I got a brand new Bianchi Pista about 6 months ago; I have so far gotten new pedals and a new seat. I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations on what I should upgrade at this point. I have a $300 budget and don’t know if there is anything out that will make any noticeable difference to change.
Thanks guys.

Dude what's the steerer tube size on that thing. Throw a Soma chrome fork on
it with the flat crown, if it will fit. Those unicrown forks are solid
but unsightly.

https://store.somafab.com/lutrfo.html

A chris bling headset and you're good to go. This will make
the bike look better, you will feel better and have more fun--plus those headsets
are solid. Just my initial thoughts--probably other things you could do if you
want a huge improvement in ride quality or something--like blow your whole
wad on a carbon fork. Did I say carbon? Never mind I meant go have an ostrich burger.

Other fun things like a quality stem or seatpost (thomson) would increase power transfer slightly.

i'd love to see tight crank or wheels!
go buy sugino/shimano crank,

or save money to buy hubs,rims, spokes to build ur own wheels .... get like philwood/ dura ace/suzue pro max hubs with aero/deep-v/open pro rims, laced radial, polish them to death!

well that's me when i have $$$$$

Rae,

This is mine... Mavic ellipse wheels.. Chris King Headset... Sugino Cranks and BB... 1/8 Chain... 17t cog and 48t Chainring both 1/8... And I swapped out the seat and post since the photo...[IMG][/IMG]

I'd say good call on replacing the pedals and the saddle. I have a 2005 and I've replaced a lot of smallish stuff (mainly things to make it feel a bit more comfortable) and I've been very happy. If I had to, I'd say get some bars you like and a stem. Maybe it's just me, but I found the stock stem to be too long. Other than that, I think the stock parts are pretty decent, so I would just ride them until they wear out before thinking about replacing them. Basically, unless something doesn't feel right, keep it.

Mine.

Only stock thing left is the headset.

Cranks: Ultegra
Seat Post: Thomson Elite
Rear Wheel: Velocity DeepV rim laced to a Formula Track hub.
Front Wheel: Rolf Vector Comp.
Pedals: Speedplay Frogs
Tires: Continental Grand Prix 4000's 700x23c
Fork: Ritchey Pro Carbon Fork, aluminum steerer, 1"
Stem: Ritchey Comp Stem, flipped.
Handlebars 3T forma.
Tape: Brooks leather tape.
Saddle:Bontrager Race X Lite.
Sakae 50 tooth track ring up front
15 tooth Dura Ace Track cog on the back.

smashy do you have a barn full of bikes or what?

Not to start an argument..... But that is not really true. The Head set is total crap, the bottom bracket is very cheap and not sealed, and since it is splined you cant upgrade your cranks till it has been switched... The wheels are not great either.. What is great about the Pista is that it has a good geometry and good style, in a fairly well built frame, For a GOOD PRICE. They get the good price by putting cheap road bike cranks and other crappy parts on it. that allows you to ride it out of the shop and then decide what upgrades you want and do them systematically .... If i was just going to do one it would be wheels.... My stock seat was pretty comfy.

Just 2 and a half bikes. I'm restoring an old raliegh frame so I can convert it to fixed.

50x15 !!!!!!!!?!!?!?!?!??!!??!!!!1

my friends pista in front of my nagasawa

to my knowledge, phils->silver deep Vs, brooks swift saddle, nitto randonuer bars, custom nuevos, carbon fork, mks clips, campy seatpost

Yes, 50x15 got to remember I'm used to grinding up hills with a 40 pound mountain bike. 50x15 gearing just feels right to me, I tried the 48 tooth that came stock and found it to not be enough gearing for me, went to a 50 and felt right at home.

I love the Pista frame.

I've replaced everything else on my Pista.

I weigh 235 riding, and my headset got grindy and notchy real quick.

Cane Creek makes high value headsets in several price ranges, from inexpensive to very expensive.

Putting a Conti 4 Seasons tire in front and a Conti Ultra Gatorskin in back made a big difference, and one can do that for under $80.

