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Bianchi 928SL at Cycles Bikyle in Bryn Mar, PA #bianchibicycles http://twitpic.com/1nqdf9

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Will Mahler
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Dirt Fest weekend with the York Area Moutain Bike Assoc.

May 21-23 was the Dirt Rag Magazine/Dirt Fest at Lake Raystown. This event would offer the usual beer sampling, bike sampling, trail sampling, and bros not pros sampling as well. Friday and Saturday would be the bulk of the days for riding and mayhem. I contacted my local IMBA affiliated club-- the York Area Moutain Bike Association and booked a campsite with them. YAMBA was ahead of the curve with this event, attending Dirt Fest for its second year, they realized that getting a group campsite for the club has its following advantages: 1- Non-primitive camping (i.e. showers, warm water). 2- Camping for the group would be contained to a cul de sac of the club member's tents, campers, etc. thus reducing the amount of 'I can't handle my alcohol, single speeders/mtbrs' potentially. At least we had only one guy that couldn't handle his alcohol and well, quite frankly, with one guy and ten 'sort of sober' riders, makes for better odds. 3- We were still within a mile of the festivities and could hop on the shuttle bus if we need to check things out on the event's peninsula. 4- The Fest's designated camping area was on the side of a hill. 'Nuff said about that. Friday I rolled out in caravan fashion with one of the club members. Make a note here-- use the Yakima Rocket Box next time for transporting the Bianchi EZ-Up tent, more on that later in the post. I was super pumped for this weekend on many levels. I'd heard great things about the Lake Raystown/Allegrippis Trail system for over a year now. The Army Corp of Engineers and Raystown collaborated with the IMBA Trail Care Crew, planned/designed the trails for nearly 5 years and spent 2 years on the construction (I think my stats are 95% accurate here). Professionally build trails! I'm familiar with the lay of the land near LR and know that it offers wonderful boating, road biking, hiking and outdoor access. Pennsylvania is a great place for vacationing. You'll need to do your homework in order to find the right spot, but it's worth it none the less. I've seen some articles in Decline Magazine covering the trail system and the flow of the trails sounded irresistible to a trail hack like myself. YAMBA is a trail advocacy club based out of York, Pa. Or as I refer to them---S.O.Y! Straight Outta' York! I stole that abbreviation from the now de-funked band Live and their early attempts at an email newsletter entitled, S.O.Y. back in 1999. I've been out for their group rides as well as past trail maintenance days and let's just say that they put their shovel where their mouths are; not really but you get the picture. Working closely with Mike Fobes of the York Co. Parks Commission in the past decade, YAMBA has created new trails, maintained the usable ones, and created sustainable multi-use trails in place of ones that became erosion nightmares over the years. Keep up the great work guys! You can access their website--->here! YAMBA's club president, Skip Durgin, has been my partner in crime for mountain biking since 1990. On again, off again riding, racing, the best man at my wedding, Christmas parties, and now the Dirt Fest weekend, had put me back in touch with this Old Trail Head. I was looking forward to ripping up some new trails with him and the club as I drove northwest towards State College, Pennsylvania. We ate lunch, geared up, and rolled out for an early afternoon trail session. While I don't remember the names of all the trails we rode, I came away from the weekend with a nice laminated map of the Allegrippis Trails from the Dirt Rag boys that should prove to be handy on my return trip. Skip and Dan was familiar with the trails so we just followed their wheels. Professionally built trails mean what to me after this weekend? Have you seen Star Wars Episode IV? Remember when Luke was training with Ben and had the blaster shield on and deflecting the floating orb that shot mini-blasts at Luke which he tried to deflect with his lightsaber? Yeah, that. You can relax your brain and let your instincts take over. The trails have a lot of swales used to slow down the speed of the water, so it's a roller coaster everywhere you ride. The bench cutting of the trails is just wide enough that 25mph speeds can easily be reached. Little to no rocks or roots. Although it took me a couple of miles to get used to that great of a singletrack speed on my Bianchi 29r as I was turning into the bench cutting corners a bit too early and bouncing the front tire off the entry of the inside turn. Let's face it, there aren't too many trails in central PA where you'll see that kind of speed on singletrack for more than 5 seconds. Tire pressure is critical and an 'over the handle bars' riding position to keep the front wheel firmly planted in the corners. My bike had loads of grip with the tubeless tire and air pressure I was running. My only thought was I really need a double ring crank on my 29r; something like this---> 2x9 is in my future. The only time I'm in the granny gear is if I'm injured and most of the time I'm in the middle or big ring. Friday evening: YAMBA firestarter Kevin. Actually, Kevin is a professional firefighter, and lover of freeride bikes and fully blown Subaru rally cars. When a guy shows up for a weekend of camping and riding and starts tending to the fire with Nomex fire gloves, you just step away and let the man do his work. Kevin also has a habit of strapping a GoPro HD camera to his chest in order to capture his trail antics. His VIMEO site can be enjoyed--->here! and with his speed on the trails, there's a good chance he'll keep you in the frame. In fact, I was blessed by Kevin that weekend as he captured some of my pedaling from that in the video window below. I'm the skinny cat in the blue long sleeve DAKINE jersey, then the occasional red/wh/blk Monster Health Care jersey on Day #2.

