just out of curiosity, does the new pista concept front fork come drilled for a front brake? i've got a standard pista on order, but just got a bunch of unexpected money (love that) and could upgrade it to the concept if it seems like a useful purchase. since i was planning on swapping out the wheels and front fork anyway, it seems like a good upgrade... or at least that's how i'm justifying it.

anyone know?

I doubt if it is. It's meant for racing.

If you've got an extra pile of money, get the Pista Concept and a straight steel road fork. That'd look pretty hot. Or maybe a Profile BDC... deep carbon blades... mmmmm...

i finally got an image from an owner, and it looks like the 2005 model doesn't allow this at all... you'd have to drill through the carbon fork, which just seems like a bad idea. i think i'll trick out the straight pista instead for now.

thanks!

You'd need an integrated fork, since the Pista Concept has one. Which is what irks me about integrated stuff.

Not sure that's true. I think that 'integrated' forks are just labelled as such because they look better with integrated headsets, ie. the diameter of the fork at the top of the crown matches the diameter of the head tube.

But I agree... integrated headsets are $tup!d.

Yeah, integrated seatposts suck. My ride was shot because of it.

Otherwise I like the ride alot, it's smooth & handles well. Though not worth the $600 retail price tag...

Raygunner - how about a review?

I've seen one of last years being used by a working messenger, but he was brakeless, so i don't know if my comments help at all.

And i echo "integrated headsets suck." How is a man supposed to get some chris king love with an integrated headset?

Which is why I love this: http://chrisking.com/tech/int_headse...explain_1.html

I was psyched to pick up the frame (it was super cheap) but I don't see myself using it for all that long. The integrated parts fall under that the catagory with disc brakes (or soft-tail kinda stuff), it's neat to have but it has to be a pain (and expensive) to replace and / or service.

I guess that's why it says "Concept Only 2003 on the frame. We shall see!

Once I get a new bolt for my seat post I'll be up & running!

I used to see a guy in downtown Chicago messengering on a Pista Concept. But this was like 1.5 years ago.

No, I have one, the fork wasn't drilled. I called Bianchi and they said it couldn't be drilled - just buy a new fork. But I did it anyway and it works great - no issues at all. My local shop "master mechanic" and I did it. You have to be patient with drilling though - don't start out with the largest drill bit you need (we used very sharp titanium bits). Where you need to drill is all aluminum anyway - so you don't have the potential problems carbon fiber might have. It was a bit tricky initially because Bianchi put a screw in the fork where you break will mount which you have to remove. Other than that - it was easy and I've had no problems at all and I ride it on the road. I'll post a pic when I can.

Hi Chase How did you get that screw in the fork crown out? Mine seems to be welded/brazed in place. I don't want to have to drill through the whole screw....
Cheers
Tom

Tom, yes he did, check this thread:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...+concept+brake