Has anyone checked out this new Bianchi? It's built on Volpe geometry, alu frame, carbon fork, carbon seat post, has a 105 group set, hydraulics, and is under $2K. If the wheels are decent this could be a real find. My LBS just got one in for me to try, so I'm checking out a 57cm this weekend. I'll file a report next week. But any thoughts on Bianchi or this link would be appreciated. Thanks! http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/road/all-road/all-road-105-disc/
I briefly looked at one of these. Seemed pretty nice. It has room for a 38mm tire. The brakes are hydraulic. 105 group set. The wheelset is made by Alex rims for Bianchi. Alex wheelsets are usually a bit on the heavy side, but durable. If you like the ride, I don't think you can go wrong. Bianchi makes good bikes. The reason I didn't seriously consider this bike is because I don't like the Bianchi dealer in my area. The LBS I like is a BMC dealer. So, I wound up with a Gran Fondo GF02 105 disc. Good luck!
Picked up my Bianchi All-Road 105 Disc Saturday morning. @Xroads - very happy with the LBS I purchased from in Brattleboro, VT. They were very generous letting me test ride up and around the hills in town. I love everything about this bike - the perfect transition back into something more roady and is an excellent compliment to my Specialized MTB hardtail. The 2x11 11-32 cassette gearing feels smooth and climbs great (I out-sprinted an attacking pitbull/lab climbing a pretty descent hill yesterday - glad I wasn't on my MTB!) The bike is super responsive, and between the carbon fork, carbon seat post, and the stock wheels with 700x35 Kenda Happy Mediums, it handles loose gravel dirt and single track hard pack beautifully, and is a total whip on the pavement. I haven't been riding dropbars in a while, but I felt totally at ease. I chose this bike over a Trek Crossrip LTD and a Felt V85 and F65X. I would have tried a Felt V55, which is more comparable component-wise to the All-Road, but the local Felt dealer, who I'm not so enamored of, would have had to order it etc. and the owner was a bit of a dick telling me what I wanted. In truth, I know he's way overstocked in $2K-$5K bikes - I could tell he was trying to unload one of them on me. Plus, the V55 would have cost $400 more. I got this bike to do distance and some touring/bikepacking. I probably won't race, but I do ride aggressively. After my research and test rides, I think you'd be hard pressed finding too many bikes under $2K with this geometry and build quality.
Yes, the Bulls is very similar. I don't have experience with them either, but FYI, in terms of price comparison, I paid $1800 fully assembled and dialed. The Bulls price of $1799 doesn't include tax and shipping, both of which would be an additional $200-$300. Not sure what their 1% assembly involves, but I do like having my LBS around for tweaks etc.
@Drumbiker, so . . . hate to ask but I can't find the frame weight for this bike. It's a situation where I have to buy online, so wondering if you had a sense of what this bike weighs as is?
Drumbiker wrote:Picked up my Bianchi All-Road 105 Disc Saturday morning. @Xroads - very happy with the LBS I purchased from in Brattleboro, VT. They were very generous letting me test ride up and around the hills in town. I love everything about this bike - the perfect transition back into something more roady and is an excellent compliment to my Specialized MTB hardtail. The 2x11 11-32 cassette gearing feels smooth and climbs great (I out-sprinted an attacking pitbull/lab climbing a pretty descent hill yesterday - glad I wasn't on my MTB!) The bike is super responsive, and between the carbon fork, carbon seat post, and the stock wheels with 700x35 Kenda Happy Mediums, it handles loose gravel dirt and single track hard pack beautifully, and is a total whip on the pavement. I haven't been riding dropbars in a while, but I felt totally at ease. I chose this bike over a Trek Crossrip LTD and a Felt V85 and F65X. I would have tried a Felt V55, which is more comparable component-wise to the All-Road, but the local Felt dealer, who I'm not so enamored of, would have had to order it etc. and the owner was a bit of a dick telling me what I wanted. In truth, I know he's way overstocked in $2K-$5K bikes - I could tell he was trying to unload one of them on me. Plus, the V55 would have cost $400 more. I got this bike to do distance and some touring/bikepacking. I probably won't race, but I do ride aggressively. After my research and test rides, I think you'd be hard pressed finding too many bikes under $2K with this geometry and build quality.
Update. I've done over a dozen rides on my Bianchi. Granted, I haven't ridden a ton of gravel/cx bikes, but compared to the ones I have and the ones I demoed while shopping, what impresses me most about the Bianchi is its smooth and controlled ride. On single track, loose gravel and dirt, I have to remind myself I'm not on my hardtail MTB! I'd say the only thing I might have overlooked before buying was the external cabling, which I don't suspect will be an issue, but it's probably one thing that kept the price down. The Alexrims certainly add some heft to the overall weight, but who cares, they're durable, stable, and I suspect given what I've put them through already, they should hold up well. FYI, the bike comes with Kenda Happy Mediums, NOT Happy Medium Pros. The difference being a lower TPI. I'm running them with tubes at R 55 and F 50 PSI. They hook up well and no pinches (I weigh 165). I guess I'm posting all this because even though I found out about the Bianchi through the bike finder page here, there is almost nothing online about this bike, and it seems a shame because riders looking for an alu frame and solid build for under $2K are really missing out on a great option. Guitar Ted, anyone, can you do a review? I'd just be curious what y'all think. Cheers!
