corrado33

So I gave the Bianchi some love this weekend. It cleaned up very nicely.

I, unfortunately, think I committed a C&V crime. Whenever I purchased this bike everything looked original... All of the components were shimano 600, saddle was the original Bianchi saddle, etc. However, the levers looked to be no name something or other, and they had tan/gum colored hoods. I thought to myself "That looks odd on this otherwise all black and red bike." That, combined with the fact that the bars had been rewrapped and the bike had aero bars installed on it made me believe that the levers had been replaced.

So, I replaced them with a set of shimano 600 levers I had lying around, to match the rest of the groupset. Now that I look back at the '87 Bianchi catalog, I find that it DID originally come with gum colored hoods on some no-name aero brake levers and I feel bad. I'm not going to unwrap the bars just to put the original levers back on. I will, however, keep the levers with the bike so that if I ever get rid of it they can go with it.

As for how it rides? It is an extremely smooth and solid bike. No rattles, very free rolling. For me, it feels very SHORT, lengthwise. I measured the top tube and it measures 54 cm, c-c from seat tube to headtube, and the seattube is also 54 cm, c-c. (EDIT: Bianchi catalog says this bike was only sold in a 53 cm or 56 cm. However, I guarantee you it actually measures 54 cm c-c) When I rode it I immediately wanted to slide the saddle backward only to find it was already all of the way back! I suppose this is partly due to my main road bike having a very long top tube. My land shark measures 53.5 cm seattube and a 56 cm top tube. Combined with modern bars and brifters, I'm MUCH more stretched out on the land shark. That, combined with the "curved" saddle of the bianchi means I sit much further forward on it and makes me feel cramped. Although my back probably won't mind the change.

However, I will say this... The steering on the bianchi is butter. It is extremely nice. The bike is extraordinarily nimble without being twitchy. I can ride no hands easily, and I can throw the bike around if I need to. It is probably the best handling bike I've ever ridden. (Don't listen to me Land Shark, you're still my favorite...)

One complaint I have about this bike is the gearing. It's... TINY! It only has a 52 big ring and a 14-24 freewheel... I could pedal out of that on flat! AND the cranks are 170s! I don't quite know why the gearing is so low. I'm debating replacing the chainring with an equivalent one that's 53 or 54T, although I doubt I'll find the latter. Again, the original chainring would stay with the bike in case I get rid of it.

The one thing that bothers me about classic road bikes is the bars/levers. I just can't get used to them after using modern levers and hoods. If I have the bars/levers positioned correctly (opinion of the internet) (drops pointing to rear hub, levers pointing to front hub) the "hoods" are too far down on the bar to be comfortable. So I move the levers up a bit. It's a balancing act between semi-comfortable hood hand position and drop position brake lever reach. Right now I have it set up so that the hoods are... OK, not super comfortable but not UNcomfortable, and the reach in the drops is passable. I can reach the levers just fine, but I need to have my hands all of the way forward in the drops. (Speaking of which, this bike is extraordinarily comfortable when I'm in the drops, and I think I'd ride it that way 90% of the time.)

But anyway, here are some before and after pictures. Pictures really don't do it justice. The bike looks a 100x better than it did when it came in. Although it wasn't super dirty to begin with. Just... unloved.

EDIT: Oh and I haven't gone through and cleaned the wheelset yet. I got too excited when the frame was ready that I just hurriedly stuck the wheels back on to go for a test ride.

Before:

After:
I may lower the stem a bit to combat the "cramped" feeling. Which means I'll have to shorten the housings...


Before:

After:


And some random other pics.

The paint shined up very nicely. Unfortunately, for those of you who recognize this bike that came in with the Mondonico. This bike has slightly more "unrepairable" rust. Rust has gotten around some of the lugs and under the paint, so without removing lots of paint, it's not going to get repaired. The inside of the frame is fine (stem was ever so slightly stuck when I tried to remove it. A few love taps with the hammer loosened it up.) (EDIT: Don't mind the pedals... they were for testing. If I am going to ride this bike seriously, it'll have shimano clipless pedals on it.)




