Maelochs

Sheldon Brown and a 2x4 strongly disagree that one must retain that 126-mm spacing on a steel-framed bike.

Also ... plenty of people have toured and do tour on bikes with 126 mm dropouts---seeing as that was all there was once the industry moved up from the 120-mm standard. Three by six was considered quite adequate for touring--and this gentleman already mentioned he was willing to go all the down to a 42-32-22 MTB crank if needed (I find a 48-38-28 with a 14-34 is fine for most touring--or it was back when I had a working heart.)

He says he doesn't ride road any more and is intrigued by two-day tours, gravel paths, and maybe cyclocross racing. I see no reason why he couldn't make the basic frame into a bike suited for any of that.

I did 1100 miles in 11 days, fully loaded, on an old Schwinn frame (not a Varsity, thankfully) which had nothing left but frame and fork--but was built entirely (except rear wheel) from yard sales and trash-picked bikes. Bought a rear rack, built my own front rack, sewed my own front bags. Cold-forged a front derailleur mount on my garage floor. And Never held up the group even on the last hill of a day of endless hills. That bike was bomb-proof. (126-mm dropouts, by the way.)

We get so used to thinking that we need special gear, we forget that people used to ride 250-mile Tour de France stages on single-speeds with a couple tires wrapped around their chests.

The decision to build a cyclocross/touring Bianchi comes down to how he wants to spend his time and money. Whether or not he could do it and make it work is Not a question. Whether he wants to, is.

I see from your list of bikes, you have some nice machinery. Maybe you could answer some of the specific questions he asked about brakes, gearing, and whatnot, so he could make up a purchase list, price stuff, and see if he thought it was worth it?

Sorry to preach---but your sermon seemed to have hit one of my nerves.