BUILDING THE BIANCHI REKORD 841d

This lovely old Italian bicycle was almost perfect, from a mechanical point of view, and nearly as nice, cosmetically.  There were a few scratches but nothing that jumped out to destroy the beauty of the bicycle.  The art was almost unmarked.  If it hadn't been for the dust and chain oil splatter on the rear rim and spokes, the bicycle would not even need to be cleaned.

I gave the bicycle a complete inspection, having learned my lesson a couple of years earlier to TRUST NOTHING about a newly acquired bicycle.  NOTHING!  Check the bicycle over carefully and ensure that it is safe to ride - that is today's policy.

The items that need to be inspected before test riding a newly acquired bicycle are brakes for adjustment, handlebars and stem for tightness, saddle position, quick release wheel hub clamps, pedals and cranks.  These are the culprits that, absolutely must be up to snuff in the mechanical sense.  If any one or more of these items fails during a test ride, the bicycle can and probably will dump you on your butt or, in one memorable instance, right shoulder.  Not to mention the near face plant while testing a three wheel Supercycle.

Starting with the obvious, I grabbed the Allen wrench and tested the ITM stem and handlebars.  They were quite tight and offered no possibility of suddenly coming loose.  A handlebar set that is loose will make its lack of mechanical preparedness apparent the second you grab a handful of brakes.  The same is true of a loose steering stem.

The Modolo "Corsa" brake callipers were already set to an acceptable clearance and, of equal importance, properly secured to the frame set.  The levers were tight to the handlebars and pretty much ready to use.  The pedals were screwed fully into their threaded fits on the cranks and the cranks showed no sign of being loose.  Things were looking pretty good so far.

I loosened and set the tension of each of the wheels quick releases to my liking.  I tried to wiggle the wheels once the quick releases were set and found no appreciable play.  Only the sew-up tires needed attention and I pressurized them to roughly ninety psi, though there was no indication of minimum and maximum pressures indicated anywhere on them.

The saddle was tilted to a more reasonable angle and then set to my approximate height.  As an added degree of caution, I removed the quill pedals and mounted a set of my own clip-ins.  I much prefer to use these pedals when testing and riding my bicycles.

With all of the obvious things checked and adjusted as required, I turned my attention to the rest of the bicycle.  I took the extra five minutes to check every nut and bolt on the Bianchi.  Everything was fine and I was ready for what was to become a memorable test ride with a less that happy ending.

NEXT - RIDING THE BIANCHI REKORD 841d