yadadanika

So I just cleaned out my garage and found my dad's old bike. I cleaned it up & have decided to take it out to San Francisco with me. I'm new to this whole world of biking, so I was hoping for some help with what to do with the bike. It seems to ride very well and here is a list of its components:

- Bianchi Campione D'Italia (Tre Tubi Rinforzati, Formula Two Bianchi, Cromo Molibeno, Produzione Columbus) ('84-'88?)
- Bianchi Selle Italia Seat
- Modolo Start Brake Levers and Brakes
- Ofmega Master Derailleur
- Ambrosio 19 Extra Elite Rims
- Michelin Select Sport Tires, 700 x 20c
- ITM Bianchi Handlebar and Stem

Here's a pic. (Sorry for the quality, I just snapped a quick one with my macbook.)


Any help would be appreciated! (i.e., good bicycle shops located in the Bay Area, California.

Thanks!

Bianchigirll 

WOW nice find and your dad is letting you have it? that is very nice of him if it fits. it should be a great riding bike. why do you want to ruin it and make it a Fixed gear? if you live in a hilly area you may want to cruise around and get used to riding before you go to a set up where you have one gear and can't coast down hill. but that is just my humble opinion

Sdlong92

I personally wouldn't turn that bike into a fixed gear. It's much too nice as is to be honest and you could get a pretty penny for it as is if you ever decide to sell. If I were you I'd keep that bike and visit a thrift store and grab a frame for under $20 to convert if you really want one. I just got a frame the other day my size for $6.

Bianchigirll is definitely right about the hills. Nothing more embarrassing than having to walk up a hill with your bike so keep that in mind if you want a fixed gear.

Ride it around, I'm sure you'll love it.

djeucalyptus

ditto.

I love CD'Is... and yours looks to be in particularly nice shape. stripping it down would be a shame. if it were haggard and parts needed to be replaced, that would be a different story. but it's a nice bike that looks to be in great shape. hell... what size is it? I'd probably consider buying it

yadadanika

I think it's between a 49-50", supposedly that's good for me since I'm barely 5' 4".

I'm probably getting some campy derailleurs to put on this now. But thanks for the input, I'll prob ride it and keep it for a while.

mkeller234

Why Campy derailleurs? What is on it now? The parts on it may be just as good or better, so I am interested to know.

yadadanika

I think they're Ofmega Masters? No clue if they're good or not, not much info on them online. I've just heard campys are pretty good.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks again!

mkeller234

In my opinion I would keep the Ofmega master group. It's not something I see around here often and probably functions well.

Campy is fine and all but it's not the end all be all. Campy stuff (depending on the group) is expensive and depending on who you ask is not necessarily the best performing either.

If I had the Ofmega group on a bike I would covet it if only for the fact that it is unusual. Replacing with Campy is just an extra unneeded cose that probably won't make much of a difference anyhow... In my opinion of course.

mkeller234

How about posting up some good pictures of the group set, I would be interested in seeing it.

Here is what I dug up on velobase:
https://velobase.com/SearchVisual_Lis...a-c9caeccc1c68

BOBSONATOR

keep the bike how it is! The best finds are the "Garage finds", ride it and enjoy.

Mike Mills

It seems to me, this is a clear case of someone with little to no knowledge about what they have being on the verge of screwing things up.

It is yours, and you are free to do with it as you will, but if you are looking for advice (which is why you asked, right?), leave the bike as it is until you are more knowledgeable.

If you take something off, bag and tag it and keep it. Make no irreversible changes.

If you want a challenge, interview your father and record all his stories about the bike and riding it. Go to the places he rode. Take some photos. Make a book. Make some "provenence".

trueno92

i suggest getting another crappy off the shelf fixed gear and see if u can handle it.

converting it to fixed so you can walk your bike down valencia, is pointless from a cycling perspective.

fixed gear riders are universally getting much smarter and snobbier than they were 2 years ago. they critically look at your bike, and will happily point out how un-educated you are and how you ruined a perfectly good, vintage road bike.

i'll should know cuz most of them are my friends (cuz friends wouldn't let friends maul a vintage roadie)

mkeller234

I think this is excellent advice! Keep the parts if you decide to remove them and save them for later. Don't get us wrong, a lot of folks around here enjoy SS/FG bikes. All we are saying is, if you decide to convert it, this bike is cool enough to keep the option of converting it back.

