Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Argh! I should've listened...

I thought I had researched it pretty well, even with the gripes about it from searching this forum, I still went ahead and purchased an 05 Bianchi Pista. It's been a swell bike until this last month. Well, actually it's been an okay bike, it's had it's moments, like the noisy BB, the rear cog not tightened by the shop, just a lot of little stuff that every new bike has, but the spokes busting is another story, third one, and it's because of the inexpensive high flange hub. The hub now has a distinct groove in it where the spoke head was sheared off, and it looks like a couple others are beginning to show wear. I'm faced with rebuilding the wheel. Of course this opens the door to a debate over which way to rebuild it, with the old hub using washers, like my wheel building book advises, or spring for a new set of hubs(Kaching) and build new (Suzue? Surly?). Well that throws a whole new set of questions, as long as I am rebuilding, why not go all the way with new rims too (Kaching).
Then you can't have all that great new material with the crappy stuff, so new cranks, BB, (Kaching, Kaching, Kaching...etc.) ...
See, I should've listened to the advice that was given in the forum, and got myself an IRO, and built it up. The other possibility is sell off the Pista and start all over this winter.

Take a photo of the hub and post it here. Spoke bed-in is normal for alloy hubs. Or maybe you mean something else.

Warranty the wheel and get a new one even if you build another one. That way you atleast have a new one as backup or to sell.

Take a photo of the hub and post it here. Spoke bed-in is normal for alloy hubs. Or maybe you mean something else.

Maybe a dumb question: Are there non-alloy hubs? Or at least high quality ones?

if you're that dissatasfied with the pista, throw some replacement spokes in the hub and sell it on ebay. You can call out the problems you had with it in the description and still be more than likely to get around $500. then get yourself and IRO.

Maybe a dumb question: Are there non-alloy hubs? Or at least high quality ones?

Not anymore.

yeah my Pista breaks spokes too, but surprisingly enough it's only been on the front wheel. they're supposed to be stainless but mine show some rust. :(

I bought the rear wheel off a recent Bianchi pista, broke 3 spokes in the first month. Uncool. Got fed up with cheap wheels, built a Phil Wood/Open Pro and it's solid & smooth.

Anyway yours should be under warrantee, definitely complain for a replacement. Then yeah, I guess sell it, hopefully to someone who will never notice its shortcomings.

yeah my Pista breaks spokes too, but surprisingly enough it's only been on the front wheel. they're supposed to be stainless but mine show some rust. :(

Stainless steel can still corrode. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel#Corrosion_in_stainless_steel

You get what you pay for.

yeah they should spec a $500 bike with phils and deep vs right?

entry-level bike, upgradeable.

now you know the first thing to upgrade. for me it was the fork. next the crankset. wheels are holding up fine with alot of riding (touch wood). if they hold out they'll be the next thing to go in a few months

by the time you add wheels, fork, crankset, bottom bracket, and while your at it you might as well change the headset and stem, you have spent another $1000 plus the original $500, $1500 can get you a pretty dope bike, and you can build it up yourself getting what you like. i guess i don't like the idea of buying something new, only to improve it later, do it right the first time or at least close. sell the bike and build something up.

Sorry about your hardships with the pista.
But I do not believe your bad luck is indicative of the pista being a crap bike, rather, I think it is just that, bad luck.
I've had mine for over a year and am still running the stock wheels (until tomorrow), fork, crankset and BB without any incident.

You get what you pay for.

You mean like when you buy a used, slightly damaged Keirin frame on eBay for $700?

by the time you add wheels, fork, crankset, bottom bracket, and while your at it you might as well change the headset and stem, you have spent another $1000 plus the original $500, $1500 can get you a pretty dope bike, and you can build it up yourself getting what you like. i guess i don't like the idea of buying something new, only to improve it later, do it right the first time or at least close. sell the bike and build something up.


of course - if you have $1500 to drop in one hit. i don't. i had $400 and bought my 05 used for that.now i have the pleasure of building my bike the way i want it, a part here, a part there, as i can afford it. my budget is about $200 per month, so it's the fork, 'set and stem this month, cranks next, hubs next etc etc. that way i get to ride every day and my ride just gets better and better…

Sorry about your hardships with the pista.
But I do not believe your bad luck is indicative of the pista being a crap bike, rather, I think it is just that, bad luck.
I've had mine for over a year and am still running the stock wheels (until tomorrow), fork, crankset and BB without any incident.

word

Hmm, your rear wheel is breaking spokes at the hub. Mine was breaking spokes at the the threaded ends. I had a friend rebuild the rear wheel with 14GA DT straight-gauge spokes. Problem solved. It seems like spoke quality is somewhat hit and miss on these bikes. My friend has an '04 with the identical rear wheel. He weighs about 50 pounds more than I do, and he has not had an problems with the spokes.