Just some Rides from diggingtrail on Vimeo.

Kevin wears the GoPro with a chest harness and has it angled just right to capture the horizon. I like how his bars are in the foreground. It kind of reminds me of a mountain bike game for a gaming console... hmm Diggingtrail for the PS3?! Are any game developers reading this...? Saturday: More riding, 9am-12pm. After two days of massive amounts of trail flow and high fives, the inevitable rainstorms moved on Saturday late afternoon. We finished up the last ride on Saturday and returned to the pavilion to share stories, beers, and food. The rain had put somewhat of a damper on the evening's Dirt Rag Fest area so we retired to our tents (or my car since I slept in the Element that weekend) instead of hanging around for the bands to play. Sunday I waited out the rain until late morning, then packed things up. At least I didn't have a wet tent to break down but I had a wet, spider inhabited EZ-Up tent that would have been better in the cargo box on my roof rack instead of in the back of the Element. I think I've killed all the small bugs by now or at least my son and daughter haven't seen any lately. The Allegrippis Trails get two thumbs up from this guy and Lake Raystown is a terrific place to vacation with the family too. Less than 3 hours from Harrisburg, Pa, it's practically in our backyards. Thanks to YAMBA for all their local trail work and for putting together a site for us to crash at for the weekend. More props to Abington Wheel Wright Bike Shop for getting my bike's brakes and suspension tuned for the core stuff! Thanks to Dirt Rag, IMBA for making trail riding solid in Pennsylvania.

Shop in comfort, class and celeste'!

Here is what the boys in Japan are doing to enhance your experience when shopping for a Bianchi Bicycle. Bianchi Concept Store.


I really like the back display of merch/accessories and the dark wood creates a relaxed, warm feel to the showroom. Good job guys!

Tweet from @ghincapie

George's Tweet after Sunday's ToC. Word!

Not a great way to start ATOC. Broke helmet and hit my back hard.
Can't understand why people crash in a straight line. #notprofi.

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sb
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More Infinito love.

I know, you're probably getting a bit worn on my posts about the Infinito. But hey, when the swell has almost crested, you had better be ready to hop up and go!

Blog blurb on the Infinito 6700 via 9th Street Cycles in Brooklyn, NY. Enjoy the bike Jeff!

Bianchi Cross Project.

Lugged classic cx goodness at a VA bike shop.


--posted via iPhone.

Bianchi Passion at On The Rivet

Cambridge, MD's On The Rivet loves a classic set up. Check these guys out when you're near the Eastern Shore. They also have restored to period Bianchi bicycles from the 60s/70s/80s on display. It's quite a museum just to see them!


--posted via iPhone.

Team PG13 Bianchi 1885 race spec.

Building upon the popularity and race potential of the B4P 1885 frame set, Eldon Harding of Team PG13 ordered up a 2009 version (no carbon seat stays) and immediately began the transformation of this bike into an aluminum weight weenies dream. Eldon has been racing a Cross Concept Race frame for a few years so celeste runs deep in his veins.


Carbon tubular tires and a 3T fork are the immediate changes Eldon has made to get this 1885 race ready.


335gr full carbon Team Funda fork. PG13 is a graphics company which Eldon owns. He whipped up some rad stickers to keep the decor of the fork very much Bianchi related.


Full build weight with the parts listed below. Now that's light for an aluminum bike!

2009 Bianchi 1885 59cm
2010 3T Funda Team Fork
2010 3T Ergonova Carbon Team Handlebars
2009 Bontrager Race XL 120 Stem
2010 3T Doric LTD Seat Post
2008 Sram Force Shifters
2008 Sram Force Derailleurs
2009 FSA Stock Head Set
2009 Token ISIS Compact Cranks
2009 Token ISIS Titanium Ceramic Bottom Bracket
Token Carbon Bottle Cages
2010 Fizik Aireone (Replaced San Marco in picture)
2009 Token Lightweight Brakes
KMC Chain
2003 American Classic 58mm Tubulars
Token Titanium Ceramic 11-23 Cassette
Omni Racer Titanium Skewers
Vittoria Pave Tubulars
Look Keo Pedals


Great job Eldon and best of finishes on the Oklahoma race circuit in 2010! Thanks for the photos.

Team PG13 Facebook Page

2010 B4P 1885 Chorus10

If actions speak louder than words, then my pulling the Chorus 10 kit off my carbon T-Cube is at the point of screaming a statement. Not that I'm trying to make a statement, what, ok, maybe I am for 2010.

