Bianchi Sempre Nero Chorus 11

One requirement of being an employee at a bike shop is a love for bikes and having an artistic approach to building up your personal ride. After all, you can usually tell the difference between a custom shop build by an employee who has lovingly selected each part to go on their bike, and the dude on the local group ride who spent an entire winter cherry picking a discount online parts retailer. Baller versus buster. Although I still see high end builds where the builder doesn't match the stem and seat post via brand. It goes without saying you shouldn't wear a brown belt with black dress shoes so match those bits please.

Knoxville, Tennessee Bianchi dealer, Biketopia has a good selection of the mid to top self bikes from the brand. Shop employee, Adam Sandling started off with a Sempre Nero SRAM Red bike. Really, the guy just wanted the Nero frame and since it's not offered this year as a color option in a frame set, Adam took the road less traveled. He now has an extra build kit on his hands after installing the latest Campagnolo Chorus 11 group. This 59cm bike scales in a 16.09lbs as shown in the photo below with the stock carbon/alu clinchers.


Feedback via Adam:

"I did pull the SRAM Red off though, loaded it up with a full Campy Chorus group and even got FSA to send me a Campy free hub body for the Vision wheels. I got to ride it the other day and I couldn't be happier. It's everything I wanted and didn't know I wanted. Stiff, stable, fast..."

New SRAM Red, does it taste better?

After spending 2011, flicking away on SRAM's top shelf Red build kit, there's a new version launching this season. You can grab the announcement....here!

This isn't the first mention of the parts giant, making severe changes to their top level kit. Blurbs on the Twitterverse cropped up from the likes of @ryantrebon, pro cx racer and my 6'5" idol. (Hey, us tall folks need someone to look up to...or look at, depending on your height.)



Photos and a video of a newly shaped brifter silhouette, brakes, crankset got many salivating.

Having ridden Shimano on the road since '88, a handful of years on Campagnolo, and what I can describe as my most product year on the bike from a training and racing perspective in 2011, my Red build kit ran flawlessly. Now some of that might be due to having a top notch mechanic (ahem!). Because of this, there weren't many tools put to the build group over the course of the 2011 season.

Having been on Campagnolo Chorus before moving to Red, I was already used to a slightly noisy drivetrain and a more communicative shifting system. When I say noisy, I'm referring to the slight buzz that resonates from the idler pulleys on Campy's rear derailleur while pedaling down the road. Communicative, in the sense that when you shift the rear using the PowerDome cassette, there's no mistaking your high gear selection. Personally, I like that. Some cyclists...meh, not so much. Terms like clunky have been tossed around to describe this characteristic. I'm guessing these are Shimano users who have become accustom to the shifting traits of Shimano and need to remember that SRAM is SRAM and Shimano is Shimano; so stop wishing SRAM is Shimano and make a decision based on open-mindedness, not long term complacency.

The features of the upcoming Red kit seem to have addressed concerns of operating noise as well as the firmer shifting tension at the crank by using a Yaw design for the front derailleur. Maybe it's my long leverage fingers but shifting at the crank has had zero issues. The ergo controls have been very comfortable and the ability to 'ham fist' shifting during cx racing was an eye opener last year.

Clicking off shifts, bouncing across grassy fields and single track on Sundays, last fall during the MARBRA Super8 Series, reminded me of why I like SRAM on my mountain bike. No mis-shifts, no skipping or chain dumping on the front (no I didn't run a chain watcher during cx races), just flat out, gear banging like Jenson Button in his McLaren.

From Bianchi 1885/ SRAM Red

On the road, my first experience of contesting a sprint finish at the local Wednesday Worlds was an eye opener. Honestly I was a bit gun shy the first time I needed to reach for another gear while in the drops, at top speed. I flicked the wrist, cringed slightly for what may happen, then, snick! Right into the next gear with no hesitation or self destruction-over the handlebars- FAIL. Confident inspiring. Love it.

The GXP bottom bracket has been terrific. The way the crank shaft engages against the non-driveside bearing in order to unload the driveside bearing has allowed me to run the same bottom bracket all year, through training, road racing and a season of cyclocross. I did develop a clicking sound at the 2 o'clock position of the crank, after my first cross race. This was remedied by removing the crank and the bottom bracket dust shields, cleaning the seals of the bb and installing everything with a fresh skim of Park Took grease. Noise gone!

I'm excited to try the new group. Will it make me dislike the generation of Red I'm on currently? Not sure. I can see the ergonomics being my favorite improvements due to my bear paw size hands. The newly designed front derailleur has sparked my interest too.

2012 is looking to be another exciting year for us bike geeks.

The final chapter of the season.

I can't say that it feels like summertime is slowing down but with the kids heading back to school in less that two weeks and the buzz of my comrades discussing dismounting and threshold work; I'd say it is.

The later part of this is obvious, cyclocross season is on the horizon and chasing the field in the local crit is in the rear view mirror. Entering my fourth fall season with Bianchi Bicycles, I've somehow gotten my head out of my tail and will be having a go at it with some cross racing. I'm in contact with many who race this version of the sport of cycling. Every fall I'm like, 'Yeah, blah blah blah is going on and NEXT year I'll get my shit together for cross season.' Really, does putting off the obvious really make things better? The obvious is that other than the lady reps we have covering the far reaches of the US for the brand who don't cross race, I need to HTFU and kit up like the remaining employees.

