Rondinella project

[Pu6486]

Evening all,

After my wife's (aluminium) 2004 bianchi developed a crack in its head tube, and the manufacturers weren't interested, I took all the components off (bar the cranks as they'd seized) and dumped the frame. Fed up with Unrepairable aluminium I started looking for an old steel frame. And have just purchased a 20.5" Rondinella (number RO82345) for her Got it fitted with a old, but excellent condition, Record headset.

The frame is a Reynolds 531 Special and, given its age (1982 I'm guessing) is mint, with all original decals etc.

All I've done to it so far is have the rear dropouts widened by Argos to 130mm and have fitted a set of downtube cable stops (I don't want to have the old bosses cut):

Made a quick start at transferring the kit and have a few a questions that I'd be grateful for some help/D&G (apologies if these seem open-ended and vague):

1. The bianchi's stem (ahead) is cheap and nasty, as are the oversize bars. Both are black powdercoated too. I want to get a quill stem and bars (old school unpainted). I was told the bottom bracket is Cinelli, so maybe matching? Anyway, can you suggest what sizes (if that makes the blindest difference) and from where? Happy for 2nd hand but don't want to be fleeced.

2. The shifters are 9spd Mirage. Though functional id like to upgrade (the rear Mech is 10spd Centaur). Any suggestions what/where? And can you still get metal levers (as opposed to black carbon ones)?

3. A compact set of cranks would be ideal. I can't see anything wrong with ISO square taper. Also what BB would be the best to mate it with?

Now I'd best start saving up!

Cheers,
Phill

 

[Nob]

Check out Hilary Stones website for possible needs
http://www.hilarystone.com/index.html

 

[Johnsqual]

Lovely looking frame, an unusual colour but very striking and attractive I think.

Bars: Here's an article with a rough chart dealing with handelbar width and drop (may be different for women though):

http://www.bikerumor.com/2010/12/28/tec ... ize-shape/

Any quill stem and bars would look nice on that - cinelli, ttt, nitto etc. Beware that older Cinelli stems had a slightly bigger clamp size (26.4mm rather than 26mm), so you have to match the bars and the stem.

BB: http://sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html
Is quite useful, but not complete. It says the correct BB length is 116mm for Campag 9 speed. Maybe different for 10 speed though...

http://sheldonbrown.com/bbtaper.html

Shifters: Veloce 10 speed shifters are available in alloy finish, e.g. from Wiggle. If you upgrade to 10 speed shifters, you'll need a 10 speed cassette too of course...

Good luck,

Johnny

 

[Pu6486]

Thanks for your responses. Given the hit-n-miss (quality/lemon) on eBay, I'll probably use someone like Hilary Stone. Great article about bar sizes- looks like it makes a massive difference, but the right width/reach/drop will take some sussing out.

One simple question: the groves in the bars (single/double), are they for routing the gear &brake cable sheaths?

Thanks again,
Phill

 

[Old Ned]

Lovely little frame, have you seen this -

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bu ... nella.html

It will have a standard British thread 68mm wide bottom bracket shell which any suitably threaded BB assembly (cassette, cups etc.) will fit. The Cinelli only refers to the manufacturer of the BB shell, Cinelli don't/didn't make any chainsets etc.

If you're wanting to go 10 speed - are there any square taper 10speed chainsets? In addition to all the road specific Compact chainsets, a compact chainset is only a MTB one without the granny ring so lots to choose from if you definitely want square taper - but you might need to check the compatability of the rings with 10 speed chains. Generally best to mate cranks and BB from same source but brands such as Token make compatible ones.

The grooves in 'bars are for cables running below the bar tape. Shimano run both on the inside of the bars, Campagnolo have brake inside, gear outside.

 

[cce]

There are campag 10 speed square taper chainsets.

 

[Old Ned]

There are campag 10 speed square taper chainsets.

Learn a little every day etc. etc.

 

[Pu6486]

Thanks for the advice all. Had a slight positive development today....

I was out today and found these hanging up in the corner of my LBS. figured they're about the right size. the guy wanted £8 for them, which seemed a bargain to me.

Any idea where these bars sat in the old Cinelli lineup? Also, any suggestions for a stem to mate it with (think I need 26.4mm?)?

Cheers,
Phill

 

[Nob]

the 66"s were best for chopping up to make good cow horns for the low pro funny bikes we had in the 80's I used 66 44's