bianchi SASS
 

i tried the search function, but to little avail, so i was curious as to opinions or experience on the SASS as an XC bike, particularly the components. i have seen a lot on the roads/trails but that doesn't necissarily make it great. i don't think many can argue about the bb7 brakes, but i've heard mixed reviews about the wheels. anyway, any experience or knowledge is appreciated, thanks!

uhm check out the mtb forum?

www.mtbr.com

this is the place

good advice

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=279117

been to the mtb forum obviously, been to mtbr... just thought i'd get further opinions, it IS a SS, i know most people in here ride road/track frames (myself included), but most people in the mtb forum ride gears, so i figured i'd hit up more than one source.

I think I'd get a kona unit before I got one of the bianchis, but I'm a sucker for the kona's geometry.

i just bought a SASS used, with some serious upgrades- surly rear hub, monkey lite bars and easton stem, thompson seatpost, truvativ cranks, etc.

i like it. it's far lighter than the 1x1 i used to ride, pretty responsive, completely fun.

truvativ cranks come stock on the sass and the surly rear hub is hardly and upgrade

^ i was going to ask about that, bianchi just says it's a "bianchi" rear hub... not sure what exactly that is (obviously a rebadging) but i HOPE it's at least on par with a surly hub...

i think the hub's an upgrade, and the cranks are truvativ's top-of-the-line SS cranks- not the stock ones. i'm on the road right now or i'd grab the name off 'em. (I bought the bike off a SRAM employee just a few mos ago.)

either way, it's great this way.

My take on it:

It is a 2-year-old bike. Take that into account, external bearing cranksets are a lot more common and reliable than the ISIS stuff on the SASS. But BB7's are about as good as it gets for budget disc brakes. I wouldn't go for it unless you're getting a sick, sick deal.

Weirwolfs are the ****, I have those tires in 2.5's and I love 'em.

How big are you? If you're over 6', you might want to consider a 29'er SS instead. A rigid 29'er is a lot easier to ride than a rigid 26'er, and everybody and their brother is coming out with steel SS 29'ers now.

pshaw, he should be riding a 29er if hes any bigger than 5'6". any frame smaller than med (~18") its tough to get the bars level or lower than the saddle. on my 18" 29r with the stem -6deg no stack and 25mm risers the bars are just barely level. soon swapping out to straight bars for a lil more drop.

I call shenanigans on that! I'm 5'11". My ~17.5" Unibomber is set up with the bars about 3" lower than the seat, and I've got riser bars, spacers and a rise on the stem. The geometry is classic Ye Olde XC racing hardtail.

as much as 29ers might be sweet, we all rode 26" for years and did just fine....

I have the siss, rather than the sass.
The stock headset isn't sealed all that well, so to keep it happy requires frequent greasing- if you're buying used, check the headset condition.
The spot hub on the siss is really weak- i think the bianchi hub on the sass is actually better.
The wheels are heavy, but otherwise ok. Machine built, so check the spoke tension after you've been riding them a bit. I didn't, and broke two spokes on the rear wheel. After replacing them, the wheels have been pretty durable. I went through my first isis bottom bracket in ~4 months, but the replacement has been in for two years now, and is still going strong.

the brakes are good.

oveall, a good bike for the price.

IMHO, I've yet to see a good-looking 29'er frame in a size smaller than a 20" ST (framesets without suspension-corrected forks being the exception). You either have serious standover issues, or else the bike ends up looking like a hammock, and the headtube is about 2" long.

WYT, have you ridden any big-wheelers? Sometimes it's good to be in on the ground floor...

yes, for 26" mtbs bar height is not an issue. if you re-read my post you will see that im discussing MTBs with 29inch wheels.

I have thetop of the line Bianchi singlespeed mtb, its very reliable and looks great.

I rode a Bianchi DISS for four years. Never had any issues with the bb, headset, hubs, spokes... People pick things apart, a lot of people break stuff themselves and deflect blame. Bianchi's make a great singlespeed and back it up if something fails. Just keep in mind that very very few of the thousands and thousands of people who've ridden these happily and with no problems at all are going to log on to say the bike is doing exactly what they'd hoped. They're too busy riding them.

Plus, they have great resale value.

Some people bash Bianchi because after they've agonized and scrimped and saved and maxed their cards building their SS/FX dream bikes, Pista, SASS, MUSS, SUSS, and San Jose riders are having just as much fun and going just as fast. At about one-fourth the cost.

They're good bikes is all.