kbrye

I have a Cilo road bike from the late 80's (1987 model?). I like the bike and it was a graduation present (to myself). Is it doable / practical to upgrade the components? It has a Shimano biopace crank and 6 spd cassette. I was thinking of going to Shimano 105 with a triple crank and 9 spd cassette.

Any suggestions / thoughts would be appreciated.

Kent

stickydpaul

You'd need at least a new rear wheel so that the freewheel would be compatible with the 9 spd cassette. The rear dropouts would have to be spaced wider (which pretty much amounts to flexing it until you can get the new wheel in. Do you know if your shifters are indexed? If they are friction (only move as far as you move the shifter lever) then you can adjust them to work with the 9 spd cassette. You'll also need a 9 spd chain, the 6 spd chain is too wide for the 9 spd cassette, it will wear it out. As for upgrading the crank, see if you can pull out the bottom bracket and see if the width and length are written on the cartridge. Hopefully for your sake, its not some abitrary size like my old Raleigh Pursuit was.

Bikewer

I've been looking at an old Cilo available locally, and might pick it up to refurbish it. Despite being parked outside at the university, it still looks pretty good, with a chrome-plated front fork and Columbus tubing.

Might make a nice project bike.

Chongo

Since it's steel, just spreading the stays and putting a 9-speed wheel in should work just as stickydpaul wrote. I don't know about a triple crank though. I'm pretty sure that the BB is Italian threaded, so keep that in mind if you get a new BB.