I would also look for something else to make a fixed gear, but then again so people like nice fixed gear bikes. I would at least ride it around San Francisco before you make the decision! If there was ever a city for a wide range of gears!

Bianchigirll 

Hello yada. I am trying to figure out what year your bike is. can you post some more pics? does it actually have "campione de italia" on the top tube? the only white 'CdIs' I can find that are close are from '83/'84. but they should have Campi Nouvo record. I want to see if you bike is something else. is the shifting indexed? is the tubing Formula Uno or Tre Tubi Alle?

bikerosity57

Fixed gear? No way! Are you nutz?

bikerosity57

You are nutz. Gotta be.

mkeller234

^Nah, just a Newbie seeking some guidance. I'm still a newb myself so let's go easy on the OP?

John E

Nice bike! (See my signature.)

The Ofmega derailleurs probably work as well as their Campagnolo equivalents and not as well as SunTour Cyclones from the same vintage. I would keep it all-original, with the possible exception of substituting a 7-speed freewheel.

yadadanika

Thanks, mkeller234. Definitely a SUPER newbie. But thanks for all the input, side comments and all.

I'll try to get up some new pictures as soon as I can. Like I said, I definitely scratched that fixie idea since I definitely don't want to be walking my bike up the many hills of SF. Anyway, American Cyclery is close to my campus, so I'll check that out this week.

unworthy1

formula two tubing, tre tubi. It has short drop-outs: so not a good fixie candidate, anyway.
American Cyclery is great, but there are other fine shops in SF, too. If you have a budget (and not a trust fund) you might check out the Bicycle Kitchen.
Pedal Revolution is a collectively-owned shop, and Valencia Cyclery and the Freewheel across the street are both conveniently located for people who walk their fixed-gear bikes down Valencia (which is flat, so the poseurs actually RIDE them there).
And there are plenty more...unlike the destruction following the dot-com crash, bike shops seem to be *opening* around here, and staying in business (well, sort of). There's even a guy named "Ben" who sets up a mobile repair "shop" in the Panhandle near the bike path (lowest overhead in town)...
be sure to check out the SF Bike Coalition for their classes in bike maintenance and riding skills, and for general cycling support (there's also a discount from most of the shops and other stores with membership).

bikerosity57

You don't get a really nice bike like this, and then turn it into a fixie. You first get a reasonable, but not top notch bike and fixiate it. I myself have a Bianchi campione del mondo in my basement which I bought cheap at a yard sale. But, I made my fixie out of a Shogun. You just don't destroy great bikes by making fixies out of every single one.

mkeller234

^ Just to play the Devil's advocate for a minute, don't you believe that a bike can be converted to fixed gear without destroying it? If you leave all of the guides and bosses on the frame and keep the original parts stored away safely then I don't see what has been destroyed? I'm honestly not trying to pick a fight here, just curious.

terrors

My CDI is a 1988, I am assuming it is an '88 because it has a Colorado 86-87 decal on it, is Columbus Formula two, all Ofmega even the pedals(that are not on the bike in this picture) which look like a Gran Sport clone, 3ttt bars, black ITM stem, rims are FIR. The Ofmega derailleurs are 'Master' not the best of the Ofmega lineup as someone has mentioned but very nice. Brakes are Modolo 'Start' flat gray annodized.

yadadanika

The other pictures wouldn't upload, so I'll try and get some more up tomorrow. Sorry for the wait, been on vacation...

lsrose

Been said a bunch but yah that bike is too pretty and too classic to make into a fixed gear.

Awesome bike =)