Bought and Sold: 1984 Bianchi Limited

I took a risk of buying this bike off ebay some time ago, despite the poor quality photos.
And the risk did not really pay off. :(
Although most of the parts were in pretty good shape (except some nicks on the rims -- which were gold anodized), the frame was pretty beat up cosmetically.

But ultimately, it ended up being quite useful to have, after my Univega Alpina 5.7's seatpost + saddle got stolen at Union Station. Instead of replacing the seatpost/saddle, I just rode this one.

And overall, I lost a little bit of money on this bike because I sold it for the same amount that I bought it for, but replaced the chain and rear tire.

Here are a few photos -- I don't know why but I just could not get this bike to come out good in most photos.

 

Lazy ride

Went on an extremely lazy and short ride to the bank and to the local Goodwill, and took this photo to commemorate it. The picture makes it looks like I'm in middle of a open field, but I was actually right off of a pretty large boulevard. They just have this strip of undeveloped land for the electricity towers.

1984 Alpina Ultima (4/22/12)

More Smartphone Camera Fun

I took these on the way back from work at the Union Station, using the Camera 360 app with the Sketch effect. Thanks to the super vibrant color of the flowers, I think they turned out pretty cool! I've included both the regular picture and the same pictures with effects.

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

MEGA UPDATE! Part 1 - Univega Alpina Ultima

I have been trying to find a good place to take photos of my bicycles around my new house, but haven't been quite successful. So the bicycles in the next few posts have been ready-to-ride for as long as a few months ago. I am not too pleased with these photos, but they've been accumulating on my hard-drive so I thought I would post some.

I've made some small changes to the Univega Alpina Ultima to make it more suitable for my commute to work (and HOPEFULLY very short tours someday):
First, I got rid of the drop bar and put on its original Nitto flat bar and slingshot stem. The bike is already a bit big for me, and the riding position with the drop bar gave me back aches when I ride with my backpack. The flat bar gives me a much more up-right riding position. Plus, the the stem is pretty cool looking.
With the new bar set-up, I put on Shimano BL-M730 brake levers (it has rubber hoods) and the original grips. The bike originally had Suntour Power thumb shifters , but I over-tightened and broke the left shifter's clamp (I was very disappointed at myself), so I put on Shimano Unishift thumb shifters. The the Unishift thumb shifters' got the ratcheting mechanism, and they work quite well.
I got rid of the SR MTE-100 since it weighed more and I wasn't really take advantage of the lateral adjustments feature anyhow. I replaced it with a SR TCO (supposed stands for "Tall Cool One") Sport seatpost taken off from a Trek 930. You can tell that the bike is big for me when you see how little of the seatpost sticks out.
I also replaced the saddle with the Avocet Touring saddle. I rode the bike to work in rain once, and the San Marco Anatomica saddle started falling apart too much for me to ignore it any longer. And lucky, the Avocet saddle has been very comfortable.
Couple other small changes were in the inner tubes and the chain. The previous tubes were super thick and were quite heavy. I kept them on because I thought it would protect against all the debris on the road, but I think they really added to the rotational weight of the wheels (this may all be psychological). But it feels like climbing hills got a tiny bit easier after I replaced them with regular inner tubes. I took off the old Dura-Ace chain since it was stretched, but I didn't have any chains long enough in my used parts bin for the bike's lengthy chainstay. So right now, the chain is an inch shorter than the calculated chain length. However, I never do big chainring to big cog gear combination, so I haven't had any trouble shifting.
The latest change has been the Bushwacker panniers. I just got them off ebay about a week ago for $9.99 + $12.95 shipping. I haven't put them into real action yet, but I hope they'll be a nice addition for my commute.
I also put the Blackburn Mtn Rack back on. I re-tapped the rear dropour braze-ons as suggested to me Erodstrom (by the way, you should also check out his blogs: Lugs & Bugs and Rebuild-Re-Cycle), and got some stainless steel bolts to fasten the rack. The only concern is that the panniers look a bit too close to the brakes.
What I need to get now are bigger toe clips for the pedals, and fenders. I'm still kicking myself for passing on a huge sale Velo-Orange had on a 650b/26" fenders a few months ago. I didn't realize how important fenders can be on a wet day.

So, here are some pictures:

1984 Univega Ultima - Drive-side. No rack/panniers yet (1/20/12)

1984 Univega Ultima - Drive-side. No rack/panniers yet (1/20/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Front view (1/30/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima (1/30/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Look at that clean fork crown (1/30/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Waiting for the Metro on my commute to work (2/1/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Waiting for the Metro on my commute to work (2/1/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Metro in the background (2/1/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Drive-side; with rack/panniers (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Cockpit (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Nitto slingshot stem (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Shimano racheting thumb shifters (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Univega grip (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Look at that angle/rake! (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Joytech hub (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Seat cluster; Avocet Touring saddle; SR TCO seatpost (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Bushwhacker panniers; side view (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Bushwhacker panniers; top view (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Bushwhacker panniers; rear view (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Stainless steel bolt (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Not too much clearance between the pannier and brakes (2/3/12)

1984? Univega Alpina Ultima: Initial Build

I finally got to building up a bicycle to ride. I had taken apart all my bicycles a few months ago with plans to overhaul and build them back up, but found the disassembling to be much easier than reassembling. But now that I have settled in to the new house and new job, I spent some time to build this one up.

