forums it seems that mtb fd's don't travel as far as the road fd's. Am I correct on this or could it be I'm just not adjusting correctly. Also it seems the there is a large gap at the rear of the fd to the large chainring. I think this is b/c mtb's have larger front chainrings. Mine are 48/36/26.

My guess is that my options are:
1. Buy and install a new road fd. Any suggestions for a reasonably priced top-pull? I've read some say that Tiagra's are good for 3 rings.
2. Tune it back to use only 2 of the front rings. I'm leaning towards doing this in the short term as a) I'm trying not to fork out any more money and b) it seems like 27 gears is overkill anyway and although my wimpy legs like the idea of that 26T ring on the front perhaps I need to toughen up, lol.

What do you guys think?

Cynikal 

A MTB FD should work just fine for a triple since MTB's are mostly triples. Sounds like there is just an adjustment issue that should take about 5 min to correct.

I have a mix of Ultegra/XT/105/600 on my poprad without issue. It's all in the adjustment.

jonnojohnson

Well I have read up on fd adjustment from SheldonBrown, Park Tools and BicycleTutor and I still can't seem to get it. Btw the barrel adjuster for my fd which is high up on the back of the seat tube is a right pain to turn. Anyone have any great ideas to help with that? I guess I could see if my lbs can tune it up but I'm a tinkerer and I can't help but want to do it myself.

jonnojohnson

This thread is where I got the idea that my 105 STI road shifters might not work well with the mtb fd. Is there any way to get a definitive answer on this?

scotch

i love my '04 axis. i did lose the crappy alex wheels and the shimano canties, tho, which made it much improved. i think you'll be psyched when you get it adjusted.

jonnojohnson

Got it tweaked and I can get all 3 rings now. Gonna post a pic in the "show us yer bike" now.