Honestly, this is the only significant issue I've had with the bike. When I bought it from the LBS, I stripped it down to the frame and rebuilt it, greased all of the threads, re-torqued the bolts, cog, lockring, etc., as I was not impressed with the shop's assembly of the bike. They didn't even grease the seatpost, which kind of tipped me off that they probably had missed other things. Maybe that's why I have not had the noisy BB and slipping cog problems that you describe.

For what it's worth, I found an interesting message in a fortune cookie the other day. It read, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."

I never believed that fortune cookie crap until I got one that said, "You want more chicken." That was scary cause I did want more chicken.

You mean like when you buy a used, slightly damaged Keirin frame on eBay for $700?
I have never heard anyone complain about a frame they had purchased as noted above, while I have seen numerous threads regarding "My schitty bianchi stuff blew up - help!"
To date, I have seen:

•Bent track ends (the 03 grey model)
•Hubs that 'stopped turning' (04 models, x5)
•Crapass Sugino cranks marketed as 165mm, whereas a customer trusting of a reputable manufacturer would gladly assume this meant the standard 165mm fare, not a 170mm crank drilled to 165mm (absntr caught this one I believe)

Spoons for the pudding.
I can't wait for the Trek one to come out...oh...boy

']I can't wait for the Trek one to come out...oh...boy

Didn't they call that one the 'LeMond Fillmore'?

the new pistas are junk?

You mean like when you buy a used, slightly damaged Keirin frame on eBay for $700?
Nice one. Anyone remember the wrecked 3 rensho that went for like $300 or something?

It is difficult to weed out the problems from the actuality. I really enjoy the Pista, it's been a fun bike for the past 4 months, and it's only been recently that I've had problems. I like the chrome, the size, yeah I expect to upgrade, and when I compared the replacement spoke to the old spoke it was like looking at something that seemed like an aluminum can compared to a steel can, there was just something about the spoke. I'm glad that I'm not the only one busting spokes. I'm really interesting in upgrading the BB with a IRO BB and crank. The idea of a carbon fiber fork is a thought, and the headset stem are already on the list of wants. Having a limited budget and a couple other bikes that need attention as well, I still am dealing with my GTB, which is a great bike and I ride my home built Surly MA3s without incident, the aluminum though lets me feel every friggin' bump, the steel in the Pista makes a softer ride.
Again it is a great bike to get into if it is your first time for a track bike, I really couldn't believe the difference between this bike and my fixed Schwinn, or SS Canondale. It is also a great apres ride ride. I like putting some miles on my geared bike, and my legs are really tight. I get on the Pista for a wind down ride and loosen up the legs.

I've noticed the Pista has the chainring mounted on the inside of the crank spider. Why is it not just mounted on the outside like "normal" and a properly sized BB spindle used?

Just curious.

i don't know why they put the chainring on the inside. it works...
And it works on the outside just as well.
I moved mine to the outside and the chainline is perfect. no problems.

i don't know why they put the chainring on the inside. it works...
And it works on the outside just as well.
I moved mine to the outside and the chainline is perfect. no problems.

The Truvativ crank that my '04 came with is not designed to accept a chainring on the outside.
The inside is flat with a little lip and the outside is contoured.
Is that really weird?

oh, I don't know about the Truvativ... If the chainline is good, then it's good, no?
Is it designed to accept only one ring on the inside of the spider?
I was speaking of the Sugino RD on the '05. It's a road crank made for use with 2 chainrings so it looks strange with the ring mounted on the inside. But it works just as well on the outside and looks a bit better.

really? i thought it would screw up the chainline on the outside

after i sold the IRO, i got a pista, thought the crank looked weird and switched it over. have been riding ever since with zero problems. try it, if it doesn't line up you can always switch back.

oh, I don't know about the Truvativ... If the chainline is good, then it's good, no?
Is it designed to accept only one ring on the inside of the spider?
I was speaking of the Sugino RD on the '05. It's a road crank made for use with 2 chainrings so it looks strange with the ring mounted on the inside. But it works just as well on the outside and looks a bit better.



Yeah, it's designed to take only one ring on the inside and the chainline is fine, so I guess it's not weird.

