To Bianchi or not to Bianchi...
 

I'm finally in a position to buy a halfway decent single speed fixie, and I've had my eye on the Bianchi Pista. Has anyone out there any constructive criticism or suggestions to offer?

It's not a bad bike for the money, but there are a lot of other off the rack options in that price range.

search the forums for $500-$600 bikes. If you're going to drop the cash, you might as well familiarize yourself with the other options. To make it easier on you I'll drop a few names

IRO Mark V or Angus
Raleigh Rush Hour
Specialized Langster
Jamis Sputnik

No, but the search function sure does. Also, IRO 10% off starting in 2 hours. There, I think I covered everything.

folks are going to tell you to use the search function, cause there's a lot of info. briefly:

pros: not a bad price. track geometry. drilled for brakes (good for starters)
cons: less-than-thrilling components (wheelset, crankset...).

a good place to start, maybe you'll want to upgrade if you find yourself really digging it.

another option--for supporting small, community-oriented business with great customer service record among us--is an IRO, www.irocycle.com, which has a quality wheelset that will last you much longer than the bianchi's stock things.

the search button is your friend. lot of info has been thrown around...

/whoop, yall beat me too it.

I love my Pista.
Although, after almost 2 years, the headset is the only stock component and that might soon change if I can't clean it out.

pistaboy has a pista (and a chrome bag)--'nuff said!

As noted, use search function--that beind said, some like me, like their pistas; others here hate it either b/c they dont like the components or because its a mass produced track bike. There are pently of other options in the same price range. I, personally, like my Pista--just one opinion. I thought it was a good bike for the money, a cheap weay to get into fixed gear cycling. I havent had any of the compoents crap out. I did get a new saddle b/c the stock saddle sucks. I also considered getting an IRO. For me the decision came down to the fact that I could test ride the pista before i bought it and felt comfortable with it.

Its not the greatest bike on earth, but i think its a good deal and have been happy thus far with my purchase.

excellent upgrade platform IMO. i'd try and score an older one if you can. 04 had better tubeset (reynolds 520).

i really like the ride and geometry (fwiw, pista has steepest headtube & highest bb of all the off the peg bikes mentioned above). i've upgraded everything but the frame on mine, and have absolutely no complaints about it at all.

stock components are, as has been said, less than stellar, but they'll hold up well until you feel like upgrading. get rid of the stock seat on purchase. everything else is fine.

if you had bank to start upgrading straight away, i'd go mercier kilo tt and upgrade the drivetrain and wheels right away. miche/campy crank/bb or sugino 75 set-up with decent wheelset and flip the old parts on ebay. after selling the old stuff you'll have probably dropped $600 or so total, and will have a decent track bicycle

Eh, some might say that you're better off with a nice conversion until you can get up into Soma/Di Bernardi/Bareknuckle territory.

some would be wrong then

I like my "Gang Green" pretty fine. Off the peg got me a fixed gear. Too much fun.

I'll ride the less than stellar components until they wear out or I got to have me some bling.

My geared bike whimpers in the garage when the Pista rolls out.

~jg

It all depends on what you are looking for. If you want a relatively cheap way into fixed gear cycling, don't want to do a conversion, and want a good upgradable platform, the pista is great. If you want a professional track bike or one with the best components, then you will probably be disappointed witht the Pista. I rdie the crap out of mine, love it, and have only ridden my geared bike once since i bought the pista.

I like my battleship grey 03 Pista. Frame feels a little big for a 55cm. Components are decent and you only really need to change them as they crap out or you read this list too much and get jealous of everyone else. Rides fine.

However, having moved to it from a low end converstion, I sort of miss the connection of the do it yourself build. So personally, I'm looking for a new (old) frame and will move everything over and start upgrading because I read this list too much and want something more unique.

However they are great bikes and nothing about them really sucks except maybe the saddle. I got mine used for a steal so I can't complain.

Gotta love the faux fur on the oh six.

The 06 pista reminds me of "The Homer." (simpsons ref)

i love my debernardi

I <3 Gang green!

If I didn't want to build my own bike I mighta bought that for the color

My next bike will most likely be a Bianchi San Jose with an extra fixed wheelset. It's a more versatile bike for the same money as the Pista.

as much as i try to hate my 05 pista, the only time i really do is when riding up the few really steep climbs on the piermont ride. the chainstay/bottom bracket area's not stiff enough for my liking, but i guess that's not really what the bike's intended for and i'm a tall guy.

the wheels on mine really sucked, went out of true all of the time and spokes often got dangerously loose. the saddle and seatpost were uncomfortable as well. i also experienced hand numbness riding the stock drops. oh, and getting MKS tugs for it really helped keep the chain tension consistent (hasn't been a problem since upgrading the wheels though).

it can look hot though. i took off all of the decals except for the downtube one, put sugino 75s/sg75BB/crank bros candy pedals/thomson post/fizik saddle/bullhorns/and a phil & aerohead wheelset on.

now i'm building up a kogswell and waiting for a custom jackson and i keep wondering in the back of my head if the jackson will feel as quick as the pista. the geometry's really pretty nice. the components... enh.

I picked up a used black '02 Pista for around $400 on eBay. It's awesome.
Someone had already done a few minor upgrades to mine, so I simply
swapped the saddle, pedals and changed the gearing to something a tad
more realistic for me here in sf > 46x18 fixed, 46x17 free. Added a brake
and some black vinyl and was good to go. Best of all it's BLACK! I no likey
excessive bling.


If you like to wrench on stuff, there's a total fixer-upper on ebay right now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BIANCHI-PISTA-BI...QQcmdZViewItem
I'd take this over a conversion any day.

I dunno, seemed like the Pista is a classic design... much like a Fender Tele or
Martin D28. I figured I might as well get an original (or in this case a import "reissue".)
You can always drop coin on the real thing if you're hooked.

Anyway, food for thought...

yeah i got numb hands with the dedas and don't with the nittos. i haven't had a problem with flex in the frame. however the bike feels a whole lot better with a decent 1/8" drivetrain and stiff cranks. my stock wheels lasted a year of city riding without a single issue. others have had problems with them. they're machine built wheels so i guess it's a combination of luck of the draw and how rigorous your lbs is when it comes to putting the bike together out of the box—whether they pay attention to the wheel tension and trueness or just slap them regardless.

this is an issue with all lower-end bikes though. not a reason to pass the bike over.

Fuji Track rocks!

+1 for the fooj.

i have no experience with the fuji track, but it seems all right. if you can ride one and a pista, do. i think the fuji looks like crap, but hey, go with what feels right, then make it look right.

the pista's not bad for an entry level bike, but should you get hooked, and i think you will, you'll want to upgrade the parts, there's absolutely no doubt about that. at all.

EDIT: i ride a pista, and almost nothing is stock on it, and i got it that way...i can't speak for how good the stock parts are, but i haven't exactly heard glowing reviews. i can say, though that i'm damn glad it doesn't have stock parts, though, just from looking at fresh-off-the-shelf pistas.

test rode one today, it was nice.