puma1552

Simple question, just curious what your thoughts are on Bianchi as far as the brand itself and quality of the bikes?

shafter

Sound expensive to me-Italian, or fo-Italian?

John_V 

The Infinito is an awesome bike. I came very close to buying one but at the last minute, I settled for a Colnago. I have a friend that has their entry level Via Nirone aluminum bike and loves it.

SkyDog75

Current models? Generally on par with other major brands at various price/feature points.

Any specific bike you're thinking about? Because talking about Bianchi bikes in general is kind of like talking about Chevrolet cars in general. Are we talking about a Malibu or a Corvette?

Dan333SP

They're metal (or crabon) mechanical devices; they don't have opinions.

Saddles judge you, though.

gsa103

And have been around longer than Chevrolet...

To a large extent how you feel about Bianchi largely comes down to how you feel about the green "Celeste" color. If you like it, you'll probably love the bikes.

I love my Infinito, the fit is perfect, and the ride is exactly what I what wanted.

SkyDog75

I own a Bianchi and I really like it, but not because of its color. (For the record, I like celeste, but my Bianchi doesn't have a speck of celeste anywhere on it.)

I like my Bianchi because of the way it rides, but I could probably say the same for at least a few other bikes from BMC, Cannondale, Cervelo, Felt, Giant, Jamis, Orbea, Trek, etc.

pakeboi

Bianchi, is the world's oldest bicycle manufacturing company still in existence .
'Nuff said .

look566 rider

Another Infinito owner here.

Bought new just this past summer. Very happy with the bike. Switched over from Look 566 that was crash damaged.

Mine has Campy Chorus with Mavic Ksyrium SL Pro wheels.

Comfy, quick and easy to put lots of miles on.

look566 rider

I'm also a big fan of celeste! I even went so far as to buy a Bianchi branded watch!

puma1552

The Intrepida 105 has caught my eye, as has the Intenso Ultegra, though I don't really know what the difference is in the two lines.

Intrepida 105:

Intrepida 105 | Bianchi USA

Intenso Ultegra:

Intenso Ultegra | Bianchi USA

There's also an Intenso 105:

Intenso 105 | Bianchi USA

indyfabz

Actually, I believe the brand name was bought some time ago. I saw the finish of a stage of the Giro in '95 at the then Bianchi factory factory in Treviglio. And check this out....A WWI era folding military Bianchi at a museum in Bassano del Grappa, complete with rifle rack.

RoadieDropper

And yet much of shallow minded, vanity owners don't take them seriously unless it comes in one particular color. Can any of you geniuses guess which one?

mongol777

I think so too, Mr Salvatore Grimaldi owns it. Or rather his holding company owns Cycleurope which owns Bianchi and other brands like Puch and Gitane, Cycleurope - Brands

Cyclist0108

I've only had mine since late 1987, so I am still getting used to it.

The color is exceptional. I can take it into the men's room with me and it blends right in with the decor.

eja_ bottecchia

I owned an Infinito in Celeste with Campy Record that I bought new in 2012.

I recently sold it for pretty close to what I paid for it.

Nice bike, light, fast and comfy over long distances.

I highly recommend the Infinito line.

Viich

I have an 88 Strada I've been riding for 12 years. Currently full commuter, 27x1 1/4, fenders, burley rear rack (sometimes a Kazoo). Still using the downtube indexed 2x6. It rides nice, the derailleur was finally replaced last summer after it blew up and caused some spoke replacement and a rear wheel re-true.

I've got an extra 10 speed wheelset hanging around, it might get modernized this spring, still not sure.

birru

The Intenso Hydraulic Disc was on my short list when I was considering a dedicated road machine. I thought it was very responsive and also very comfortable even though it's a somewhat aggressive bike. Plus it looks hot.

gsa103

The Intenso is basically the pre-CV Infinito (same layout/geometry). It's a great bike. It's somewhere in between a typically endurance bike (Domane/Roubaix/Defy) and a race bike (Madone/Tarmac/TCR).

It looks like the Intrepida is basically the same, minus the K-Vid damping. Which might or might not matter. There's only $200 difference at the 105 level, so you can make the call if it's worth it. The Intrepida frame might be marginally heavier, but the Intenso/Infinito were never ultralights.

To be honest, it looks like it's pretty much a price point split, with the frames probably being very similar.
Intrepida is the entry level carbon frame for 105 and below. Intenso is the slightly better frame for 105 and up.

J.Higgins 

I would absolutely LOVE to have a Bianchi Super Leggera in my collection.

banana rat

I have an old Bianchi Campione d' Italia and after all these years, I'm amazed at the ride on this bike. Best money I ever spent. I love this bike. And yes she's celeste.

puma1552

Thanks for this. As a specialized owner, I was trying to figure out where these slotted in/compared against Roubaixs and Tarmacs. So what is it that causes the huge price jump from an Intenso Ultegra to an Infinito CV Ultegra? The Infinitos are likely out of my price range (not buying yet, but hopefully another year on the hybrid and I'll be shopping in the $2k-$3k bracket), but if the geometry is the same/frames are similar, I'm wondering what the big price difference is for from one Ultegra bike to another Ultegra bike.

The Intenso Ultegra looks like a fantastic value at $2500, and even has a threaded bottom bracket.

gsa103

It's the Counter-Vail (CV) technology in the Infinito frame. When Bianchi introduced the CV version, the price jumped by ~$1k. The CV technology is supposed to dramatically smooth the frame, and be far better at absorption than a normal carbon frame. I haven't tested it though.

I'm guess the CV material is very expensive and significantly more difficult to integrate than normal carbon.

I've got the previous generation Infinito (what is now the Intenso), and I love the bike. When I got my 2013 Infinito Ultegra it was a $3500 MSRP bike, so you're get a lot of bike for $2500. In 2013, that frame was used for Bianchi's classics riders, so it's got real performance credentials. Trickle down is working in your favor here.

La Panamena

Thankyou, my former bike was a trek domane and had athe worst experience, ride a intenso and fell in love, but trying to decide to go for the infinito cv or the intenso and upgrade it to ultegra electrónic.

jamesdak 

This one??!!