Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A bit of free time

Well, work has finally settled down and I now have some time to ramble on endlessly about bikes and junk pickin'. As I scrolled down my most recent posts dating back as far as April 2012 I realize that all of the projects I  had lined out remain incomplete projects. I've also managed to aquire several new projects. Several of these new projects will be general overhauls, which I tend to enjoy doing and therefore a couple of these have ended up at the front of the line.

The first such project........a 1985 Schwinn Mirada. Prior to taking the initial pics I did do a frame wipedown.




As you can see from the pics it boasts a 4130 chrome-moly main frame and forged dropouts with a derailleur hanger. Some of the earlier Miradas' where fairly unimpressive. This later model has a decent quality frame and components and was extremely clean when I found it. It is what I refer to as a "garage queen".......ie; a bicycle that appears to have been purchased new and hung up or put away in the garage, basement or attic for many years. In this case, 27 years. When a new bike gets ridden it tends to start releasing grease through the hubs, bottom bracket and headset. This Mirada has very little of that and when I put the wheels on the truing stand they needed very little adjustment. The rear wheel was a little off center but I'm finding that to be fairly common.





Last night I removed the crankset, BB, chain, wheels and freewheel for cleaning, regreasing and installation.

I should have mentioned this earlier but I am preparing for another swap meet December 2nd in Milwaukee. I would like to have the Mirada completed within the next week or so, as I only have about 3 weeks to prepare about 4 or 5 complete bikes, 6 or 7 framesets and a slough of parts and accessories.

Fast forward a few days........................and the Mirada is back together. I have replaced the seatpost and saddle with something a bit more modern. Wheels have been trued and hubs rebuilt. Headset has been rebuilt and new tires and tubes installed as well as some different pedals.  I decided not to replace the cables and housings at this point but I do need to do a few more minor adjustments, such as new grips and buttoning up a frayed cable end.



Sunday, November 18, 2012

Bianchi ID

A few pics in hopes of finding a model and frame tubing material.

The professionals have graciously informed me that this is probably an '82 or '83 Bianchi Special.

Double butted main tubes with Mangalloy stays and fork.

Link to inquiry......... http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/858308-Bianchi-ID?p=14972716#post14972716