Bianchi 2005 120 Years

I just bought a Bianchi Pista 2005.

The Frame is CHROME! White Label with Black Bianchi Writing and World Cup Color Stripes circling tube at ends of labels. The hubs are changed, extremely smooth! and rear is fixed on both sides - Sugino RD Crank(Silver) - Bianchi Deda "Track" Handlebar(White Bianchi Cork Tape) - Alexrims AT400(Silver) 32 Hole, Laced 3X with Butted Spokes - WTB Camino Tires(Black/Gray) - VP Components SPD Pedals(Silver) - Cane Creek Aheadset VP-A34C - KMC Chain(Black) - The Bianchi Seat Post(Silver) has Bianchi written in Black and a small Celeste Stripe. The Stem and Bottom Bracket are unknown to me at this time(Silver). The Seat is a WTB Rocket V(Silver).

A few nice upgrades for 2005?

The Bianchi representative said that they will publish the specifications on their Web Site next month. (October 2004)

I would prefer the Celeste Frame color and Mavic Rims. . . Maybe in 2006?

Pictures people pictures

Yeah! WTF

We need to see some pictures.

The seat off my '04 was the first thing to go.

It is painted, not chromed.

Helloooo !!!!

I am not too familar with the exact process; but the frame appears to be chrome?

i have not seen them yet, although i still have my eyes on the '04 models.
Very curious though about the new models...

Man, some interesting specs. does anyone know of some bike shops here in minne-apple-less that might have 'em? just curious....

thats a hot ass bike I really want one

I ordered the Bicycle 5 weeks ago from Bianchi

funny the paint job is the same exact thing as the moser tt bike I posted on the last page

Um, there's a small one in the bike pics thread...

um...check post #27 of THIS thread.

Top to bottom, left to right, form letters to words, words to sentances... (Tommy Boy)

Not fair. that post was edited after I posted. The picture wasn't there initially. I am not dumb. Weep.

chrome is still ugly and you're all still contributing to the destruction of all that is holy.
~Oni

I somewhat agree as it wasn't my color of choice. Although it doesn't appear to be Chrome from a distance of 5 feet or more, it appears to be Blue. Anyway it seems to have the best specifications to satisfy my curiosity of a Track/Fixed Gear Bicycle.

I would have preferred the 2001 color scheme of Black with Celeste Lettering. I really wanted a Celeste Bianchi Pista.

I thought the "chrome" on the Pista is just polished steel with clearcoat over it.
You could strip the clearcoat and paint it Celeste I suppose.

Anyway, is the bottom bracket square-taper with those Sugino cranks? Hardly an upgrade.

The finish appears to be "Chrome"

I would not alter the stock finish. I'll just wait for a new model with the Celeste painted finish.

The bottom bracket seems to be Square Taper as is my 1981 Peugeot and 2003 Cannondale with Campagnolo Record components. I also own a few other bicycles with Shimano Ultegra Octalink Bottom Brackets. I can't notice a difference between Square Taper or Splined BB spindles while pedaling.

I have not had a problem with Square Taper Spindles. I also noticed that Alessandro Petacchi (World Top Sprinter) is using the Campagnolo Record Alloy Square Taper Crank this year (2005) as the newer carbon cranks (FSA) (Campagnolo) were failing for him and some other top level sprinters.

Yeah, there's nothing terrible about square taper spindles. Hell, Phil Wood doesn't even make a splined bottom bracket. If there was truly something magical about it, I would think Phil would make it.

There are a few problems with ST: cranks can be a challenge to torque just right. Too loose and you can round them out as they shift around, too tight and they can walk up the spindle or crack. They can be a pain to get cranks off. I've never done any work on a splined BB, so I can't say for sure, but as far as I know, they have no taper, so those issues go away.

I suspect that Octalink was a pure marketing ploy. What better way to lock you into the Shimano world than with a BB/crankset that only work with other Shimano gear? Ok, that's not entirely true. They'd be more than happy to license it to a 3rd party manufacturer for a price. All of this was predicated on some dodgy arguments that didn't really amount to enough of a difference to make it worth changing a decades old standard.

ISIS is a response to Octalink. It's still snake oil, but at least it's non-proprietary snake oil.

Meanwhile, I can get square taper stuff at nearly all levels of cost and quality and they play just fine with different components (obviously I can't get ST 1-piece cranksets).

The white panel with black letters looks much better than last year's model. I think with a seat change the bike actually looks pretty good. I'd like to know who makes the hubs though. But no matter how cool the pista is, my old steel ex pro track bike is better!

I don't dislike square-taper, in fact I have a bike with Dura-Ace 7410 square-taper and a Bianchi Axis with a generic no-name (probably) square-taper BB. The Dura-Ace BB is awesome; light and strong. The no-name Bianchi OEM spec'd on the Axis however flexed like crazy, enough to cause derailer cage rubbing in out-of-the-saddle hammering. I suspect the BB they spec'd on the '05 Pista is no better. At least with the ISIS crank and BB, there is a minimum stiffness that comes with a hollow billet spindle.

In you much negativity I sense?

I don't notice any flexing at all when climbing or sprinting. You pedal and it goes. That is comparing it to the Campagnolo Record or Shimano Ultregra it feels equally as stiff. All the components seem of high quality; especially the Bianchi hubs which are the smoothest I've felt.

It's my first Bianchi and I can actually say that I am pleased with the 2005 Bianchi Pista. I would buy it again and may buy another Bianchi Pista next year if a Celeste Color Version is made. I think that it's a great value for the price.

Nah, just frustrated with Bianchi a bit. Too many cut corners at a premium price, like the '04 Axis. The Pista is priced OK though. I built a Soma Rush but it would have been less costly going with a Pista.