And yes, I know the 600 levers are older than the rest of the groupset... I only had one of the correct version (slightly newer/updated graphics) of the 600 levers so I couldn't use them, even though I wanted to.

Oh and this is the bar tape I chose.

Don't worry, this isn't how I wrapped the bars. I virtually threw the tape on there (without taking off the sticky strip protector) so I could compare red tape to black tape. I liked the black better. Plus the black has red highlights in the holes which is a really nice close up detail. I went back after and rewrapped it correctly... The tape was VERY short. I only had 1-2 cm extra when I finished, compared to 12-16 inches when I wrap with other tapes. (And the bars on this bike are really skinny, so I'm not sure if this tape would be good for very wide bars...)

bikemig 

I always thought these were sharp looking bikes and good value for the money as well. Sounds like you are going to want a longer stem there eventually. I like aero levers even on my vintage bike. They're comfy. I set my 1984 Trek 610 with aero levers and clipless pedals. The rest of the bike is vintage. I don't think it's any big deal to mix and match as you like.

corrado33

I don't know, considering the bike was literally all original (other than the aero bars), I feel bad changing it.

Wildwood 

Very, very nice bike. My guess is that you find it to be a great ride. Neutral handling, comfortable at most any speed, appropriate for most any task a roadie could fill. Lightweight wheels and new rubber will give it a decent racy attitude. You should enjoy it.


I owned a Limited made from Ishiwata 'Superset', 022 fork and main triangle - unsure of stays.
I initially used it as a fendered winter rider. Great all-round rider, good example of Japanese quality, this one without the perfect lug finish. It was sold. Probably wouldn't recognize it in the future, if I ever saw it again - huh @Lascauxcaveman?


I had mine pegged at 1984/85, but it may have been earlier. It was on the large side of acceptable fit and given the TALL headtube, it was made to stretch out and ride in the drops (as you mentioned, I think ).

philbob57

There are (at least) 2 ways to measure frame size: 1) center of BB to center of intersection of top and seat tubes - c-to-c, and 2) center of BB to top of seat tube - c - t. That's how a frame can measure both 54 and 56 cm, or both 53 and 54 cm, since fractions of cm are generally ignored.

corrado33

This bike measures 54 cm c-c, which means that it is likely the 56 cm size (c-t measures slightly less than 56 cm.) Interesting. Perhaps that's why there is very little seatpost showing (less than a fist's worth) when I put the saddle in the correct position! It doesn't matter what the claimed size is, I generally fit on bikes that measure 54 c-c, so it's good for me!

corrado33

Well I took the bike for a 20ish mile shake out ride yesterday. Replacing the curved saddle with a modern flat one fixed the "cramped" feeling, in fact, now the bike almost feels too long! Nothing that can't be fixed though. Again, the bike rides very well. The gearing is short, but since I didn't go down any huge hills, I didn't spin out of it very much. It does, however, leave much to be desired in the "climbing" department. I had to force myself to climb out of the saddle in 42-20 (or is it 22? I didn't count), just so that I could sit back down and have 42-24. Also, shifting between rings is odd because I'm used to a very large change in gearing when I do (compact double) but with this bike, it's just like another shift effort wise.

I have a shimano 600 14-28 (I think) that I may switch to just to give me a bit more range and help with climbing. Or I could just harden up... one or the other... Surprisingly, I think with the acquisition of this bike, I actually have most or all of the different types of 600EX 6 speed freewheels. I have a corncob, 13-21 maybe... then I have this one, 14-24, then I have one that's slightly smaller than the 14-28, then I have the 14-28. (I think velobase is wrong on the available ranges for this set, as I have at least 2 that don't match what they say.)

The tires probably need replacing as they're old. They feel supple, but they had the same problem the tires on my land shark did when I got it. They... vibrate? bounce? on the road at high frequency. I don't feel it, but I can HEAR it. Replacing the tires on my Land Shark fixed the problem. The tires are also a bit weird. They say they're 25c, but they look more like 23 or even 21, especially when comparing to the 25c 4000 S IIs on my land shark.