Originally Posted by
3alarmer
...the one in the photo looks identical to the chrome one I have here, right down to the Chick design sticker. Mine is drilled for a brake, but only a front brake. If your definition of a "real" track bike is something you can rent to ride around a track, I'm fine with it being your definition. I think I was merely referencing the relatively obvious differences between this and some of the more expensive ( often not run up on Asian factory welding lines) "custom" track bikes you see for sale.
If there is a poseur version, I suspect we both have one, because I recognize the crank as well. Not something I would ride on a track bike...it comes off as a little iffy in terms of the design and solidity of it.
Poser versions -- basically the same bike except drilled for a rear brake too.
The crankset on these is not something a trackie would spec normally if they were building a bike from scratch because the bcd is 130 instead of 144 and uses a 3/32 chain instead of 1/8 -- its a budget move for sure - but these bikes were maybe $600 new. Great machines for a newcomer to get their feet wet with and decide if they actually like riding track or not before dropping 2k+ for a higher end machine.
But my point was - unlike a lot of the fixies that were marketed in this era, the Bianchi is a real track bike due to having proper track geometry and bottom bracket height, as well as 165 crankarms, vs a lot of them out there that were road frames with fixed/SS dropouts
But regarding drilling the fork for a front brake --- i even had it done on my custom . IT hasnt worn a front brake yet, but the opportunity is there if i ever want to use the bike for a road time trial (USAC rules let you use track bikes for TT's as long as they can be fitted with a front brake
