gmcjetpilot

This is my 1983 Bianchi Randonneur I owned since new. I just restored it. What tools do I need to pull crank bottom bracket bearing to service bearings. Also reat Sprocket Free Wheel tools.

Related question. Do I need to do it. I just road it 28 miles today. Seems IK. However age, disuse last 29 yrs ( but road frequently first 10 years) makes me think cleaning, inspection, grease will do wonders. The fork bearings were dirty and dry. How do I know if it beeds this service w/o disassembly. SEE POLL


1983 Bianchi Randonneur Crank

1983 Bianchi Randonneur Crank Sprocket

1983 Bianchi Randonneur Free Wheel

1983 Bianchi Randonneur Rear Sprocket Derailleur

bargainguy

A wide flat screwdriver to remove the crank dustcap;

A cotterless crank tool to get the crank arms off the spindle;

A lockring tool to remove the bottom bracket lockring;

and a pin spanner to remove the adjustable BB cup.

WGB 

When you remove the rear wheel you can get the name of the brand for the freewheel. Either that or photo it with quick release skewer removed.

Every brand requires ifferent freewheel tools. Once we know what fw you have we'll point you to the right tool

SurferRosa

The combination of these two sentences make no sense.

mpetry912 

I think he is talking about a cosmetic restoration only.

the freewheel tool is a question mark until we know the brand.

/markp

mpetry912 

sure I have. the most charitable interpretation of the term.

some would call it a "conservation". Just a clean up.

See also "preservation class" Preservation Class Cars - Hagerty Media

it ain't me but it's up to the owner.

/markp

Bad Lag

gmcjetpilot,

Remove the freewheel from the rear hub and soak it in solvent. Flush it with clean solvent after soaking. Let it sit in the sun until it is hot to dry it out.

Then, add oil thru the little gaps on both sides. Spin it as you add the oil. Spinning helps the oil spread rather than pool in one spot. Also, you will know when the oil has reached the ratchet mechanism, as it goes quiet when wet with oil.

DO NOT disassemble it under any circumstances.

Add a little anti-sieze or grease to the hub threads before screwing the freewheel back in place.

Add oil to the freewheel whenever it gets really loud.

Keep your chain oiled, too. A little bit every 100 miles or so. When you can hear it, it is dry.


TOOLS NEEDED -
freewheel removal tool
Large wrench (bigger is better) :-)

Bad Lag

gmcjetpilot,

I'd say service the bottom bracket as the grease is likely shot (dried out).

It takes a few tools to do so and I'd say either invest in the tools (and the skills) or buy a sealed bearing bottom bracket and have a local shop install it (my recommended approach).

There are several different ways to do this, each requiring a slightly different tool set.

If you want help, please ask.

TOOLS (for one method) -

Crank bolt wrench/socket (thinner wall than normal)
Crank arm puller
Lock ring pliers/spanner
Pin wrench for adjustable cup

JohnDThompson 

And unless you're planning to replace the entire bottom bracket, don't bother removing the fixed (drive side) cup; clean it in place and reassemble with fresh balls and grease.
For that, we need to know the brand and model of the freewheel itself. If the SunTour derailleurs are original, chances are that the freewheel is also SunTour, and tools for those are readily available. Take the wheel out of the frame and get a close look at the faceplate on the freewheel to see who made it and what tool will work to remove it.

abdon 

Nice! I just restored my car earlier today!

I call BS of the worst kind. Cleaning is cleaning. Restoring implies making something mechanically work the way it was meant to.

SpedFast

Unless it has wobble play in it. Then spend the 20 bucks to replace or open that baby up and throw in some new ball bearings. They're are 2 rows of them and they are really small. You do not use grease on them. Good 30W oil is fine. The only time they see use is when you're not pedaling (coasting). Good luck and enjoy,

nlerner

I like a good restorative shvitz now and again.

Bad Lag

I've had new freewheels with lots of play in them. I think they were either Regina or Atom or ???

