shimano 600 randomness

Hey all, specific question: My 80s bianchi has the shimano 600 group on it. 6 speed cassette. Would I be able to fit a modern group on it?

I assume your Bianchi is steel, so the answer is probabloy yes...

You will need to accomodate a wider hub, but that is perfectly possible:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

I have an early 80's Bianchi with the Shimano 600 components, so this is good news. That is my next bike project.

Excellent news! Yes, it's lugged steel. I figured as much, but wasn't sure. I know that some older bikes have weird issues with such things as the bottom bracket, etc., so I just wanted to make sure. I'm perfectly happy with the 600 group but it's starting to get pretty beat. I'd estimate it has almost 100k miles on it (it IS almost as old as I am...), but hey, it was a free bike. I think I'm going to switch to campy chorus for the group, as I've had excellent luck with those particular components in the past, and I beat the crap out of them (winter riding, cobblestones, commuting, the occasional trail/wooded shortcut, etc.) without disappointment. You can't beat these older lugged frames for ride stiffness and quality!

I think on Bianchi you may have to be a little careful in the BB. I seem to recall reading that some were actually made in Japan, so I am not sure if they all have italian threading in the BB.

You could have Italian threading if made in Italy, and possibly English if made in Japan. This is simply hypothesis, and not direct knowledge, so check your threading.

Well it's either Italian or English and both threadings are still available for bottom brackets by all BB mfrs. The other issue is the threaded headset which is only an issue if the OP wants to change - no reason to unless he needs a new fork anyway.

So:
1.BB threading no problem
2.Rear hub spacing - minor modification
3.Steerer diameter - no problem

It's one of the high end models made in Italy, so it has italian threading. I'm not going to replace the fork just yet, so the headset is fine, HOWEVER, I can't find any decent handlebars with a small clamp size (i'm not sure of the exact size... 26mm, perhaps?) they're all OS. Any recommendations? I suppose I could just get a threadless adapter and a modern stem...

There's lots of 26mm around - the standard for non OS. There were a few other sizes around that time though too - Cinelli had a proprietary size so you could only use their stem, but now they've conformed as well.

How do you know you can't find the right size, if you don't know what the right size is?

You could also swap out your old stem and get a matched handlebar/stem pair.

Sorry, I didn't mean to say I couldn't find the exact size; I ought to have said I couldn't find a large selection of non-OS sizes. Thanks for the advice

As an aside, the same guy (step father) who gave me the bianchi with the 600 group on it has a bianchi with a veloce group. It's a little 'low end' for my liking, and the bike itself is that Celeste color, which I'm not fond of. I know it sounds odd to do this, but if I could convince him to sell me that bike for a few hundred (he never, ever rides anymore) then I could theoretically take that group, the wheels and other misc stuff off that bike and put them on in place of the 600 until I get around to buying a newer group/wheelset (in a few years). It sounds like the most economical choice to me, considering what I'd need to spend to get all of that stuff, even in the grade, new. The only question is, will it work? The bike with the Campy on it was converted from downtube shifting to the ergos or whatever it's called when they installed the newer group, so I should be able to, as far as I can tell. Same BB threading, etc. I'll probably have to space out the rear a bit for the wider hub though.

As a plus, once I upgrade, I could throw the Veloce back on the other Bianchi and, given I didn't trash the group, sell it for the few hundred I paid...

*brain explode*

Related question regarding Shamino 600: what year did Shimano drop the "600" name in favour of "Ultegra"?

Thanks.

I don't remember the timeframe, but it was a gradual thing. As far as I know, it was 600, then 600 Ultegra when they added 7 speed, then just Ultegra as 9 speed was introduced. Late 90's I think... 1998/9?