1987 Bianchi Krono
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

During the late 1980s, it was common for time trial bikes to use a standard 700c rear wheel with a smaller front wheel, usually a 24" or 26" (650c). Looking at old footage of the famous 1989 TdF final time trial with LeMond and Fignon, they rode this style of bike. Because of the radical looking sloping top tube, these bikes were later referred to as "funny bikes". These bikes didn't really get into the 90s, because the UCI later required that all bicycles had to have the same size wheels.

Browsing craigslist, I came across an ad for this bike. I've always been curious about these early time trial bikes. How did they handle? How painful where they to ride? The price was right, so my daughter and I met the owner at the Golden Gate Bridge parking lot and picked it up on May 2, 2009. It was the same day that Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby. Not certain what year this bike is, based on the stickers, it has graphics from 1986. Based on the serial number, the letter D=1987, the headset is also from 1987, so I'll just go with that.

5/2/2009 - Right after I got home, I put air in the old crusty tires and took it for quick ride. I was really excited because I had never ridden a bike with tubulars before. My first impressions were that the bike was not as uncomfortable as it looks, the handling was quite normal, and it was really fast! But three miles into a six mile path, I got a flat in the front tire. I turned around and started walking back; then I figured I could ride a flat tubular without damaging anything, so I slowly rode it back the rest of the way.

5/24/2009 - After stripping the frame down and cleaning everything up, I used JP Weigle Frame Saver on the frame and fork. The bike came with a funky mix of Shimano 600, 105, and Campagnolo parts, so I put most of that stuff aside and transferred a complete Shimano 600 gruppo from my Kestrel 4000. Finally reassembled the entire bike, made it as pristine as its gonna get. With new tires, I took it out for a 10 mile ride. No flats this time, but I did notice that the Italian bottom bracket started to loosen up already. So I bought a Park HCW-4 and really torqued it down good and it's been tight ever since.

9/2/2009 - The Krono had been sitting around for a while, so I decided to use it as my Caltrain commuter, since it has the worst paint of all the bikes I own. So I added my Caltrain destination tag, put on the Forte Campus pedals, took off the clip-on aerobars and water bottle cage. I'm now riding the coolest commuter bikes on the train.

12/18/2009 - Now that I'm driving my daughter to daycare, I'm no longer riding the train to work anymore. It kinda bugged me that everything about this bike was period correct except for the Velocity front wheel with newer Ultegra hub. So I found an older 650c front wheel with matching Shimano 600 hub and a new tire for only $50. Now the bike looks right, without the really deep modern wheel up front.

8/27/2011 - After sitting on display for a long time, I got the itch the take the bike down, put some air in the tires and take it for a ride. After all this time, its still a really fast bike. I don't know if its the aerodynamic geometry or really slick bearings, but once it gets up to speed, it keeps its momentum better than any of my other bikes. I can't really explain it, but I can "feel" the speed of the bike. Doing the same ride on a different bike the next day confirmed that I was 2 minutes faster on the Krono over a 15 mile ride. However the low front end makes this a little too uncomfortable for me to ride regularly. I think this bike needs a younger and more limber owner.

11/20/2011 - I sold the bike to a gentleman in Paxton, Massachusetts. I just finished carefully wrapping up the bike for shipping tomorrow. Its been a good two and a half years.

Frame: Bianchi Krono, 51.5cm CTC, 55.5 TT, Bianchi Formula Two tubing by Columbus. Serial Number: 8D 2345. Italian bottom bracket with Gipiemme dropouts. Celeste paint, 126mm spacing.
Fork: Bianchi Krono, 1" threaded. Bianchi Special Formula Two tubing by Columbus with Cincelli investment cast crown and Bianchi eagle pantograph.
Front Rim: Mavic Open 4 CD, 650c, hard anodized finish, 28h, clincher.
Front Hub: Shimano 600, HB-6400, 28h.
Front Tire: Kenda K191 Koncept, 650 x 23c, wire bead.
Rear Rim: Wolber T430 Alpine, 700c, Chrome Magnesium with hard anodized finish, 32h, clincher.
Rear Hub: Shimano 600, FH-6400, Uniglide, 32h.
Rear Tire: Continental Ultra 2000, 700 x 23c clincher.
Cassette: Shimano 7spd Hyperglide 13-25T. This was complicated, the gruppo originally game with a Uniglide 12-24T cassettte, but the middle three sprockets are worn and caused the chain to hop. After reading this article by Sheldon Brown, I realized that I could just simply flipped the sprockets around and now it rides fine. That worked fine, but I wanted to get slightly lower gearing, so I installed a new 7spd Hyperglide cassette body, which opens up a lot more possibilities, as HG cassettes are very common, but UG cassettes are getting pretty hard to find.
Cranks: Shimano 600, FC-6400, 53x39, 172.5mm, 130 BCD.
Bottom Bracket: Shimano 105, JIS square taper, Italian threading, NOS.
Front Derailer: Shimano 600, FD-6400, 28.6mm clamp.
Rear Derailer: Shimano 600, RD-6400.
Shifters: Shimano 600, SL-6400.
Headset: Shimano 105SC, HP-1055.
Chain: Sedis.
Stem: Nitto Dynamic 9, 1" quill, 90mm, 26.0mm diameter, 72 degree angle, cold forged.
Handlebar: Profile Design Airwing 1202P (6061-T6 Aluminum, Dbl Butted, 38mm drop, 40 cm width).
Brakes: Shimano 600, BR-6400.
Levers: Shimano 105SC, BL-1055.
Pedal: Bianchi SPD, celeste.
Seatpost: Kalloy Laprade, aluminum, 27.2x350mm, silver.
Saddle: Bianchi Velo, black.

The original bike weighed 21lbs 2oz. The bike currently weighs 22lbs 2oz as shown. The frame weighs 4lbs 5oz. The fork weighs 1lb 8oz.

The following are parts that originally came with the bike that I am currently not using:

Front Rim: Velocity Pro Elite, 650C Titanium Grey color, 28h, tubular.
Front Hub: Shimano Ultegra, HB-6500, 28h.
Front Tire: Tufo Jet 26" Pro, 26" x 19C tubular.
Cranks: Shimano 600 FC-6400, 53x42, 175mm, 130 BCD.
Handlebar: Mavic Bullhorn, hard anodized, 26.0mm diameter.
Aerobars: Scott Aerobars, satin gunmetal.
Levers: Shimano 600, BL-6401.
Saddle: Selle Italia Flite, white perforated leather.