I’m thinking of buying an older (early 80s?) steel Bianchi frame with horizontal dropouts and turn it into a fixed. What do I look for to tell if it was a higher end frame when originally sold? Type of steel? Lugged fork crown? Shape of seat stays? Chromed fork ends, dropouts and/or stays? What models? Make of fork ends and dropouts? Were they designated as Reparto Corse?

I plan on cutting off all the braze-ons and derailleur hanger and getting it repainted Celeste, so I don’t want to desecrate a really nice one. Hopefully I can find a higher end frame in need of a lot of TLC.

Also, do you think it would be worth my while to just hold out for a track frame?

Thanks for any advice.
TF

If you are building a fixed for the road, your conversion of an earlier Bianchi is a great choice (more stable, you can run 2 brakes). I can only tell you about later 80s frames, so I can't answer most of your questions. Good luck.

I’m thinking of buying an older (early 80s?) steel Bianchi frame with horizontal dropouts and turn it into a fixed. What do I look for to tell if it was a higher end frame when originally sold? Type of steel? Lugged fork crown? Shape of seat stays? Chromed fork ends, dropouts and/or stays? What models? Make of fork ends and dropouts? Were they designated as Reparto Corse?

I plan on cutting off all the braze-ons and derailleur hanger and getting it repainted Celeste, so I don’t want to desecrate a really nice one. Hopefully I can find a higher end frame in need of a lot of TLC.

Also, do you think it would be worth my while to just hold out for a track frame?

Thanks for any advice.
TF