Still, you could be right but start with cleaning and re-oiling and go from there.

pastorbobnlnh 

IMO, the freewheel service advice offered by Bad Lag and Spedfast is incomplete and only a short-term temporary solution.

I agree with JohndThompson that the freewheel is a Suntour. I'm confident that this is so by the bevel on the largest sprocket's teeth. I'll venture further that it is the "Perfect" model and uses the two-prong remover.

Looking at the overall condition and the fact that it is 40 years old, I'd encourage a complete overhaul and not just a flush and dribble. A full cleaning of the interior will reveal if there is corrosion on the surfaces, pawls, and bearings. The bearings on this model were not as high a grade as the ones in the ProCompe model and often need replacement. They are 1/8" in size.

New grease on the bearing races does wonders for the performance and the grease, especially synthetic grease, does an excellent job keeping future contaminates out of the internal portions. Oil cannot do this and leaks out the same way it was applied.

RH Clark

The bike looks neither cleaned nor restored, but the dude is asking about tools so he's trying.

I would replace chain and cables and clean as well as do the BB, freewheel and hubs.

Bad Lag

The hubs look to be sealed bearing units. Other than cosmetic cleaning, no internal maintenance is required.

Guy comes looking for maintenance advice and gets criticized over whether his cleaning efforts met someone else's criteria for "restored".

While I am sure pastorbobnlnh is correct about a deep cleaning of the freewheel, I just don't think it is essential or advisable for a newbie to do that particular operation,... yet.

SurferRosa

Bad Lag

I went to the Park Tools web site and priced out the tools needed to service the bottom bracket. It worked out to be about $69, which is surprisingly low.

Freewheel removal tools are $10, assuming you already have a large enough wrench to unscrew the freewheel.

So, for under ~$100 including tax and shipping, you can have all the tools to do these two jobs.

SurferRosa

Appears this the third started thread by the op asking for bb and hub tools for this bike. Seems he received a lot of good info already in the first two.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ity-check.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...les-chain.html

nlerner

Third time's the charm?

gmcjetpilot

XH Suntour MAEDA Industries.

jiangshi

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/produ...l-remover-fr-2

Soak it in PBBlaster or Kroil for a good long time. Leverage is your friend.

gmcjetpilot

res·to·ra·tion
/ˌrestəˈrāSH(ə)n/
1) the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.

Your comment is laughable and pedantic.. Yoda say? Helpful,not he is..... Ha ha. It was more than cosmetic. Serviced or replacement of everything that was needed. The.key word NEEDED. I even had a new fork fabricated (long story)., My bike since new 1983, it was in storage 20 years and not ridable. I road it yesterday 20 miles. Amazing. A lot of my time and money. I am calling it restoration because I speak English. My story and sticking to it. Bianchi recalled the fork on the early Bianchi Randonneur's in 2000.
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1990/bi...20the%20riders.

To Bianchi's credit compensated me slightly, but I had to send fork back. I could have kept it. May be I should have.. I could have scrapped it but decided not to. Glad I did restore it. I sourced a fork that was close (not easy or cheap). I had an amazing local bike frame maker modify it to match the Bianchi Randonneur configuration (cantilever brakes, dual lugs for fender and/or rack). More than cosmetic and very proud of my work, including paint matching of forks which were all chrome. I may find some Bianchi stickers for fork to match original. Yes restoration and more than cosmetic. As far as free wheel and bottom bracket/crank they seem OK, but as I said I still want to service it. There is no LAW that says this work is required to call a bike restored. I have some hardware that needs re-plating, polishing, painting. .For now I am going to ride it and enjoy it. Regardless the bike rides like it is 1983...
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...y-check-2.html

SpedFast

I'd call it a work in progress, but really glad you're enjoying it and riding it. That is what it's all about.

