jamesdak 

Well this bar will get it's chance to prove itself. But normally I do prefer either the Cinelli Giro D'Italia 64 or the Nitto Noodle. Both as 42 cm bars.

raisinberry777

Always have been, since they switched to Ergo style in the early 90s. Even Avanti/Mirage level stuff.

jamesdak 

I guess so, but I'm no Campagnolo expert. I know this bike is equipped stock per Bikepedia except for the saddle. I just haven't been able find copy of a 1999 catalog that's big enough to actually read to get in-depth info on the bike.

LucasHartong

I haven't seen that many Bianchi's in this colour! But it looks

jamesdak 

Yeah, it just looks out of place. If I wind up keeping this and go to my normal 42cm bars I'll swap out the stem at the same time.

jamesdak 

If anyone can hook me up with a catalog scan from this year I'd really appreciate it. Found it online but the images are too small to even read. Trying to find frame geometry and such on this.

I also find comments about the frame being the same as the higher end ones from that year but nothing official to validate that. I'd be surprised if this is true as the components on this model must be pretty heavy then as the bike sure isn't light.

Bumnah

Gorgeous bike!

rpenmanparker 

Bianchi bucked the lightweight trend throughout this period. Almost as a protest effort they went out of their way to build heavy steel frames. I would never have an old steel Bianchi for that reason.

jamesdak 

You might want to rethink that. I just put 50 miles on the bike and they were 50 very comfortable miles. The bike absorbed the roughness of our terrible chipseal roads with ease. This despite being on the original tires that are smaller than I normally run. So I ran them at 15 psi more than my norm to play it safe.

The bike was smooth, stable on the straights and yet eager in the turns. Maybe Bianchi knew something...

I honestly am not one to care too much about weight except for climbing rides. My other "heavy" steel bike is the Greg LeMond Ventoux which is a favorite for century rides and the one I've actually posted the fastest of my centuries on.

rpenmanparker 

Yeah, but the Richey Logic frame with Ritchey carbon fork rides better than any other steel bike I have ever known at nearly 2 lb less than an old Bianchi. If Bianchi knew something, apparently some other folks do too.

jamesdak 

LOL, and my Giordana XL super is 4 and 1/2 pounds lighter too. WITH a steel fork. It rides great too and is very comfortable. It's even lighter than my LeMond Tourmelet with it's CF fork. Makes me wonder what I could have gotten the Giordana to weigh with more money spent on the build.

I saw my first Ritchey bike last weekend up here. Older fella with a white one passed my in the opposite direction twice as I was knocking out laps on the back roads. Looked pretty sweet but I wish I had turned around and talked to the guy for awhile.

rpenmanparker 

Best thing about old steel frames is they are perfectly suited for cutting in half and putting back together with S&S couplings. They make great travel bikes.

But OTOH the Ritchey Breakaway is tough to beat. First world problems. Gotta love 'em.

jamesdak 

Well, I got a few rides in on this and it's really comfortable. But, each ride was at a really slow pace for me. So slow I was wondering if I was sick. Then yesterday I took out my old Schwinn Prologue and was back up to speed. The same 30 mile route I struggled to maintain a 17.2 mpg avg on with the Campione was knocked out easily on the Schwinn at 19.9 mph avg.

So this morning I took the wheels back off the Bianchi and mounted on a new set of Conti GP4000s II tires, size 700 x 25 like on most of my other rides. That takes tire differences out of the equation. But while doing that I noticed just how heavy these CXP-21 wheels really are. That and some drag on the front hub. So, I think a lot of the reason it's not holding speed is the heavy wheels. I'll see about that when my new Zonda's get it. I imagine they drop over a lb of rotating mass of the wheels.

Here's a pic of the bike this morning sorted out with the new tires.



I like how comfortable it is but not how much effort it takes to maintain speed. Comfort is great for my long rides but not if it cost so much energy keeping it going.

I know it's not an issue with the total weight as I have heavier bikes I can carry more speed on. It's got to be the heavy wheels and maybe some resistance still in the hubs and such. Those old tires may have cost some too...

rmfnla

Maybe you just need a nicer steel one.

I dumped my Cinelli when Ritchey came out with their Force cro-mo stem (made by Nitto).

The Ritchey was a bit lighter but what I really liked was how much stiffer it was; never could get comfortable with how much the Chinelli would flex when I was cranking hard...

jamesdak 

I must be a weakling, can't say I've ever felt a stem flex....

rmfnla

I rode a 130, might make a difference...

jamesdak 

Well, just an update on this. Swapped on a lighter set of Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels shod with GP 4000s II 700 x 25c and some basic Look Keo pedals as well as adding on a heavier Brooks Cambium and the bike now weighs in at 22 lbs 1 oz, down from the original 23 lbs 12 ozs. That's a lot of weight off the one place it will really matter, the wheels. I'll get this out again tomorrow and see how it feels.

Those original wheels had some serious weight to them, The original front wheel was 2 lbs 2 ozs with the skewer and the rear was 2 lbs 10z with the skewer.

jamesdak 

Well, just got done putting a little over 70 miles on the bike. The old wheels definitely were holding this bike back. Be it the weight or whatever they just kept making this bike feel sluggish. Today it was a different beast, lively and on par with most of my other faster rides. I struggle to hold speed with this one on the past rides but today a ran a much higher average than ever on this and even ran one segment of around 9 miles keeping the speed up in the lower 20s. Before I just couldn't hold speed with this one. Very happy with how it is now, comfortable and fast.

qwksti

nice bike, even though its a 1999, compared to the bikes we have now, this one looks like its from 1975. but i love the color. great find.

jamesdak 

Rides as well as several of my vintages steel bikes

chip1

I bet you're still really ecstatic about finding this bike, so much that you're probably thinking about it even when going to bed. I almost know the feeling.

1joel1

Beautiful ride!

Keith Richards

What a great find! I have 2 sets of Fulcrum 3's that I trade around on my bikes, has to be one of the best riding wheels for the money out there.

ridelikeaturtle

That is a good-looking Bianchi, and I'm not surprised to hear putting newer components on it makes it such a nice rider. I honestly think late 90's - early 00's bikes are very underappreciated.

jamesdak 

Yep, especially if you get them at a good price from one of the UK sites.