Nosnibor

So this was handed down to my dad from my Grandad, a keen cyclist.

I am new to the vintage road bike world, I'm a mountain biker by trade. I have entered a triathlon and am going to use this for it. It rides pretty nice.

Pretty sure it's not a bianchi as it's had a shoddy spray job and the sticker layout doesn't match any bianchi I have found online.

Can anyone decode this puzzle?


Fitted with a 'french stem' denoted by the dimple. Which causes a bit of wobble and has obviously cracked it. Forks look modern so could be a French frame?




Shimano EF dropout


Modern fork

A lighter blue under the bad spray

T-Mar

The serial number number indicates it was manufactured in Japan, during July 1986 by Kuwahara. I've collected literally hundreds of serial numbers for Asian manufactured Bianchi and have yet to see a legitimate Bianchi model manufactured by Kuwahara.

John E

Thank you, T-Mar. It is a pretty decent forgery, though, right down to the brake cable guides along the top tube and the shift cables under the bottom bracket.

unworthy1

the fork looks like bonded aluminum, can you
1. confirm that with a simple magnet
2. take a close-up of the fork ends (where the front axle goes)?

Nosnibor

nomadmax 

That ain't steel ^^

ceelint

Fork looks like the one on my Raleigh Super Course

unworthy1

the fork is bonded Alu and might not be original to that Kuwahara steel frame. But I think it's likely Asian-made (maybe Kinesis?) and not from a Vitus (tho that's also possible).

T-Mar

I concur, that's a bonded fork, likely aluminum and likely a replacement. Which raises the possibility that the reason for the poor repaint and re-decal might a crash. Generally, a fork takes the brunt of the impact but that repaint might also be hiding a slightly bent frame.

unworthy1

if it does in fact "ride pretty nice" then maybe it wasn't crashed, at least not hard enough to make the frame track poorly, but as T-Mar recos: give it all a thorough check.
One thing that's practically certain: it's not SLX tubing, but you can check for ridges in the butts of the main tubes if you open up the BB and shine a flashlight in there.
What is the seatpost size?

Nosnibor

Post size is 26.6mm

T-Mar

The post size is exactly what I was expecting. It's definitely not Columbus SLX (as if that was ever in doubt) and almost certainly a Tange tubeset. Unfortunately, Tange used a common gauge seat tube for almost all of their double butted tubesets. It's most likely Tange #1 or #2 but I wouldn't rule other lower end sets, such as Tange 900, Tange 1000 or even Infinity.

unworthy1

T-Mar knows his stuff!
If I had to guess I'd say it might be the better grade Tange tubing, based only on the nicer-than-middling forged Shimano DOs with chrome faces, but then again the lugs seem a little middling, the BB shell slightly better. Maybe Tange # 2 or 3.
That shot of the top tube shows there's some original paint (maybe graphics) under the current stuff: if you strip the top layer carefully you might expose enough to uncover this frame's original identity.
But I'd trust T-Mar when he says it's some Kuwahara product.

Nosnibor

Thanks guys, this is much more detail than I was expecting!

I'll scrape paint away carefully and hopefully reveal the brand name on the down tube, top or head tube.

Nosnibor

After a sandblast at work, it's revealed a dent on the top tube.

Schweinhund

Looks like a job for Lab Metal

unworthy1

forgot about this product, thanks for reminding us!
If you are PC-ing then you definitely want a heat-resistant filler such as this, but if you are just painting then my go-to is epoxy putty and there are many brands including made by JB Weld but cheapest is gray color intended for "plumbing" and sold pretty much wherever plumbers shop (Ace Hardware or the Bog Boxers, too). If you have a rag and alcohol you can get the excess putty really smooth before it's fully cured (but partially set) by just rubbing with the soaked rag, and greatly reduce sanding down to level it before paint.

Nosnibor

Started to build it up. Painted using spray.bike paint and a mix of second hand parts.
SRAM Rival 11speed groupset
Mavic Aksium wheels with 25c gp4000s

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Millstone

Nice!
Still going to do that triathlon?

Nosnibor

I did do the triathlon, but borrowed a bike as this one was in bits.

Fahrenheit531 

Pic 5 in original post: take a good long look at that crack along the crown. Maybe nothing. Maybe a potential horrorshow.

Nosnibor

It's all good. It's the rattle can paint job paint cracking along the join between sleeved joint.