If I remember correctly, I got this bike in the same bulk lot as the Specialized Stumpjumper in the previous post. I kept this one because it fits me (it is actually a little bit too big). I wasn't able to find too much information about this model other than some info on the 1983 catalog. Some of the components that were on this particular bike matched the info on the catalog, but many did not. Therefore, I'm not quite sure what year this is from. The date codes on components do suggest that it's a 1984 model.

From the 1983 catalog, this appears to be Univega's top-of-the-line ATB. It's got a pretty relaxed geometry with long wheelbase and high bottom bracket. Back when I bought this, I was trying to learn more about bicycle touring, and this bike seemed to have enough braze-on's to make it into a light tourer. It actually came with flat bars, but I've replaced it with drop bars and the accompanying stem, brake levers, and shifters.

I actually almost damaged this bicycle while putting it together. I tried to test-ride the bicycle in front of my house without connecting the straddle cable wire for the front brake. I got too excited and tried to go over a small bump, and I think it caused the wire to get stuck in the spokes, pulling the brakepads in with it, and instantly locking up the front wheel. I flipped forward with the bike, luckily only spraining my ankle and scraping my right elbow. However I did damage the Dura-Ace 7400 brake levers that I had put on this bike originally, and had slight bent the brake bosses. I am really have been hating myself for making this stupid mistake. But I was able to bend back the bosses, and align them sufficiently for me to reinstall the brakes. The Dura-Ace brake levers were unfortunately beyond repair.

I'm planning to put a Blackburn rear rack, but the previous owner had damaged one of the braze-on's thread because he/she used a screw with the wrong thread pitch/diameter, so I'm going to have to find a solution for that. It's also going to need a new saddle soon, since this one's all cracked. The current wheels/tires can be replaced because they're making bike pretty heavy. But overall, it's got some interesting/rare components. I think the original rear derailleur may even have been Suntour Superbe Tech (but the bike didn't come with it). If you look at the picture with rear derailleur cable stop, you can see that the original cable stop that's brazed onto the chainstay is actually facing inward. The 1983 catalog shows the same thing with the Superbe Tech's unique cable housing routing.

Here are the specs:
Frame: 51cm seat tube; about 31 inch stand-over height; no indications about the frame material - the '83 catalog states welded double-butted chromoly main tubes and chromoly stays; three sets of bottle cage braze on's; Suntour rear dropouts
Fork: No indication of fork material - '83 catalog states chromoly with aero type crown
Headset: Tange MTB-225; Dia-Compe brake cable stop
Crankset: Takagi XT triple; 26-36-46
Pedals: Shimano PD-MX15 w/ generic resin toe clips
Bottom Bracket: Suntour MB-V w/ sealed bearings; Vx taper
Front/Rear Derailleur: Suntour LeTech (The rear has 3 pivots; the front is "top-normal," as in it goes to the biggest chainwheel when the cable is relaxed)
Shifter: Suntour bar-end Power shifters
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace
Handlebar: Nitto B115
Stem: WIN alloy riser stem
Brakes: Shimano MC-70
Brake Levers: Aero Gran Compe (no hoods); Forte in-line brake levers
Saddle: San Marco Anatomica 371
Seatpost: SR MBE-100 w/ "longitudinal adjustment"; Sakae seatpost quick release
Rims: Araya 26"
Hubs: Front Joytech sealed; Rear Specialized w/ 6 speed Suntour freewheel
Tires: Cheng-Shin Electra (pretty darn heavy)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Drive-side (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Front view (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour Le Tech front derailleur (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Takagi Tourney XT (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Shimano PD-MX15 pedals (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour Le Tech rear derailleur (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Seat cluster; SR MBE-100 seatpost; San Marco Anatomica 371 saddle (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Aero Gran Compe brake lever (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Dia Compe cable stop; Tange MTB-225 headset (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Head badge decal (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Cable stop(s) (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Bottom bracket cable routing (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Rear view (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - SR MBE-100 seatpost (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour MB-V bottom bracket (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour dropout (9/7/11)

Another frame sold: 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport

I sold the frame/fork of what I think is a 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport for $25. I originally got it as a part of a police auction. It's fully lugged, and got a bi-plane fork crown, which I really like. If it had fit me, I would have kept it, too, since I think it would've made a good commuter bike. It also with some desirable parts, which I did keep. They include Sugino AT cranks, Saturne (?) rims, Blackburn rear rack, Suntour Power thumb shifters, etc. It also came with a Cr-Mo bull moose handlebar, but I am thinking of selling it if I can. Just as a record, this came with a 26.4 mm SR Laprade seatpost.

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Side view (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Special Series Touring Chrome-Moly Tubing decal (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Seat lug and Specialized seatpost clamp lever (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Bottom bracket, lugged (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Cable routing braze-ons (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Rear Dropout (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Front view (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Bi-plane fork crown (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Fork decal (4/24/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Specialized bull moose handlebar, top view (4/19/11)

1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport - Specialized bull moose handlebar, side view (4/19/11)