gmcjetpilot

You don't speak for everyone. Sorry. My English is correct. Then you make more stipulations what restored is which is presumptuous. I'm not new to bikes or restoration of all kind of things. As far as service of bottom bracket and free wheel it is likely according to experts it may be fine as is. I checked function, play, freedom of movement, resistance and sound. All is normal, smooth. As I saiid I will service it only because I want to, not to get your Resto stamp of approval. I also want to tear it down and clean, refinish derailleurs and chain gears, thank you very much. I am not going for a show bike to go into a museum my friend. Just giving the old bike some love which I call restoration. By definition it is just that. Your orthodoxy makes me laugh. I disagree with your definition.

I could bring it to one of 4 bike shops and have it done for $100+tax. However I like restoring things and I'm good at it. I also have a nice shop with every tool you can imagine. However I'm thin on specialized bike tools. I need an excuse to buy more tools. I want to learn how to service these components. YouTube has plentiful help. It really is up to me what I do. i just asked for tool suggestions. It's just a bike not "rocket surgery or brain engineering". Ha ha. I could likely do the job with tools I have or improvise some. However I like having proper tools.
o So it's not 100% original and that is also problem for you? .Ha ha. You are quite the authoritarian. This is for fun. Sorry. Don't care. Like cars and motorcycles I restored, some near100% original but with tasteful upgrades or modifications. NOTHING IS ORIGINAL once you restore it. You want original you do nothing to it, warts and all. The seat is not original and I will replace the cables in near future with suitable replacement. Not original.. Other restorations I did were very modified. They were restored better than original in many cases. The term is RESTO MOD. Sorry to trigger you by calling it a restoration. I Love it ❤️. That is all that matters.

Fork? I did not want to risk fork failure doing 20 mph. Mine was out of the serial numbers from bikes made in 1983 to 1984 affected. Its possible it was fine. Again Bianchi took good care of me. They have a life time warranty! You are not comprehending the fact this is my bike since new 40 years ago. BTW this is not the only bike I've owned since, past or present. I had half dozen b but sold 2 recently.. I maintain them all.

Then you apologize "forum lead you in that direction". Ha ha.. I make my own decisions and researched it. I'm sure I know more about Bianchi Randonneur forks than you. I'm no bike expert like you, but I'm not new to bikes and know math, physics and science. It is restored, done, rides like a dream, no regrets and LOVE IT. Nothing you say can change my joy. It works beautifully even with new MOD fork. Value lost? Don't care. If it was 1000% original pristine yes it would be worth more. I have a Rolex Explorer II I bought new in 1993. I am thinking of selling it. I lost the original box and paper work. Even though it is worth 3 to 4 times what I paid for it, it's worth less due to not having the box and ppw.

The chance of finding just a Randonneur fork, this size, out of production for 30 yrs. slim to nil. They apparently had some to support the recall 23 yrs ago. I talked to Bianchi USA manager of warranty and there has been no stock for decades. Buy a whole vintage Randonneur? I saw them. They were in poor condition, not original, missing parts and $400-$700 asking. Mine is in good condition, and have about $300 into new tires, tubes, brakes, handlebar wrap and lever covers, misc. The $300 is including $140 into the fork. I kniw the frame maker and he gave me a good price. Mod of the steerer I did. I have machine shop tools. I loved working on it. I work on cars, motorcycles, airplanes, restore tube electronics.... I'm kind of handy RESTORING things. That is what I do restore restore and more restoration. No one ever told me what I did was not a restoration until now. Ha ha.

I just need tool suggestion not life advice or nit picking words or patronizing feeling sorry for me. What is your deal? I could care less about original. I made that decision. It's time for me to enjoy my bike again and ride it. My time in the saddle yesterday peddling on the miles of smiles confirms my choice. It rides better than any street bike I ever owned. BTW Bianchi took care of me.. I am way ahead. So chill.

Please stop ✋️ replying if you don't have a relevant comment about tools and service please. To those that did help me thank you!!!!!