Presser

I've been riding this for a couple month. It's been bad weather but the odds are getting better. 45-55° all this weekend after negatives. 8)

Anyways, I'd like to cut, grind, sand, smooth all the remaining mounts and bosses on this frame. Brake guides and all. Then get the frame painted in a chartreuse to bright sea blue fade with a bit of furry colors thrown in the middle, like a fishing lure or something, then have the bold Bianchi decals replaced in a suiting color, probably black. I'd like to do the fork in black too with white Bianchi replacement decals. Get a black quill stem with a little deeper angle, get a new headset, a black seatpost, and maybe some track drops with a silly bar tape. I used to gripping bare steel and still kinda like it.

Dunno what finishing this project is gonna cost but hopefully completed within the next year. Until then it'll continue to be my first choice over the state frame build I have. threadless stems and modern track geometry in frames is kinda weird to me.

hockeyteeth

We have a thread for posting pictures of your bike. Also, removing all the braze-ons is a terrible idea. When you get into other styles of riding and sell your Aerospoke you will regret not being able to easily make this bike geared again. Plus the canti bosses are a great feature. I have a hard time finding many decent older steel frames that size with canti bosses. I removed all the braze-ons from a Reynolds 531 Peugeot on my first conversion and then felt like a complete tool about it later.

Oh, and you need some foot retention, bud.

Did you end up going to SD?

europa

So you want to stuff up a perfectly good road frame just to satisfy some hipster ideal. Mate, just sell the thing and buy a track frame without all the mounts and bosses. Anyone who does something to a bike that can not be reversed is an idiot.

SquidPuppet

I don't understand this belief. On many bikes that I have built, I wanted a certain combination of features that just wasn't available, unless I bought a custom frame. So, I've made irreversible modifications to my bikes. Afterall, I'm building them for me.

I'm building up an old bike (1977) right now that came with a chainguard. It isn't rare, exotic or collectable. I wanted this frame because of it's material and geometry. But, I will never run it with a chainguard, so I ground the tabs off of the frame and filed the contours smooth to match the NDS dropout. It looks "stock". To me, it looks proper and correct now. To me, I have taken a perfectly good frame and made it better. It pleases me. Who have I hurt by doing this? If I decide to sell the bike, everyone in the world is free to pass over it because two tabs were removed.

Justsomedude

Squid,
Agreed to a certain extent.
I am a musician.
In the 80's there was a 70's Les Paul "Deluxe" that wasn't very fashionable.
LOTS of them had irreversible routing done on the bodies so they could be modified to sound like a different model.

Now, the previously uncool guitars are more popular and expensive.
But sadly thousands of them were modified. I see some that have been hacked on again in an attempt at restoration.

All that said, I'm modding a 78 Schwinn that I know that no one will ever want to change back.
But so far it is all reversible

hockeyteeth

A chainguard is an accessory. Removing the ability to put the chainguard on doesn't affect the functionality of the bike much, but removing brake bosses and derailleur hangers certainly makes the bike much less versatile. It's just a regrettable fashion to try and make a road bike look like a track bike.

kimpw

I understand you. If you like the bike, it doesn't really matter what other people think.

I think people are pointing out that there is nothing wrong with having rack mounts on there. It would just be extra work on your part, and will be harder to sell later down the line.

I used to ride a Raleigh Rush Hour fixie, and it was very fun, but not practical. No rack/fender mounts, and no room for fenders, which in turn, decreased my time on the bike. I started riding an entry level aluminum road bike more instead (I like steel bikes all the way). I have since ditched both bikes and currently on a Camargue. Lots of braze-ons and spend all my time on the beautiful bike.

SquidPuppet

For me, it has nothing to do with making them look like track bikes. My bikes don't even come close to resembling a track bike, they are all upright bikes with coaster brakes. I like to remove everything that doesn't serve a purpose or isn't being used. I just prefer them to be simple, clean, stripped, raw, streamlined and purpose built. And to look that way.

You say it makes a bike less versatile. I build individual bikes for specific purposes. I'm not going to spend my time and money to build a bike that I don't like, just so the potential future owner will have his preferences.

I really don't get the "Regrettable Fashion" judgement. It's not some new trendy fad. I've been doing this to my bikes, motorcycles and cars for decades.

SquidPuppet

It's not work to me, it's a hobby. Creating a bike that looks exactly like the one in my imagination.

Not a concern.

hockeyteeth

Your builds seem reasonable. I was referring to the kids who cut off their derailleur hangers and pull downtube shifter bosses off. Those people are trying to give the bike a "cleaner" look and end up ruining a lot of cool frames. It's like all those nitwits building half-ass bobbers and brat bikes, detabbing a perfectly good moto frame for some silly fashion to post pictures on the internet. Why take a perfectly good bicycle or motorcycle and make it less functional for the sake of aesthetics? It's just not my thing, but to each his own.

Cute Boy Horse

You bold "purpose built" as if the emphasis makes it more true.

Mate, it's not any more "purpose built" once you permanently remove functionality than it was before. It was purpose built to be a bike. It'll still be a bike. You're not putting any magic property in there that wasn't there before.

That said, on most bikes I figure taking the brake cable guides off makes sense. Nothing else though, really.

Leukybear 

I think it looks nice as is. Why fix what's not broke?

All that money can be put toward another frameset/ bike.

SquidPuppet

Explain that part please.

North Coast Joe

I'm sure irreversible mods would not be a good idea on classic and vintage frames, but the few bikes I've rebuilt were dumpster fodder, anyway. I have no problem with carving up an unused piece of scrap recycling in order to make it function/ride/look the way I envision.

That said, I'm way behind the curve here in the quality of bicycle I ride. They still work for me, though. Anytime I want to ride, there's a refugee of the trash can waiting to wisk me away from my troubles.

I couldn't be happy riding with something unused and resembling a wart (RD hanger/brake mts/etc.) hanging off my rebuild. I say let the guy grind away until he's happy....or is this the last remaining Bianchi roadie on earth?

veganbikes

If you are trashing the bike please I will gladly take it from you and keep it in good condition. If you were doing it to a Huffy or Murray or Pacific or some Wally-mart bike I wouldn't care or if the parts you were removing were unusable but that is a perfectly good bike that seems to be doing what you want it to do. It seems plenty fixie enough and if you need it more fixie then it is probably not the bike for you or for that purpose. If I were you I would probably try and find some old Campy stuff and maybe build up a fun little 10 speed light duty tourer or randonneur or just leave it as is (minus the aerospoke)

TejanoTrackie 

This seems to have become some sort of save the whales thread.

Presser

Eh it'd be unique, barely ruining it, just not reconvertible back to road components. And this is the fixed gear thread after all. I'd end up buying a newer road bike anyways. Bianchi had some range steel ones from a year or two back that weren't carbon or modern geometry, classic road geometry and tube size, etc. I'd go with one of those. Plus this frame is a PERFECT fit for my one speed riding. I think it'd survive without having a couple ugly brake mounts sticking out.

TejanoTrackie 

Oh the humanity !

Cute Boy Horse

If you want a brake on the back then all you have to do is buy cable clips. Many bikes were already sold with them. Grind off a mech hanger and your downtube mounts and you're stuck.