A year-and-a-half ago when I was shopping for my first "serious" road bike in over 25 years, I saw a colleague's Bianchi and decided right then that it was one of the most gorgeous bikes I'd ever seen. I still don't know which particular model it was, but there was something about the lines of the bike, and (more importantly) that unsullied expanse of Celeste green that just screamed "high performance". It looked so cool... I wanted one!

So I started doing some research, reading up all I could online, talking to bike dealers, chatting with fellow cyclists, reading reviews, taking bikes out on test rides...and eventually I realized that the best thing Bianchi has going for it these days is that they look cool. (Sometimes. I am now of the impression that any Bianchi that is not 100% Celeste is an ugly POS.) I wound up buying a Cannondale.

Ironically, eight months ago I ran into the colleague whose Bianchi had gotten me all worked up in the first place...and she had sold her Bianchi to buy the exact same model Cannondale I was riding!