Need help identifying an 80s Bianchi

[Reev]

A clear out of my Dad's garage has led me to stumble across a Bianchi [pics here], and I was wondering if you lot could help me.

First of all, from what I gather from trawling the net, this seems to be a Rekord of some kind? Any ideas what sort of vintage we're talking?

Secondly, I'm assuming the derailleurs are aftermarket as they're horrible Suntour jobbies that don't work, not to mention the fact that the shifters have been moved to the side of the brake levers and look cack. Due to this I'm probably going to single speed it, as it will probably be cheaper just to get a chain ring and single speed converter for the cassette. This leads me to ask - is there a certain type of chain ring I would need to match to the Sugino MP 110 cranks that are on there (and has anyone got one for sale )? Also, would this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Singlespe...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item56362a7cc2 converter do the job?

Lastly, the whole bike needs a good clean due to a lot of surface rust and birds' ex-dinners. The decals are also on their last legs, so where would I get hold of some replacements? There are a few sets on eBay but the font indicates that they're aimed at more modern models.

Hope that's not too much to ask for a first post, cheers!

 

[angeleye]

wow, nice find, wish my dads garage housed such treasures, im afraid i cant help you with i.d of the bike but it looks v nice

 

[monty dog]

I would suggest the date is late 80s judging by the parts and frame fittings i.e under BB gear cable routing.

The singlespeed converter is for a later, cassette freehub - your wheel will have a screw-on freewheel and therefore all you need is a screw-on freewheel sprocket from your LBS.

As for the chainring size, looks like 110mm PCD - if you measure the distance between two bolts, it should be 64.7mm:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#bcd

For Bianchi transfers try www.hlloydcycles.com

 

[hirosawa]

The singlespeed converter is for a later, cassette freehub - your wheel will have a screw-on freewheel and therefore all you need is a screw-on freewheel sprocket from your LBS.

There's something nagging me about this, like something more than just swapping the freewheel needs to happen but can't for the life of me think what. That said, I'm probably wrong - I posted something here before and then deleted it because I was talking crap.

 

[keithglos]

From what I can see in your pics this looks like a fairly low end Bianchi. I see the"made in italy", but it looks more far eastern to me.

Bianchi post WW2 made many millions of bikes, a very few were top end road racers. In the 1950's their road racers were notably very heavy, but actually felt quite good on the road.
Before chucking away the gears why not try a little gentle lubrication of every part that moves, and put the back wheel as far forward as the gear mech will allow.

 

[monty dog]

If you consider that Bianchi are the Italian equivalent of Raleigh, churning out millions of bikes, the majority of which were utility transport or 'shed ware' (or whatever Italian for shed is?). Very few were high end race bikes.

 

[Chute55uk]

The singlespeed converter is for a later, cassette freehub - your wheel will have a screw-on freewheel and therefore all you need is a screw-on freewheel sprocket from your LBS.

There's something nagging me about this, like something more than just swapping the freewheel needs to happen but can't for the life of me think what. That said, I'm probably wrong - I posted something here before and then deleted it because I was talking crap.

that will be the chain sag due to not having horizontal dropouts and single speed freewheels would be 1/8th and not 9/16th pitch so chainring would need ammending if my fuzzy memory serves me.
why not put some period derailleurs on it? i cant see it costing too much to do that.

 

[monty dog]

To run single-speed, all you'll need is a regular screw-on freewheel for a 3/32" chain - bike chain pitch has been 1/2" for donks.
You may to adjust the chainrings or bottom bracket to get the correct chainline:
http://sheldonbrown.com/chainline.html

 

[Chute55uk]

To run single-speed, all you'll need is a regular screw-on freewheel for a 3/32" chain - bike chain pitch has been 1/2" for donks.
You may to adjust the chainrings or bottom bracket to get the correct chainline:
http://sheldonbrown.com/chainline.html

what he said

its been a while

 

[Reev]

Cheers for the help guys, especially monty dog, everything you said was spot on. Thanks for that link for the decals as well, so much cheaper than anywhere else I could find!