So I have this idea. I have an older Bianchi road bike that I don't ride much any more. I was drinking beer in the garage the other day and noticed 2 things. The frame/fork have what look to me to be rack mounts and there appears to be ample tire clearance. I am wondering if I can build this bike into a touring/cyclocross/gravel bike combo? My intended use would be 1-2 night road tours, 1-2 cyclocross races a year (never done one yet), lots of gravel/dirt road riding (I live in Colorado, thinking fall river road in RMNP). I've done some basic google research and the following is what I think needs to be done.
Cockpit - New bars, I'm going to stick with drop bars. I like the drop bars that are flat on the top. Should I stick with a quill stem or use a threaded adapter?
Wheels - New (to me, used is fine) wheelset, over 30 spoke count? MTB hub? Maybe 2 sets of tires. 1 for road touring and 1 for off road/cyclocross.
Brakes - Long reach caliper brakes. Looks like Shimano and Tektro sell new ones for decent prices. Anyone better than the other?
Crankset - Triple ring at least 22 for the small ring, do I want a MTB crankset for this? What do I need to know about bottom brackets?
Shifting - STI shifters, MTB long cage RD, FD (will I need a road FD to work with the STI sifters?) Thinking 10 speed. 36 t Cassette? Should I go bigger?
Racks - buy racks? Anything else I need to know?
Will I need to expand the rear hub size for a 10 speed hub? Bike has 6 speed now. Rough measure has the rear wheel gap at 127mm.
Anything else I should think of? Is this doable?