My other bike has a sugino crank that is made for both outside and inside chainring placement. I had never really heard that one position was bad and the other good, I always just thought that the two options were designed to help create the perfect chainline.

after i sold the IRO, i got a pista, thought the crank looked weird and switched it over. have been riding ever since with zero problems. try it, if it doesn't line up you can always switch back.

will do. always disliked the way it looked. how are you liking the bike?

It's good, a much better fit, i've only got about 100 miles on it so far so i'm still breaking it in. a new seat is on the way.

damn, just moved the ring out but it's noisy at the hub. gotta switch it back

green text? wtf

You could probably run the chainring on the outside if your spindle was shorter. It's impossible that the chainline is "perfect" no matter which side of the crank spider the ring is on... maybe it's just equally off on either side.

You could probably run the chainring on the outside if your spindle was shorter. It's impossible that the chainline is "perfect" no matter which side of the crank spider the ring is on... maybe it's just equally off on either side.

oh yeah, nothing is "perfect" but it works, and it works well. can't complain.

it's a mass produced bike, of course you're going to hear alot of complaints, alot of people ride them. the more of something there is, the more chances there are for flaws. if IRO had the same volume that the pista has, you'd hear just as many complaints.

this is not meant to knock IRO, I've never had a set of wheels stay true this long. I use to re-true my bmx wheels after every race, but I've never seen my iro wheels even wobble.

it's a mass produced bike, of course you're going to hear alot of complaints, alot of people ride them. the more of something there is, the more chances there are for flaws. if IRO had the same volume that the pista has, you'd hear just as many complaints.
This makes no sense whatsoever. There is no correlation between volume and potential problems.

well firstly there is. mass production tends to mean less attention to detail, but what dustinlikewhat probably means is that statistically since more pistas are (presumably) built than IROs (in his example) there are going to be more problems surfacing, even if the percentage of failures is the same.

but whatever. this is pointlesss. the bottom line is the bianchi pista is a reasonably specced entry level track bicycle at a good price, built by a respected manufacturer. it seems to me the problems are more with it being perceived as a "newbie" bike on the basis of its looks more than anything else. which is why the older black/celeste and gray pistas are "acceptable," the 04s less so and the 05s are beyond the pale.

i have a question though: i don't understand the thing about the 165 sugino cranks being 170s drilled oddly or something (165s post). what do you mean? that the arms are all the same length no matter what the bb-to-axle length is? my bike has 170s and certainly the hole is "set-back" somewhat, ie doesn't sit dead centre in the rounded end part of the crank arm. so presumably this could be "drilled" for 172.5 as well. but aren't crank arms forged? and if they are indeed drilled isn't this some kind of economy move on sugino's part, so as one set of forgings can be used across the range of crank lengths? if that's not correct please let me know.

cheers

Check http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=84943

The crank arms are 170 but the hole is drilled higer on the arm to be like 165

Cutting corners in the name of cutting corners! great post.

here's the thing: mine are "offset" as described, and as pictured in that post, but marked 170, and are in fact 170 when i measure them. 170mm c-to-c from spindle to axle, absolutely no doubt about it.

if they were marked 170 and were in fact 165 there'd be a problem, but that's not the case.

i'm surprised no-one in that other thread actually got the tape measure out.

This makes no sense whatsoever. There is no correlation between volume and potential problems.

it makes alot of sense, there will always be some percent that will be flawed. by this I mean that if there was a 1% failure rate across the board, we could make this assumption: if Company A makes 10,000 of product A, then they would have a total of 100 defective products; if Company B makes 100 of product B, then they would have a total of 1 defective products. Which could make them seem like a better company because a lower volume of people would be complaining about the product. Will both companies have the same failure rate? Nope. But, by having a higher volume, there is a higher chance for defects.

you always hear people complain about Huffy's, but have you ever heard anyone complaing about Dustin Brand Awesome Bikes, which are little more than Huffy's with Huffy crossed out and Dustin Brand Awesome Bikes written over it? Well there aren't any, but since there are zero complaints it must, obviously, be a much better product. So come on and get your D-BAB today!

I'm getting one! D-BAB here I come!

(The math makes sense.)

Oh yeah, well they cost $1,000,000. but that must all be in confederate dollars. not gonna let you screw up my reputation.

Dude, I saw the movie "Sahara". I gots them dollars.

Con-sarn-it!

I never believed that fortune cookie crap until I got one that said, "You want more chicken." That was scary cause I did want more chicken.

I had one once that said "You love Chinese food", which I do. Now I need one that says "You will have no more Delhi Belli", because I have that too.

one time a friend of mine got "it is coming." I've been nervous ever since