One of my most disastrous purchases was this 1960's Bianchi. I believe I paid $230 for it.

Turned out to have headtube damage (a bit of a ripple) that was hidden by the DT levers having been secured to the head tube.

And the integrated headset bearing were rusty, the lower head tube lug had been reinforced, the 151mm cranks were even of different length, so it was a sh** pile for sure, with the chromed lugs painted over (obviously, after the torch work).

Perhaps it has value as a decoration fixture, but I'm done wasting any more time or money on it. Do I even own it any more? Did I hide it so I didn't have to look at it perhaps?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5858837808.jpg

I might be a moron, but I'd love to have it :D

:thumb:

Exactly this, don't screw around, start with Celeste and go from there. ;)

I have 5, all Celeste and would probably not buy any other unless it were something like this. :D

https://www.classiclightweights.co.u...enfold-rb1.jpg

Maybe but these are very scarce on the ground and many are in rough shape when you find them, maybe not this bad but plenty of folks would snap this up and do whatever it takes to right the ship. ;)

You must aspire to loftier goals grasshopper. ;)

With any luck, we'll get you there. :D

Most C+V can be retro modded and many of us do, they make for fantastic riders as you can see from many posts here.

All I can say is WOW!

Yes... and not without reason. Of course these integrated headset ones are a bit more challenging than the rest, still the reward is bigger as well. I know it for sure, The Paris Roubaix frame for EUR 250 I missed out for a few hours of hesitation because the seat tube tip with the serial was filed off is a podium entry of my long "never forgive myself passing that one" list.

Thank you for that! I was thinking that I'd get flamed for even the suggestion of a retro-mod.

Yep, these are the exception IMO, they and others came in this, blue, red, black, green and probably others so it would be luck of the draw, black would be my least favorite for one of these.

But would still have to jump if the right one came along. ;)

You're welcome, anytime.

Welcome aboard, glad you found us, you're in the right place. ;)

A finer more capable group of enablers you will not find. :roflmao2:

Most of us have riders done up as such, my daily one and I have several.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ad12313a55.jpg

it is about how many sprockets you want in the rear. came with 120 spacing for 5. 10 speed block needs 130. Ergo implies a minimum of 8 with 126 spacing.
You can bend it more than once but not a great idea.

OK, so spacing is a gear ratio thing. My road bike is a Shimano 23-11 and it's an 11 speed, so the spacing is very close to 1? It's set up for a sprinter. 120 or 130 seems huge. I guess I still don't understand, but if it's really a gear ratio thing, I'm OK with whatever.

Beautiful bike. I can already tell that my wife is going to hate you guys...LOL.

As gugie says "its way cheaper than hookers and blow". ;)

[MENTION=17433]myk[/MENTION]gtant - The spacing is about the inside distance between the rear dropouts.