What do you guys think about the 05 Pista?
 

I think I want to enter the fixie world to commute to/fro work. What do you guys and girls honestly think about it?

Been discussed many, many times - do a search.

I have ridden a '05 Pista for a few months, now, and it represents my entry into the fixed gear world.

To make it a little more commuter friendly, I flipped the stem, so that it goes up a little (instead of level) and I put bullhorns and a front brake on it.
For rainy days, I use SKS Raceblades removable fenders.
I also upgraded the pedals, but the pedals that come with it work well enough.

On this bike I feel like an F-16 fighter pilot.
It makes going to work a lot more interesting.

This bike presents a steep, but smooth learning curve.
I see no end to the learning process.
Every day this bike makes a better rider out of me.

At my skill level, I cannot imagine riding without a front brake.
Give me two years and maybe...

Bottom line, for me, lots of bike for my money.
The designers did a good job of making fixed gear accessible to the entry level rider.
I consider this the best purchase of my adult life.

Nice review. Did you invest in a chain tug?

as often as it comes up this, or just "Bianchi Pista", should be a sticky... but enough with the stickies.

hey is this leviathan off ztrips' board? if so what up homie...ditch the pista idea go with iro...

if not leviathan off zboard......if ken likes it...it most be alright......

I've heard some complaints about components. Though, I'm not sure how consistant or valid they are. I've heard the buy vs build issue many times. You'll save money buying a Pista (provided there are no problems), but you'll value a home assembled conversion/track more.

The Pista is an attractive bike, one of the couriers in SD rides one, he's fast and it seems to hold up, though my interaction with him is very limited.

The Pista is a nice ride. I like my KHS flite 100 for entry level though. The frame seems not as tacky and I actually like the old 1" threaded headset system, it allows me to use the nitto drop stems. The Pista's drivetrain is a bit noisy as is the KHS. The KHS is no longer the best entry level bike to buy anymore since the removal of the Sugino75's in favor of the cheap ass Truvativ Touro cranks. But, just ride the bike till the parts fall off then replace with sugino75's or the track crank of your choice. =) Lugged forks are also a nice addition to the KHS line.

gonna test ride it tonight

Well, when I got ready to make a purchase, I looked hard at the IRO, the KHS, the Fuji Track and the Pista.
Everybody on this forum had both good and bad things to say about the KHS, the Fuji Track and the Pista.
I don't remember any negative comments about the IRO.

In the end, I made my decision largely base on aesthetics and a post by absentr, though I can't remember what he said, and I would have had to wait a month for a KHS.
Ironically, absentr does not have good memories, now, regarding his Pista.

If I had it to do over again?
Knowing what I know now?
I would go with the Pista again, only because I already know how it turned out.

Still, the KHS had and has a lot of appeal.
If they'd paint the Fuji a solid color I could got for it, too.
And, I have yet to hear a negative word about IRO.

Ah...decisions, decisions.
All these decisions.

What a whiner.
I complain when I think I have no choices and then I complain because I do. :)

How cool that we live in a time and a place that has at least four, cost-effective, entry-level fixed gear bikes.

My next bike I'll build myself, based on what I've learned.
I won't throw away my Pista, though.

But this raises one more question, probably not worthy of its own thread,

Imagine yourself as a bicycle manufacturer.
Design a bike meant to compete with the four bikes named above.
That includes price.
Interesting, eh?

Ken, Leviathan -

While I don't quite have fond memories of the Pista anymore, it was a good bike performance wise. The stock components held up well over the harsh winter we had, the rear hub is fixed/fixed and I do like the classic look it has for its tubing and such. I still recommend the bike (the KHS seems to have thinner tubing - there's a thread where the tube broke at a 5mph bonk and I've tapped it personally, not that's any indicator by the way) out of all the entry level rides. If the KHS still came with the Sugino's I might recommend that but the Pista has the Suginos which are nice. Another added bonus is that they come with Deda Pista bars which are for the track and they're quite nice. I've kept them and retained them for use on Sophia when it comes to the velodrome (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...postcount=2747)

P.S. I like Bianchi's reputation and the other big thing was that the bike fit me well. It felt right when I got in from a fit perspective.

The Pista is a great bike, I got mine in January (had a Langster and a Fuji track before that) and have had no issues at all with it. The wheels are nice and strong (I weigh 215lbs.), the ride is comfortable, it's not any heavier than an aluminum bike, I'm happy with it.

I ride it much more than my other 2 bikes.

i just test rode this at my lbs this morning. This bike rocks. First time riding fg--felt like i was a kid again. Don't like the stock seat though. Still debating whether to buy this guy or convert my dad's old raleigh 3 speed. By the time i buy all new components for the Raleigh i might be pretty close in price. Bottom line---i almost bought the pista on the spot--absolutely loved it.

True, a lot of people do build them exactly the same but the beauty of the IRO(or building up your own bike in general) is that it doesn't have to look like everyone else's.

If the 05 Pista is anything like the 04 it is a great bike for the price. I had an 04 for a little while and it rode nicely but I had to sell it because it was a little too big. That very same Pista is now being transformed by Alexi into a sick street machine.

the frame on the 04 is nice, and so are the cranks, everything else is saying bye-bye...

Did you strip the decals yet?

Or you could be like Alexi and want an all chrome frame but are not willing to pay the small fortune it takes to actually chrome a frame. If you were to look at his bike now you would see it already isn't a Pista anymore so why should he advertise it? Stripping decals is not unique to people who own the Bianchi Pista, as it is widely practiced with Surlys, Fujis, etc. As a matter of fact, I just peeled most of the decals off of my Benotto and it's not because I'm embarrassed by the name.

My $.02

i'm antoi decal, thats just it. I'm not gonna strip it till after the 1rst we've got a copressor in the new place, i'd rather do that then rattle can a new clear coat. oh and the price quotes i got for chroming a frame were 600 bucks

if i buy the pista i'd strip the decals b/c they look silly---i like the way a nice , sleek , solid color frame looks

embarrased? by what 120 years of quality cycling tech?
or that my ride isn't "hardcore" enough.

I stripped my bianchi 'cause my next if I'm gonna rock
Edoardo's name it is going to be in celeste & because
it is my bike and f@ck all y'all

enjoy riding whatever you got.

jeff

I'm also contemplating throwing down the 500 for an 05 Pista, but ever since I've been looking into fixed gears and seeing the pictures of everyone's bike, I've seriously been wondering who actually rides their bikes and leaves them locked to poles as they're out and about in the city. Most of your bikes look spic and span like they've never hit the street or ever gotten grime on them. Not to mention the fact that they're bikes with 1,000+ worth of parts which could easily be stripped off the bike in the 15 minutes it takes one to go inside to get a cup of coffee or a bite to eat.

So my question is: Should I feel safe leaving a brand new bike or a bike with a lot of expensive components locked up to a pole in the city? Do you guys feel safe doing it?

good point--the pista is so shinny it just begs to be stolen

you are totally right. my bianchi pista is so shiny that I never
lock it up for any amount of time. In fact everytime I even look
like I'm stopping packs of bike thieves carrying campy pb & allen
wrenches swarm around me which I fend off with my too cool
baileyworks. i also never ride it outside when there is more than
a 0.01% chance of percepitation. post-rides I also bathe my bike
in phil woods teflon oil & moisturize with tenacious grease. and
every night I shackle it to my leg with my ny kryptonite chain.

my bike is so nice I just can't let go.
jeff

Lol!!!!!!!!!!!