FE11244

Hi,

Wondering if you can help me out with this problem.

I have a mid '80s steel frame Bianchi, Italian made. I took it to my LBS to have a compact chainset fitted because I need the lower gearing. The mechanic said this was fine and sent off for the parts, a Shimano Claris 8 speed chainset and the appropriate bottom bracket (I don't know which one).

Several days later I received a call from the shop telling me that they were unable to fit the chainset because the bottom bracket was incompatible with the frame (and that others had been tried). More precisely, I was told that the external type bottom bracket required for the chainset would not fit the frame and, further, that the only kind of bottom bracket which would fit is an apparently no longer produced Italian threaded internal type square taper bottom bracket (And by implication that the current bottom bracket is incompatible with new cranks). So, the upshot of all this is - no new chainset, and I was told there is effectively no way to change the current chainset to a modern one of any kind.

Now, I should say that the mechanic is great in my experience, one of the most helpful people I've come across and always does a through job.

But... Is this correct? I thought it was common practice to upgrade parts in this fashion. It seems odd to me that there is no option to upgrade. Unfortunately I don't know enough to figure this out on my own. Is therea reason why I shouldn't be able to get a new chainset on an '80s Italian bike?

Thanks for your help