chris hansen

Hello,

I've been looking at the LeMond Poprad and really like it. The problem is that I would like a third chainring because I'd like to take it off-roading and I know there are hills I can't make it up without a granny gear to rely on. I talked to several shops in the area and the going rate to put a third chainring on is about $200, which brings it to the price range of the Bianche Axis. I haven't ridden an Axis yet but would like to get your opinions. I don't know how much racing I'd do. I'm looking for a bike that can ride the ms 150 one weekend, commute during the week and go off-road riding the next weekend. Light weight and performance are nice but I'm more concerned about how sore I'd be after a few hours in the saddle. I'd also be interested if there are any other bikes that might be worth considering.

Does anyone know what kind of tire clearance the Axis has?

Thanks.

RacerX

For what you want to use it for, it seems the Poprad would be a better bike because it is steel. The Axis, I think, is aluminum.
The Poprad is an excellent bike. Do a search in this cyclocross forum and you'll come across good reading on both bikes.

SteveE

I test rode the Poprad and the Axis. I felt the Axis had a harsh ride compared to the Poprad. The Poprad is made with Reynolds 853 Select tubing and provides a very supple, forgiving ride. My Poprad is used mainly as a commuter/rain bike and is built up with a Campy Racing-T and barcon friction shifters. The only thing I don't like are the Avid Shorty-4 canti's which squeal like a stuck pig.

jfmckenna

My girlfriend just bought a 2004 Poprad and the guy at the LBS is converting to a triple for only 50 bucks. You may want to shop around.

jim-bob

I test rode the axis and the poprad, and much preferred the poprad.

I ended up with a soma doublecross..

chris hansen

I've talked to three shops around here and they all gave me a similar price. I'm running out of LeMond dealers.

joeprim

Have you looked at the Bianchi Volpe?

Joe

Chop

I did. They're currently not available.

jfmckenna

Yea and this one is 3 hours away from us but close to my Mom/Dads house so we can make a trip out of it. But still I don't know what you are paying for the Rad but at our LBS they wanted 1200 plus 60 for the triple. The other place wanted 900 plus 50 for the triple same exact bike. It's worth the 3 hr drive.

joeprim

For how long? At ~$800 with a triple seem like good components and a steel fraome Renolds 520 (IIRR) it might be worth wait for or looking around for. It also has lots of attacment pints for racks, panners, and fenders.

Joe

Chop

Here's the text from the email reply that I received from Bianchi USA:

"Sorry for the current situation, yes the Volpe's are almost completely out of stock. Best bet is to put a back order in we will have a shipment of Volpe's in May.
Bianchi USA"