1994 Bianchi Osprey… my first “real” MTB?

Nice! I think I have Superset 2 as well. I’ll have to check today. What size seat post did you use? I think I measured 25.4mm.

I’m planning on using a Nitto UI-5Ex stem, at this stage. It’s reasonably slim looking, but I might keep an eye out for a shorter 1” threadless stem as well.

Also, I found this meme relevant this morning.

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Did some digging around today to try and get some bits and pieces for this. As mentioned before I have a shim to go from 1” to 1 1/8” on its way in the post… so what do I find today? A shim to go from 1” to 1 1/8”. Oh well. Put the stem on to get a feel for how it will look.

Found some heavy gouging on the drive side chainstay. Hopefully this doesn’t cause any issues. I really need to clean the whole frame, possibly sand / scour back some of the surface rust and clear coat the whole thing.

Also found a brand new set of brake cables left over from the Spacehorse rebuild, the shim for the front derailleur, the front wheel and some quick release seat post binder bolts for that retro MTB feel. Which is handy, because I need a binder bolt.

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I am actually pretty sure the seatpost was not 25.4mm in my frame. They measured it at the LBS and I have a slight feeling it was 26.8, but I will need to double check this later...

Interesting. I have a BNIB Uno 26.8 post that I bought years ago because it was cheap, sitting with my bike stuff (somewhere). Hopefully this is the case. Would make my life a lot easier!

Borrowed a crank puller after it became too hard to look for mine and… bingo. Of course I thought I was going to strip the threads on the non-drive side after a few failed attempts to extract it. Going for the hybrid wanker vibe with the coloured chainring bolts. Just needs a quick clean.

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Which reminds me, need to get some anodised bolts as well.
What’s that chainset?

I’m not 100% sure of the model, I just know it’s a Sugino crankset.

Also, more hybrid wanker touches.

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My knees (and skills and age and fear of getting hurt) may not let me be a track bike riding skateboarder anymore, but you can’t take take the aging skateboarder that started riding track bikes 10+ years ago out of me. I remembered I had this MASH “Spitfire” top cap, now I finally have a bike to use it on.

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Those crimp-end-things are really neat.
Edit. From eBay?

Yeah. There’s heaps on there in various colours, just search for “cable ends” in bicycling parts on eBay. I bought these from an Australian seller for under $10 for 20 posted.

Found this online. Shame there’s no photo, or seat post size, but it has the specs. If my frame is 1994, it should be the same as this.

Bianchi Osprey

Distributed by:
Bianchi USA, Inc.
21371 Cabot Boulevard
Hayward, California 94545

Country of Origin: Taiwan
Sizes Available: 13.5, 15, 17.5, 19.5 (tested), 21.5" (measured center to top of seat tube)
Weight: Frame, 5.30 lbs.; Fork 1.82 lbs.; Bike 28.16 lbs.
Frame: Bianchi SuperLug/SuperSet-2 Tange double butted Chrome-Moly tubing; Tange Ultralight Chrome-Moly butted fork

Wheelbase -- 41.5 in.; 105.41 cm
Seat tube -- 19.5 in., 49.53 cm (actual, center to top)
Top tube -- 22.5 in.; 57.15 cm (effective)
Head angle -- 71 degrees
Seat angle -- 73 degrees
Chainstays -- 16.75 in.; 42.54 cm
Bottom bracket height -- 11.75 in.; 29.84 cm
Fork rake -- 1.75 in.; 4.44 cm
Trail -- 2.62 in.; 6.65 cm

Wheels:
Hubs -- Shimano Alivio Parallax, quick release, 135-mm rear axle spacing
Spokes -- 36, 14-gauge stainless steel, 3 cross
Rims -- Araya VP-20
Tires -- Ritchey Megabite Hardrive, 26x2.1

Drivetrain:
Derailleurs -- Shimano STX (Top Pull Front), Shimano STX Rapidfire Plus shifters
Chain -- Shimano Hyperglide
Crankset -- Sugino Impel 300 Supershifter, 175 mm crankarms
Bottom bracket -- Tien Hsin Cartridge
Freewheel -- Shimano 7-speed cassette

Components:
Brakes -- Shimano Alivio
Pedals -- Steel/resin; nylon clips, nylon straps
Headset -- Dia-Compe "Aheadset"
Seatpost -- Kalloy 300mm micro-adjust alloy
Saddle -- Bianchi Hi-density
Bar/stem -- Steel 23" bars, Chrome-Moly "Aheadset" type 14 cm. stem, Onza bar ends

Looks like scratched chainstays are a thing with these frames.

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Looks like scratched chainstays are a thing with triples
Because chainsuck

After seeing this, I kind of wish I went even bigger than 2.2” tyres. Maybe next time.

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I bought one of these cheap alloy MTB front racks for $18 posted. I just needed something to zip tie a Wald 137 to, and this fits the bill. I’m going to leave the Soma Porteur rack on my Spacehorse forks because it’s all set up nicely with a mudguard attached. I also think the Porteur rack will be overkill for what I want on this bike.

If this rack works out I might replace the beat up Velo Orange one I’m using on the Paconi.

EDIT: Looks like the same / similar rack is being used on this bike (according to the comments).

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Considering getting either the white braided or sterling silver Jagwire brake and shift cables. Thoughts?

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Silver shift cable, white brake cable or vice versa

Silver and pink cables! Matches those cable ends/crimps.

That might be a bit too wanker hybrid. Might just stick with black. I have a black saddle and grips, and decent quality black outers is easily to source.

After struggling with the wheels on the Spacehorse today I thought I’d do something simple, so I put the Sim Works bars on to see how they’ll look with this build. I also decided against the Spitfire top cap. The white clashed too much with the silver stem.

Hopefully I’ll be able to clean the frame up tomorrow.

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Looking very cool!

Cleaned up the frame today. There was some random paint splattered on there (which ironically was a Bianchi Celeste colour), which I had to scrub off. I think using a scouring cloth might have dulled / scratched the finish a bit. It looks great wet, but not dry. I might try and polish it or clear coat it with a metallic flake.

I also fitted the tyre on the front wheel and checked for clearance, which there’s plenty of. That’s with a 26x2.25 tyre.

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After getting a new freehub today, I could finally regrease the rear hub and install the cassette. Also got a seat post binder bolt.

Fitted the wheels to see how it looks. Still need to swap the rear tyre out to match the front, but it’s looking pretty good. I believe the kids say “chonky”.

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So good

Clear coated the frame today. Kind of wish I went for gloss clear coat, not satin. It looked amazing when it was wet. Oh well. Still looks better than it did pre-clear coat. The picture below shows the left side wet and the right side not painted. I might get some gloss clear and do a coat of that. The second photo is the satin clear dried. Also removed this sticker off the chainstay and fork leg.

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