Making a Racer out of a Bianchi Volpe
I'm nowhere close to new to cycling. Been riding for about 26 years, raced almost professionally back in the late 80s, and nowadays tend to ride in the 100-200 mile per week range.
Sometime back in the late 90s I got rid of my racing bike(s) and bought a Bianchi Volpe. Loved it and still do. I'm a classic steel kind of guy, and like the ride. Back in the day, everyone raced on steel because that's all there was. It is, of course, heavy by today's standards. (In fact, my Volpe is heavy even by late-80s race standards, but whatever.)
So, here's the deal. I have a few races coming up this spring/summer, and a 300-mile tour in August. Frankly, I'm not really interested in getting back into racing, but am probably going to start doing a lot more big-distance rides. Nor am I going to get one bike for this, and another bike for that - that's why I got the Volpe in the first place.
All the same, there are some things I could do to the Volpe to make her more race-like. The obvious upgrade is the wheelset. A faster/lighter wheelset would help on faster rides/races, and I can always switch back to something beefier for my normal rides (like my 46-mile commute on questionable county roads). I'm open to other suggestions too.
The bottom line is that I don't want to shell out a bunch of bread to make a racing bike out of what will never really be a racing bike - all just for a few races. Yet, I don't want to drive a tank against a bunch of bikes half the weight. So, I'm trying to make some good upgrade decisions that will give me maximum bang/buck ratio in terms of racing performance. I don't want to upgrade something that doesn't really do anything for me. For example, my bike has cantilever brakes that, I don't believe, are really any heavier than high-end caliper brakes that are normally used on racers.
The second angle to my dilemma is that I haven't really looked at bikes/components in 20 years. A lot has changed, and I'm playing catch-up a little. The last time I really gave components much of a thought, there were (in my mind) two brands - Campy, and not Campy. These days, I'm not sure.
I'm wanting to do all my upgrading within $200-$250, but would probably be willing to cough up twice that for the right upgrades.
Any thoughts or points in the right direction?
-B