3alarmer 

...I'm late here, and it looks like you're ready to go. FWIW, I'm relatively sure that your crank has a 144bcd, so there are some limits on how small you can go. Suntour used that standard for a while, as did Sugino on the Mighty and Super Mighty crank, all in imitation of Campagnolo, who used it for a long time on the New Record crank. Mostly the smallest rings you see are 42, but I have one or two in 40 tooth. They are pretty thinned out at the bolt holes. But you could easily come up with a 52 or even a 51 if you look around for a while.

But you seem to be in pretty good shape, so it won't matter much. Just stand up more.

Nice bike...very pretty.

malcala622

@Rippstar Hopefully the weather doesn't postpone or cancel Ciclavia. A little drizzle doesn't hurt but it doesn't look so good right now.

aprieto28

I want to build this virgin so that I can do Eroica rides. I have A complete Shimano 105 1055 Group. What are the rules for Eroica eligible bikes?

rccardr 

mech986 

Rebuild looks very nice. We were able to ride the Velo-Retro ride in Pasadena today, no rain, so hopefully Ciclavia was good. Hope to see you on the Pasadena Velo-Retro ride in May, first Sunday of every month. Will put you down in my spreadsheet for the 82 miler at Eroica! See you there.

Malcala622, are you going to Eroica this year?

mech986 

Pretty much lugged steel frames built before 1987 and have downtube shifters. Gearing is ok to change to suit your skills for climbing hills. Normally needs freewheels though. No clipless pedals unless you have a particular medical need for them (documented). Regular and Aero brakes are ok. You 82 Miyata would be fine, do you think you can build it up in time for April 6?

malcala622

@Rippstar ive never done Eroica and at the moment maybe never will. My family and I really love the Rosarito/Ensenada bike. Its a mini vacation for them while i pedal for a few hours.

Rippstar

@aprieto28 that's a gorgeous frame in perfect condition. I think the basic guidelines for Eroica is the bike should be circa 1987 or earlier, steel frame with down tube friction shifters (no indexed or STI brake+shift levers), and no clipless pedals/shoes. I think they now permit aero-routed brake cables. Period correct jerseys, shorts and shoes are also strongly encouraged.

I'm not sure how strictly enforced any of these "rules" are, but I think as long as you're complying with the vintage-y spirit of the event, you should be good. This will be my first Eroica ride, so maybe the veterans can pipe in with more specifics for you. Also, check out the regulation page on the website of the event you're thinking of doing. Here's the link for the California ride: https://www.eroicacalifornia.com/regulation

Rippstar

I really wanted to check out the Velo-Retro ride, but had already made plans with friends to meet up at CicLAvia. It was raining a bit at the start, so I made an 11th hour decision to ride the single-speed instead. Didn't want to muck up the "new" bike right off the bat.

Hope I can get in good enough shape to finish that 82-miler...

Rippstar

And, finally, here's everything all put together again...

rccardr 

Very clean, super nice job!

Honusms 

malcala622

Darn good job OP.

noobinsf 

That's beautiful!

Rippstar

Thanks to the C&V community for all the helpful tips, suggestions and encouragement. I seriously would not have been able to do this job without such a vast resource of knowledge and experience to draw from.

And now that I've buttered everyone up... I could use a little more help with a couple new issues that have popped up since I've actually started riding the bike:

1. The right friction shift lever (for the RD) keeps slipping. It appears the thumb screw that holds it in place comes loose very easily and I have to re-tighten it throughout the ride to keep the lever in gear. Is the shift cable too tight? Is it bad to Locktite the screw threads?

2. Those new Kool Stop pads work great, but squeal like crazy when I apply more than the slightest bit of pressure on the brakes. Any hacks for muting noisy brake pads?

3. Possibly the least and most important request... to finish off the restoration in proper fashion, anyone have a lead on an era-appropriate matching bidon?

velomateo

Rippstar, that looks amazing, really nice work there.

The Campy shift lever issue you're having is very common. I believe it's because the nylon bushings become worn and lose their ability to "friction". Honestly though, I've never used a new set - so they may have always sucked. You could try adding another washer to the assembly, that way you could add a bit more compression and that may prevent/lessen the slipping. When I used those levers in the past, I would just get in the habit of tightening the screw every so often during the ride...and definitely before a climb. The one sure fix though is to find a set of Simplex friction shifters. Hands down the best levers ever produced. I believe even Laurent Fignon used Simplex shifters disguised with those blue rubber Campagnolo covers while his team was sponsored by Campagnolo.

Rippstar

Finally got in a proper inaugural ride on the restored Bianchi. 30 miles, 2300+ ft. climbing with a couple spots over 20% grade. Definitely glad to have the 28 on the rear, but could have used even more mechanical help when I started to cramp up on the last couple climbs and decided to abandon the ride early. I definitely need to do more training pushing these big gears up hills (I'm more used to spinning up climbs on my triple!) Also, I got blisters on my palms from those super uncomfortable brake hoods/levers. How on earth do people ride on those things? I can't seem to find a proper ergonomic position on them, let alone achieving sufficient braking leverage while on the hoods. I switched to descending in the drops, just so I'd have enough purchase on the levers to stop.

Anyway, here's the Strava link if anyone is into that kinda thing... https://www.strava.com/activities/2202493045

Rippstar

Thanks for the history on those levers. I was able to fix the problem by just switching the thumb screws. I guess I had the left one in the right lever and vice versa when I reassembled everything. Didn't think it would make a difference, but both levers seemed to shift just fine for the duration of my ride yesterday without coming loose at all. Sometimes its the simplest solution, I guess...

Choke 

Your first sentence hit it on the head. I've been to every edition of Eroica CA and no one has ever checked out my bike to see if it fit the rules. I think the rules are more guidelines for the most part.

The Bianchi looks great.

Salamandrine 

Bike looks great. Congratulations on a good job! The Ofmega CX cranks look really good with a full polish. I should have done that to mine BITD. The factory anodization is/was a bit heavy handed. Must have been a lot of work to polish it off.

AFA riding the hoods, the short answer is that people didn't ride them - at least not all the time like nowadays. Best to adopt a different mindset when riding a pre STI bike. Normal base miles positions were the tops, the corners and the ramps, and the hoods. Switch around between them. Speed positions were the drops and the hoods (elbows bent). In that era the hoods were typically used: when climbing out of the saddle, as an aero position when riding pacelines etc, and as an alternative cruise position. It was pretty common to do in the saddle climbing on the tops.

Descending was always done in the drops, because it had to be, as you found out. If you tried to descend on the hoods on a club ride, all the old timers would have given you an earful. If you tried it in a race, you would have gotten laughed at and dropped at the same time, if you managed not to crash.

Salamandrine 

FWIW the last version campy friction shifters with the nylon washer always sucked, even when they were new. A lot of people switched to retrofrictions in 1984, for good reason. The plastic records can work OK if they are thoroughly cleaned of any grease, and a drop of loctite is applied to the adjuster screws.

The earlier all metal version made for decades work flawlessly.

Rippstar

Definitely more work than I was expecting. But once you start, you pretty much have no choice but to finish the job.