The biggest difference, though, came from replacing the wheels with Cane Creek Volos.

These wheels accelerate and climb beautifully.

Easily worth the $500 plus Cane Creek wants for them.

One could do a Sugino 75 crank, bottom bracket and chainring for $300, and have something that would improve the performance of the bike and last forever.

I'm digging your nagasawa.

[QUOTE=Mr. Smashy;5990208]

Mine.

Only stock thing left is the headset.

/QUOTE]

yeah, but by the looks of the weather, that thing won't last long. the thing is crap, even the relatively mild portland winters sent it packing soon enough on mine.

[QUOTE=humancongereel;5990477]It's going on two years old and it gets treated with frame saver every month. Being a wrench has it's advantages. Will likely swap the frame this summer sometime with a Fuji Track Pro or an Iro Mark V Pro frame.

the only thing left stock on mine is the frame.

Cranks: sugino rd and sugino bb
chain: kmc kool
Seat Post: miche supertype
Rear Wheel: Velocity DeepV rim laced to a gran compe hub.
Front Wheel: arrospok
Pedals: mks sylvan road pedals, mks clips, mks straps
Tires: gatorskins up front, soma ever wears in the rear
Fork: 1" threaded straight blade bikeworksnyc
headset: shimano 105
Stem: nitto pearl
Handlebars: nitto rb 018 on champ grips and ourys
Saddle: selle italia turbo
gearing: messenger 46t / eai deluxe 17t cog

no pictures though
jus imagine what the ultimate hipster bike should look like
=OP

[QUOTE=Mr. Smashy;5990539]sorry, i meant the headset, not the frame. i'm not surprised the frame's still going, mine's had frame saver once if you can even call it that and it's been through a couple of mild portland winters and a couple of snowy, salty ohio winters and it's weakened a bit from ohio but basically isn't slowed down too much at all.

but the headset gave out FAST.

The headset will likely be changed if it decides to go before I do the parts swap.

My list of Pista upgrades: Flat crown threaded fork from Spicer cycles
Chris King "grip-nut" headset
Nitto chrome jaguar stem used with b123aa bars and aluminium pearl stem with rb21 bars
Nitto jaguar seat post
Brooks team pro saddle
Phil Wood track hubs
Velocity deep v rims (currently using gatorskin tires)
Izumi super toughness chain
EAI gold star 17 tooth cog and super star 15 tooth cog
Sugino 75 chainring, cranks and bb
MKS custom nuevo pedals
Toshi double toe straps.

I made these upgrades before any of the stock parts were failing, so I can't say that you should do x before y because I don't know. What I do know is which ones I feel like I couldn't ever switch back. That would be the saddle (which you've already upgraded) and the toe straps/pedals (a super plus to the straps if you aren't riding clipless). Comfort and security right there. On the non-essential side, I love having a whisper quiet drive train, makes riding more enjoyable. The wheels I love because I have only had to have one spoke adjusted (a 1/4 turn) after packing it into a hard case to fly with. Rock solid, those velocity rims. And that is with a non-standard lacing too, crow's foot in the back and alternating crow's and radial in the front. I can feel and appreciate the more powerful position the drop stem puts me in, but I could live without it (actually I do when I ride the bullhorns). I like the convenience of switching stems with the threaded fork/headset/stem to switch bars. The Nitto track bars are lighter in weight than the Dedas that come with the pista, so that's cool. The new fork looks bling as hell. I really have no reason to like the seatpost, 'cept it matches my bar/stem combo. Least important upgrade I made, I think. I still like it though.

lorok really needs to post pics of his bike. *hint hint* lol

I started the wheel replacing process when making a left turn that the one spoke decided to break right at the hub. Built the rear wheel myself, paid $50 for the front wheel. I have the rim and hub to replace that Rolf, I've just been too lazy to build it.

Where'd you get the 48t x 1/8" chainring? I'm looking for one for my '02. 12,000 miles on it and counting. I'ver replaced everything but the cranks and use the original wheels in the salty winter slush.

To me, replacing the crankset made the biggest difference in the bike.