General Cycling Discussion - volpe! maiden voyage....a few ?'s

wow. first off this is my first real new bike. i cannot believe how much better it is than that ol' clunky univega.

anyway. went on my first long ride with her today, about 10-15 miles, but i guess closer to 20. pretty much perfect. i wore just some adidas soccer shorts and a tee. lemme tell you, for long rides as such, i think i might have to give in to spandex. i was hurtin', not to mention the wedgie factor. lame. but still, better than jeans, right??!! right?!?!:eek:


now the seatpost, as you may or may not know, the volpe comes with some sorta suspension post. a lot of people said it is crappy. i thought i'd give it a whirl to see for myself. and yes crappy.

now, can anyone recommend a good cheap seatpost? i'm not even sure what the best material would be. i'm not in the mood for carbon though.


also, when i rode today i noticed a click! click! everytime i stood up and powered up a hill. is this just a common adjustment on a new bike? or something i should worry about.



thanks for any advice..!



ps, clipless is amazing.

Kalloy Uno is a light, inexpensive seatpost with setback. http://store.airbomb.com/ItemDesc.asp?IC=ST6265 That's a 250mm in black, there are also 350mm versions and silver ones. Naturally, you'll want to check and order the right diameter.

Congratulations on your new ride! :beer:

What is a Volpe (other than Italian for fox ;) )? I have seen a number of postings on this bike but never able to find and real information, except on the The Bianchi Volce. Is this what most people mean that say they have a Volpe?

A "click click" can be coming from almost anywhere. It rarely indicates a serious problem, but you'll have to give some indication of where you think it's coming from. Given that it's a new bike and new bikes generally come with some form of 30-day tuneup, I'd spend some time trying to decide where it's coming from (handlebars, from the chain, can you cause it to click by just bouncing on the pedals without actually pedalling, etc?) and when you take it back, tell the mechanic where you think the problem is. Clicks, creaks, etc., are notoriously hard to find; giving the shop some indication of where it comes from -- or at least what behavior causes it, -- can really be a help.

What is a Volpe (other than Italian for fox ;) )? I have seen a number of postings on this bike but never able to find and real information, except on the The Bianchi Volce. Is this what most people mean that say they have a Volpe?

It is the Bianchi Volpe - basically a touring bike. Nice bike but since it is a touring bike, a little heavy.

What is a Volpe (other than Italian for fox ;) )? I have seen a number of postings on this bike but never able to find and real information, except on the The Bianchi Volce. Is this what most people mean that say they have a Volpe?

Congrats Kyle! :beer:

As noted by TheRCF the Volpe is a steel framed bike with mid level Tiagra gearing. It is a great value for the money. Normally costs around $700. The frame is constructed strong and absorbs alot of road vibration. Think of it as an army jeep. Tough and reliable. As regards the bicycle being heavy that is very subjective. It is heavy as compared to an 18lb race machine. However, if you went to a Bianchi dealer and picked up the bicycle it weighs less than other commuter bicycles.

Campagnolo sells different levels of gearing just like Shimano. Veloce is one of the gearing and is more or less equal to Shimano 105 (open for debate between the Campy and Shimano camps :) ). Anyway, Bianchi sells a model with the 631 steel frame with the Veloce gearing called the Veloce.

So, you have the Volpe and the Veloce both sold by Bianchi.

Yep found it on their site. I knew they made a Veloce. I was not aware of the volpe.

A "click click" can be coming from almost anywhere. It rarely indicates a serious problem, but you'll have to give some indication of where you think it's coming from. Given that it's a new bike and new bikes generally come with some form of 30-day tuneup, I'd spend some time trying to decide where it's coming from (handlebars, from the chain, can you cause it to click by just bouncing on the pedals without actually pedalling, etc?) and when you take it back, tell the mechanic where you think the problem is. Clicks, creaks, etc., are notoriously hard to find; giving the shop some indication of where it comes from -- or at least what behavior causes it, -- can really be a help.


yeah. i'll have to investigate but i wanna say it was coming from the crank/pedal area. also, the shop i bought it from offers free tune ups for life, so sweet. i'm gonna give it a little more time since today was it's first real test.

yeah. i'll have to investigate but i wanna say it was coming from the crank/pedal area. also, the shop i bought it from offers free tune ups for life, so sweet. i'm gonna give it a little more time since today was it's first real test.

If you think it's coming from the crank / pedal area, then that just means that a bolt is loose. The bolts and fasteners that hold the crank-arms to the frame (there are four in total, two of which aren't easily accessible) have to be surprisingly tight. It sounds like your issue is only occurring under hard pedalling efforts so the various fasteners are probably "close to tight". If you notice it getting worse or occurring more often though, take it in. You can eventually ruin crank-arms if you keep riding with them loose. Get your shop to take a torque wrench to those fasteners and make sure that they're correctly tightened.

I had a clicking that got worse over time and was coming from the crank area. I've read that it usually is either the pedals or cranks aren't tight. I removed both pedals, greased the threads and put them back on tightly. I also tightened the cranks. NO MORE ANNOYING CLICKING. These two issues are the most common source of the problem. I had two bike stores look at the bike - neither one of them solved the problem. I solved by reading on bikeforums and playing around myself.

Oh, by the way - the Volpe is an excellent bike. My wife's Volpe (2004 Model) with 38cc tires weights 24lbs. Not the lightest bike in the park, but just a few pounds heavier than my 1998 Lemond Alp D'Huez. If she wanted a lighter bike, she could lose 5 lbs (but don't tell her I said that).

Sure sounds like the cranks are loose but I had a different click, click from the crank area when I got up and hammered. The frame was so flexible that whichever pedal was in the rear was hitting a chainstay when I generated too much torque. That gave two clicks per pedal revolution for a few seconds.

yeah it's definently something in the crank. i got a new seat post yesterday and tightened the clip-ins on my pedals and took it out for a spin. the creak is still there. i'm gonna take it in tomorrow or the next day.


but other than that tiny problem YAY VOLPE!!!! :)

I had a sound like that, a click every turn of the cranks. My mechanic said that it might be the crank hitting the edge of the front derailleur cage or ticking a splayed out derailler cable-end. In my case it only occurred when the chain was on the largest chainwheel and I was able to cure it by loosening the derailleur clamp and slightly rotating the whole assembly to reallign the cage.