Halebopp

I'm going to buy a pista from Jensonusa I think, and I'm wondering if I should go for the 55cm or the 57 cm. I'm 5' 9" with a 33 inch inseam (full, not pant style). What does everyont think? Thanks.

mathletics

Go to a shop and test ride one. Are there shops that don't carry Pistas anymore?

SoreFeet

The pista is a POS. It is a pretty chromed frame with low end components. A conversion would cost a little more but be a helluva lot better and probably lighter. Look around for an old Tange #1 or #2 frame.

bonechilling

Seriously, posts like this boggle my mind.

mykrrrr

^^^ It's still sound advice but yeah it's the broken record syndrome that is inherent in all interweb forums.

mikeoverly

With a 33 inseam you should do fine on a 55.

Signed, a guy with a 33 inseam who rides a 55

Ken Cox

I have a 32" inseam and I ride a 59.

However, I also have a very long torso and the 59, because of the sloping top tube, represented the best compromise for me.

I consider the Pista a great starting fixed gear bike and a great foundation for upgrades.

I love my Pista frame (I'd like it better painted Dove Stone Gray), and will not replace it until I can afford a Mercian frame.

By the way, converting a road bike to fixed means living with a lower bottom bracket and a higher probability of pedal strike.

If a person doesn't like the Pista, for whatever reason, several other good FG bikes in that price range exist, most notably the Surly Steamroller Complete.

jdms mvp

just go to a shop and stand over bikes of similar measurements

MIN 

Pistas are the worst bikes ever. Don't do it! (5'11" height; 32.25" inseam on 55 cm size. See sig.)

carleton

Being that conversions can be made of an almost infinite combination of parts, configurations, and quality, how can you arbitrarily state that it would "be a helluva lot better"?

To put it in layman's terms: There are more ways that a conversion can be not-right than there are for it to be right.

MIN 

Yeah SoreFeet is pretty much a digi-tard.

carleton

...that being said.

If you buy from a mail-order store (that's what online is, right?), then you'll get mail-order service. Meaning, if you ever have a problem, even one covered under warranty. You are going to have to mail it back. Not to mention the fact that you will have to assemble the bike yourself.

Just about every major city will have a bike shop with pistas in stock for you to try on for size and take home immediately. If they don't have it in stock they can order it for you (like you were gonna do anyway), but then they'll assemble it for you and provide complementary services I'm sure.

gfrance

The Pista FRAME is as good as almost any steel frame out there. Don't put too much stock into the naysayers. That said, it is true that the components and wheelset leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately, these things can very easily be changed over time.

dutret

huh? It's a decent frame but it's pretty solidly middle of the road. Nowhere near as good as any high end steel frame and not better then most other mid-range steel frames.

johnprolly

For the price it's not a bad frame. Jesus man.

fetch

its all about Top tube, not standover!

TRaffic Jammer

..and it's Bianchi, you can do alot worse.

Landgolier

NB: with Taiwanese bikes it's pretty hard to to better or worse, they're all coming from the same factories.

VuONG

57cm is what i ride and im 5'11" with a 33 inseam

i think you would do well with a 55cm

let the haters hate, but a bianchi pista is a good bike for the price, not to many other new track bikes can match its build quality

when i was looking for a new bike to replace my old bike, i looked into iro,pake, schwinn, fuji for a beginner - middle level track bike to try out. Bianchi pista was my best option yes it is super common, and its a hipster mobile, but seems to me if you care more about what other people think instead of quality, whos the real snob.

https://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/la...x.aspx#reviews

skanking biker

I'm sorry, I totally disagree. THe Bianchi Pista is surely not a top-of-the-line competition level track bike. However, for its price it is a very easy, inexpensive way to get into fixed gears. While it doesn't come standard with a king headset, deep v's, bullhorns, thompson seatpost or other generally unnecessarily
expensive components for the type of riding 90% of people do, I do not see people complaining that their wheels blow up, that their cranks cracked in half, or that their steerer tube froze causing them to fall off a cliff.

I don't know of many entry level bikes that come with top-of-the-line, or even mid-level components---thats why they are called ENTRY LEVEL bikes.

Its not like the thing is a wallyworld bike for crying out loud.

The only thing that truly sucks about the bike is the seat---I have yet to find someone whose arse has not been split in two by it.

Is it the best bike out there, .... certainly not. But it is certainly not a POS either.

NoBumDeals

Try and find one at a local LBS man... It's impossible for any of us to tell you what size to buy. Hell, I'm 5'11" and ride a 55cm Pista. My buddy is 5'8" and rides a 57cm comfortably. We're all built differently.

skanking biker

Well because all the "true" hipsters are running away from the Pista like sailors run away from vietnamese streetwalkers, I would argue that buying a Pista is declaring oneself to be antihipster. After all,

if everyone is doing it, it is no longer hip.

MIN 

What's with the racial slur, Skanky?

skanking biker

WTF?

what "racial slur"

I was using a humorous analogy--you know---vietnam, 70s, sailors, women of ill repute, high rates of VD??


Last time I checked women of any race can be prostitutes

sp00ki

this thread makes my face hurt.