making a new toy…
A recent garage sale yielded a 1970’s lugged steel, Campania Challenger 12 speed, with a busted front derailleur. All for $10. After trying (and failing) to fix the derailleur, I convinced the new owner to sell the bike to me at a 50% profit, so I paid $15 for a new toy!!!
In all of its original glory, a few rust spots, cotter-pin cranks, sweet rear rack, and a kickstand
Busted front derailleur, comfort brake levers, down-tube shifters
The rear derailleur seems to work just fine, with a 6 cog freewheel, and a huge pie-plate of a spoke protector
The kickstand was the first to go..and then the front derailleur, followed by the rear derailleur, the rear brake, the handlebar/brake levers, the shifters, the cable stops, followed by the freewheel and the pie plate. The bearings in both hubs and the headset were removed, greased, and reinstalled. The bearings in the bottom bracket feel good, but so far I haven’t felt up to the challenge of removing the cottered cranks..
The finished product was ridden today around town, and it is fun. I have a new commuter…
Currently I’m running a 48×14. I haven’t decided if that’s too tall for riding here or not. The Time’s are probably just temporary, I wasn’t confident enough to jump straight into toe clips…yet..
I did cut the bars a little too short, but they’ll do for now, and the front brake makes quite a difference controlling speed down the hills..
All in all, a fun new toy, but the frame size is a little small. And the saddle is muoy padded, I’m soo not used to that…..
I love it! Awesome machine Scott.
Oh it’s not pretty, but it’s already a lot of fun. I have some nice cranks to go on there, but they have to wait until I feel up to tackling the cotter-pin cranks on there already. They can be a nightmare to remove
FWIW, my Bianchi San Jose came with 42×17 gearing. I can cruise flats comfortably at around 20mph, and suprisingly ride all of the foothills trails when I take it off road. Anyway, with the 38c tires, that gearing combo actually works quite well.
Keep the existing cranks on and it looks like the larger ring is acting as a chain guard? That can help keep a pant leg clean. (got a plastic ring on my San Jose that looks ugly but does the trick.)
Good information, thanks for the post!