DMC707

Well, I’ve had a self imposed exile from the hobby for a handful of months after my break in in January

But something very interesting flashed by in a Facebook sales feed that I had to investigate yesterday

Realizing that a lot of mountain bikes of this era , are not worth traveling across town for - I’m gambling that this one may have been one of the exceptions

Not the pinnacle regarding componentry, but darn close with DX. . It was a. Era Correct. Move to replace the rapidfire shifters with thumb shifters and this one has XTs.. first generation SPD’s , Silca seatstay mounted pump, a broken in concor saddle that I can use on something else
And most importantly, the lugged Tange Prestige tube set coated in Celeste green

Front tire likely original and the back is a ground control which I haven’t seen in over 30 years. Cute little Bianchi, branded bottle cages.

Oh well, I won’t mention the price, , somethings just cost what they cost but if I should want to take it for a spin, it’s technically my size

In a time period where I’m trying to downsize, I think this one makes a worthy new addition

wesmamyke

I have never seen the little add on hook for the pump in that location. Is that something that was common?

georges1

it is a nice lugged bike in great condition , go for it

Roger M

it looks to me like someone MacGyver'd it, using a rack mount boss.

DMC707

As Roger M stated - looks like a improvised setup, probably could have found a cleaner bracket, but i like it anyway

DMC707

Ride report- Was able to put 12 single track miles on this little rig before spring rains blew out the trail system.

The bike is slow per strava, but it feels like a rocket ship seat of the pants. Funny how perception gets skewed when riding a light bike with no suspension

obviously 100% power transfer is fun. Trails I took this on were pretty smooth and I have seen people drag out hybrids and make it around, so I thought was a good trail to relive lost youth.

The tall gearing (nobody ever touches the granny in Oklahoma , it’s just rare to get terrain that needs it) and light weight certainly contribute to a fast feel. The super narrow (they may be cut) bars need to be shelved though.

was a fun day on the trails . But looking at Strava tends to take all the air out of the balloon with many of my vintage rides, even on an easy loop, the little guy (26” wheeled bikes feel tiny now, ) the rig was down 3 minutes over 6 miles with a higher energy expenditure . I was expecting it to be faster judging by how it felt but I can equate it to driving my ‘71 Cheyenne Super with the 396 vs driving a modern eco boost F150: The Chevy feels faster because it does things in a dramatic fashion, It’s light, loud, poorly insulated , has a bit of a shake at speed due to vibration and having the aerodynamics of a brick , and a 1-2 up shift that feels like a boot to the rear.
But the new rig, just turn off the AC, activate the rear Locker and select “sport mode” for driving characteristics all right there at the turn signal stalk, and let it eat up the pavement.

it will be ridden again with the correct width bars, but it’s strictly a sunny Sunday cruiser due to its actual performance, but I will try to leave the Garmin at home next time and not worry about it

Reynolds 531 

The whole exercise is worthwhile, simply because of the Celeste cable housing

Piff 

I dunno if I'd go all the way to categorize this bike as a cruiser...I think of MTB stuff from this era as shred-lite. They feel great on fairly casual cross country trails, and were the homemade proto gravel grinder bikes for a reason, good for on and off road. Get some bullmoose bars or dirt drops on there and try again, methinks.

edit: I mean, it's tange prestige for goodness sake! Some new tires, and I think you'll enjoy it quite a bit more. I always had tons of fun hitting the trails on my 1988 Miyata Ridgerunner team and Valley Runner bikes.

DMC707

You're right - not a cruiser per se'. I remember riding everything on similar bikes BITD. The rocks, roots and climbs were all still there and the name of the game was light weight and a stretched out riding position. I was a poor student in the early 90's and would have loved to have had a rig like this

No worries on the tires - these pics were right after i got it home. I had some much fresher Panaracer Smoke Classics in inventory and put those on prior to riding it - the old tires looked too dangerous to trust


I've gotten soft riding stuff like the below bikes though (one of them is even referred to as "my moped" but its a hoot ) - the truly rough trails that were challenging even in my youth, i;ll leave to the modern rigs which feel like pedaling a sofa seat compared to the light and quick feeling Bianchi

t2p

sweet find really sweet