I recently had purchased another much older 86 Centurion Iron Man that was quickly repossessed by my 20-year-old son. Being that he’s about an inch taller than me i let him keep it and began looking for another bike, when I came across this Bianchi. I’ve since been informed that it’s predominantly a female bike, but I’m not really sure how it applies. I always assume the female bikes had an angled down tube? In any case I paid $100 for this and although it will need some new handlebar tape and a seat, as the foam is delaminating from the pan, I feel like I did all right. It immediately rides perfectly and shifts perfectly, and the braking is decent. I haven’t been on a bike like this in approximately 35 years so I forgot how rigid the bikes feel and how small that seat is, lol. I would like to clean some of the excess rubber off of the rims from the brake shoes and I’m open to suggestions. I’m thinking some kind of solvent, but I also don’t want to hurt the wheels, so any suggestions will be welcomed. Although I do fancy the Iron Man bicycle more for its classic styling and it’s more in line with what I grew up with I do find the slightly smaller frame this is a 52 to be comfortable for me and the handlebar shifters are pretty cool. Thanks for any and all input and look forward to seeing you guys and gals on the road. Also shifter hoods are unobtanium at any kind of reasonable $$, so if anyone has any leads on either Shimano st-1055 or Shimano st-6400 hoods I would be much obliged. Cheers.
by Ernstero