The Saddle and Seatpost

 

The Saddle is made by Selle Italia and is marked up with the Bianchi name.  Good condition but has faded a little with use.

The seatpost is cromed steel, a generic make 26.2mm.  Some minor pitting to crome-work.

Headset for Bianchi Sprint

The headset is in fantastic condition with little wear to the races.  The bearings also in great condition.  The crome is nice and thick with no pitting.  No makers marks on this, though I assume it was made by Ofmega specifically for this Bianchi Sprint model.

The Simplex Transmission

The cheap bit about this bike was the transmission which is all Simplex, made in France and from the Bronze range of 1985.  Not of high quality but very functional and has lasted on this bike for 25 years or so, so can't be that bad.

The front derailleur is a Simplex SAX32 which has a date stamp April 1985.

Rear derailleur is also Simplex, model is SX 1 TP, max capacity 30 teeth rear.

Levers are also Simplex, model SJ 6311.

All items fully working and actaully shift quite nicely.

The Crank and Bottom Bracket

The crank is made by Ofmega and apart from being covered in 30 years of dirt and grime was in great condition.  It's very lightweight but I'm unable to trace the model.  There are no markings apart from Ofmega on the Crank spider or chainrings.

The bottom bracket is an Ofmega master in good condition.  It is obviously used with lines to the Cups and cone, but no pitting. I've replaced the bearings and it should be good for hundreds of miles yet. Italian threaded.

The refurbished Quill stem

Very nice ITM stem in great condition after a bit of a clean and polish. Its 110mm and dated 1985.

Very nice detail,eg. the made in Italy marks on the top of the stem expansion bolt.

Its an ITM aero stem ( XA) type, referencing it ro 'Velobase', consistent with a mid 1980's bike.

Getting started with Braking system

I've stripped down the brakes and levers and uncovered a nice set of Weinmann 500 Calipers and lovely Weinmann AG Drilled non aero levers. These have been de-greased and cleaned but are original in all other aspects. I have replaced the hoods with Cane creek as the originals are 'gone'.

The parts date to the mid 1980's. In particular the Weinman 500 brakes have a date code on them 1985 as per the photo.

The brake pads are nicely detailed with Weinmann and brev marks but are worn ( shall not be riding on these!).

A new project for the winter!

The latest project for the winter months is a Bianchi Road Bike. An E-bay find in good condition but listed as 1970's, but this model dates to early - mid 1980's. Still very nice and increasingly hard to find in 60cm size. Its only an entry level Bianchi but it is a Bianchi ( and in Celeste). It says made in Italy by F.I.V.E. on it, but not sure if that means it was assembled there or manufactured there. I'll have to research a bit.

I'll probably ride it in the summer months, to the pub and back, but it won't be used for any great distance, just to look at. I'll proabably also upgrade all the components as I have a spare campag record set which would look nice on this. All original components will be stored and put back on it if I decide at a later date to sell on.

The project is to fully restore from nuts and bolts up, a Bianchi Sprint 28C road bike. The bike is generally in good condition with all original parts except for the freewheel which I suspect at some point had been upgraded to a 6 speed shimano block....I'm not sure if this was originally a 10 or 12 speed?

Frame and paint in great condition so hopefully will turn out very nice! I may even splash out and Get it resprayed.

I will add photos and commentary of parts as and when done with final listing of bike sometime in the new year.