November 2009 I was in Nashville, TN visiting the boys at Gran Fondo Cycles, checking things out and getting in a nice 2 hour spin with Lynn. The loaner bike for that day was an older, Bianchi San Lorenzo. I fell in love with the San Lo that day and have not change my mind about wanting to get back on an aluminum road frame. If today's carbon rigs are the hottest fresh young things, then this San Lorenzo is the Cougar of the road bike world. I'll stop right there with any more parallels.

Naturally the San Lorenzo is out of production and we do not have any 63cm scratch and dents kicking around in the warehouse so I ordered up a 2010 B4P 1885 in a 63cm. With their identical geometry to the 2008 B4P T-Cube in my stable, the parts swap should be painless. Hopefully...(Have you ever been heading into a bike build and you have everything you need to complete the project, at least everything you THINK you need and you're naturally working up against a deadline, and the builds are always started after dinner when shop are closed...more later on that one.)

To paraphrase my ride last November with Lynn and the bike that changed my mind for the 2010 season, I believe it is time to get back on an aluminum because I enjoy a stiff, fast handling frame. I'm not saying the T-Cube I have is soft and slow, because it's not by any means, but riding a race stock, quality aluminum frame like the 1885 (not the low end mass produce kind where riders hang a saddle bag off below their bum that is the size of a grapefruit) over a carbon bike says a lot about ones ride requirements. And mass produced? There are only 2- 63cm 1885 frames in the US and one of them is sitting in my garage. How's that for not having a 'mass produced_show up for the group ride and everyone is on an XYZ bike'?

Being 6'5", any frame I ride is going to have a bit of flex. If you hopped over to the blog that I linked to in the above mid-paragraph sentence, you'll read that the T-Cube is a fantastic platform. And the true litmus test is riding at 25mph sans hands and not having the frame shaking like a squirrel on meth; the T-Cube is rock solid! But the shear fact that I noticed a faster turn in response on the alu frame became a good excuse or at least made my decision easier for a 2010 bike frame.


The tube set on the 1885 is shaped using Super Plastic Forming. Here is a manu' quote on SPF-- A high pressure gas is used in this forming process, instead of a fluid. The tubing is also heat treated while in the 500deg Celsius dye.


This shot running up to the head tube is one of my favorite views. 210mm tall head tube mated against a heavily manipulated top tube and down tube equals stiff and responsive.

2010 marks Bianchi's 125th anniversary.

Narrow chain stays...

...and 27mm tall. Efficient transmission of pedaling force.

Machined bottom bracket and the donor bike in the background.


Weight of the frame only. 505gr over the T-Cube's 1040gr frame weight. A tick over a pound between both frames. But remember, it's not a pound of rotational mass here. I'm building up the 1885 with all the parts from the T-Cube so it will be a fair comparison come test time.


Done! And new Speedplay Zeros were on the way at the time this photo was taken.

Back to the 'Have you ever...' during a build; not have the foresight to get a new chain for the new build? I knew from a couple of months ago, that my chain is still well within the stretch limits according to my measuring device. But Campy chorus chains do not have a master link. On a Campy chain you either put on another chain with a quick link (like my second fav chain KMC X10) or you use Campy's master link system which is a section of chain that you must splice into the original chain when putting it back on the bike. My local Campy shop was closed at the time of the build. I had to brainstorm a bit about this and then remembered I had a Whipperman 10speed quick connect in my tool box. I installed it with a touch of reluctance and so far so good. The shifter and chain are still working in harmony as if the quick link wasn't there at all.

I'll try and B.L.U.F. (Bottom Line Up Front) my way through the details of the bike review. Weighing in at 17.9lbs for a 63cm race ready bike isn't too bad; at least by my tastes. At this point, I'll take a pound heavier, quicker handling bike as long as the extra weight isn't in the wheel set. The 1885 carries it's weight through the frame and fork because of it's Super Plastic Formed aluminum tube set.

I'm pleased with the finish work at the welds, all hand ground and almost completely smooth. The seat stays are carbon fiber and do a great job as carbon should, with vibration absorption. Like the older, maturer, San Lorenzo, I can make subtle steering adjustments to the bike, with my hips as opposed to standard handlebar movement on other bikes I've ridden. The 1885's acceleration is quick, although I'm not sure how much of that is from the bike and how much it is from me keeping fit over this past winter. Due to my past winter activities which have kept me from getting stale, I've been able to lower my stem 20mm, bringing me closer and more intimate to the bike!

The final item that I enjoy about the new rig is how communicative the ride quality is. Not jarring and bone shaking like cheap aluminum bikes; rather the feel of the road is a bit more 'there'. Along with the Campagnolo Chorus 10speed clicky/notchy shifting, you'll know how and where the bike is at all times.


So far I'm in love!

Flood conditions hit Nashville's Gran Fondo Cycles.

I received a heads up from TN this morning, depicitng the situation from Nashville, TN.

Gran Fondo Cycles was affected by the flood waters but like any die hard retailer and cyclist, Lynn and the crew got to work quickly; minimizing damage on their inventory. And attacking the clean up like Fabian on the 2010 cobbles.

Coverage!