Thought I would share the plans for my next bike project.
I've long been interested in the "randonneur" bicycles - you know, the spiritual descendants of Rene Herse and Alex Singer's constructeur machines, as proselytized by
Bicycle Quarterly and others. As interpreted around here, these are steel lugged frames, 650B rims with wide low-pressure tires, wide range gearing, generator hubs and lights, cute little front racks and authoritative handlebar bags, Brooks saddles, shiny metal fenders, long mudflaps, etc.
My experience riding a rando bike is just a quick half mile test ride of a shop bike, but it was quite eye opening. I rode on a few blocks of very bad road surface, the sort of decomposed concrete with exposed aggregate and patched holes that a city gets when it neglects street maintenance, and on my daily ride road bike with its 25 mm 120 psi tires, I usually have to lift my delicate heine off the saddle. On the rando bike, pedaling seated, I was more comfortable than pedaling standing on the road bike, and the bike felt quicker than I would have guessed from the fat tires.
It so happens that I pulled a bike out of the basement that looks suitable for a randonneur project. Here it is:
This is a 1961 Bianchi Specialissima that I bought from a farmer in Central Oregon for $175. The bike has led a hard life, is very cosmetically challenged with quite a lot of rust, including on the chrome head lugs and on every component that is steel. It has repaired damage on the downtube, missing paint, barely legible decals. But it is complete.
The components are Gran Sport rear derailleur, Record front derailleur, Gran Sport shifters, Universal brakes and levers, Record Strada crankset, and Campagnolo hubs with oilports (Record?), and a two bolt Campagnolo seatpost that might be an old Record post. The stem is engraved "Bianchi" and I can't recall who made the bars. Rigida alloy rims, Regina freewheel, unmentionable saddle.
I have been cleaning up the rust, and will eventually clear coat the frame - so it will be heavily patina'd, but not further deteriorating. The components are cleaning up as well as can be expected. The frame has quite a bit of clearance, and I will fit 650B rims and 38 mm or maybe even 42 mm Grand Bois tires. The Universal Mod 61 brakes won't reach 650B rims, so I'll use some Mafac Raids or similar long-reach Diacompe or Weimann centerpulls.
On the drivetrain. I want to keep the existing derailleur drivetrain, because I like the way it looks. However, I'd like to be able to climb bill hills, carrying stuff in the handlebar bag, with the tired legs that one gets after 100 miles.
That is a problem. The crank is 151 BCD so the current 50/45 is about as climb friendly as it can get. The rear derailleur won't take much more than 26T and has very limited wrap capacity. A low of 45 x 26 isn't really low enough. I thought about having the crank drilled for a granny chainring, fitting a long cage to the rear derailleur, and hunting down a longer spindle for the 70 mm wide bottom bracket, but that sounds like a PITA and I lose the current "look".
So my plan is to use a Sturmey Archer CS-RF3, which is a three speed internal gear hub that accepts a Shimano 8 speed cassette. The OLD is spec'd at 135 mm, but I think I can reduce that to 120-123 mm by omitting spacers and thinning nuts. No frame modifications necessary. The hub's offset will get worse, but nothing that an asymmetrical rim like the Velocity Synergy OC won't fix. The hub accepts a standard shifter, which will be a Nuovo Record downtube shifter mounted somewhere silly, like by the seat tube water bottle. I plan to use a 13-24T 8-speed cassette, possibly with thinner (9 speed) spacers, and hope to be able to get 7 cogs within the swing of the derailleur, which I've eyeballed at 30 mm with limit screws backed all the way out. The combination of 45 x 24 with the hub's low gear should give me around 38-40 gear inches, depending on tire diameter. 50 x 13 with the hub's high gear will give me something like 130 GI top gear. I'll have single-cog steps between gears. The shifting complexity of a old 4x4 truck. And to the casual observer, I'll look like I'm skimming effortlessly up 8% grades in 45 x 21, which should be good for a few laughs.
Hammered aluminum fenders, a gererator hub, dual headlights on a front rack, and one of those canvas and leather handlebar bags that look like they belong on a horse. It will be an ugly bike but I'll get to try the randonneur experience for not a lot of investment. And if I just love the heck out of it, maybe someday I will tackle the frame's cosmetics. Which won't be easy at all - strip, fill, rechrome, respray, redecal, $$$, ouch.
P.S. Anyone know where to get hoods for Universal levers?