My approach for cross season will be much like my like that of this season's crits and mountain bike races; finish mid pack or better. That may seem a little underachieving but seriously, I'm more realistic about my goals and physical abilities than many of the guys who pin a number on any given Sunday morning. Ride safe, ride aggressive and don't ride more than 15% of my ability at any given time.

Cross fitness/form is still a bit undefined to me; other than picking Sean Mealey's brain from time to time, his answers have been, 'Start running!'. Ok, I'll take that and a bit of what I've been digesting through my training with Michael DeCarlo at Max Power. DeCarlo and trainer Nic have been feeding me a regimine of core and strength work over the past two winters and before you dudes reading this roll your eyes and think, 'whatever man, stop bragging...', I'm not bragging. Think of this as a small confession of what old guys need to do; get your butt in gear and supplement your workout routines with something other than pedaling your bicycle. Your jump out of the next four corner crit will thank you.

With the launch of the Cavaria Force for the 2012 season I'm putting my money where my mouth is and building up a Cavaria Red for myself. Same wheels as the Cav Force, tubeless ready with Bulldog tires (as the pit wheels). SRAM bits, Challenge race rubber on the primary wheels and some rad Hincapie skin suits for getting dirty.



The rest of the teammates are loyal servants for Simplicity Cycles based out of Hanover, PA. I jumped on their road team this season and flew the colors in races spanning PA, VA, and NC. We're up to 10 guys racing cross for ~S.C.~ this season ranging from first timers on up to Elite Men's. Two of our DS are seasoned Elite Masters and Pro 1/2 competitors, bringing a lot of knowledge to the squad. MABRA Super 8 will be the arena.

I'll make an effort to do some updates on the team, races, and our bikes and time unfolds. And yes, we're racing on Bianchi Bicycles.

Bianchi 1885/ SRAM Red

I decided to start off the 2011 season with an old friend and a new build. The foundation of this build would be my 2010 1885 frame/fork, the rest would be a whole new dance for me.




63cm bikes are a rarity in carbon form so for now, I'll pedal away on this extremely responsive aluminum/carbon seat stay equipped platform.




This year I'll be trying out road tubeless wheels and tires. I've ridden these Hutchinson tires before and their grip is super nice. As of this posting I've had only one ride on them with 90lbs in the rear and 80lbs of pressure in the front and they roll into the corners similar to tubulars. Not the same but noticeably different than tubed clinchers.




It's been almost 6 years since I've built a bike from the frame up. Usually with my job, I'm on the outta da' box build. This time I wanted to create a build that has a bit of class, a bit of tech, without being cliche'.



Drivetrain. Still 10 speed.



The label says Hydro but the frame is actually Super Plastic Formed aluminum. What does this mean? Strong and stiff. Not featherweight, but aren't motorists increasingly becoming bad drivers? Think of SPF as an insurance policy should that motorist who refuses to use a hands-free headset, buzzes you with the rear view mirror of her SUV. Also you can detect a blob of red grease under the band clamp for the front derailleur. That's carbon fiber assembly paste by FSA. A must to use under SRAM front derailleurs. Given the spring force for their front derailleur, it's better to know that the clamp won't twist, versus over torquing the clamp and crimping the frame. Another SRAM recommended tip.



The Arione fits my bumm like teeth to gums. Ok, maybe that was a bit off color but dang it, I love the way this saddle fits! Historically, I'm all over the saddle when I ride; on the back for climbing and mashing, on the nose for high cadence, spinning for the horizon. The Thompson Masterpiece seat post is as light as many carbon posts and just oozes handmade goodness! The post is a 31.6mm which we use on almost all of our road bikes. That's a good thing and adds to the cornering prowess of our bikes; a nice over-sized seat tube allows you to steer the bike with your butt instead of the bars when needed. No spindly seat pins mate!



Powerdome cassette 11/26t and a Shimano Dura Ace chain for quieter operations. The Gore cables are snickety quick too.



Nice tube shape. 1885, what a year!



If you run a Thompson seat post, you have to run their stem. Or at least if you're matchy-matchy like me you will. Again, holding this stem in your hand really feels good, smooth, well crafted and pretty light for being aluminum. 130mm strong.



I chose to use a braze-on style front derailleur. Why? Because owning a high end groupo and coming from Campy bikes over the past 4 years, I like knowing that I can move the parts to another frame should this frame go away. Campy, on their mid-high end front derailleurs you can convert a band clamp derailleur to a braze-on style, SRAM you cannot. The braze-on set up if needed also allows you to use SRAM shims to re-align the derailleur's outer shift plate to match outer chain ring profile which facilitates better shifting when set up this way. And I used a Force derailleur because the shift plates are stiffer than the Ti Red derailleur; better up shifts.



Powerdome cassette. It's amazingly light.



For a 63cm aluminum frame and aluminum steer tube, I'm ok with this weight. It's not like it's a pound over in the wheel department. The bike feels quicker than this scale leads you to believe. Many miles to go!

Bianchi B4P Mono-Q SRAM Red

Era Ski & Bike in Lancaster, Pennsylvania handles a lot of high end frames/custom builds. Todd and Greg at Era have been building what the discerning cyclists needs, long before others have jumped on the high end road bike bandwagon.

The other week, I popped in to say hello to Greg, see how their ski season is ramping up and drop off a stack of catalogs/literature. Greg was upstairs in Era's showroom discussing with a customer, her options regarding her next bike fit and custom build. Greg's moto is--if you're going to spend at least $3k for a bike, a custom fit/build is your best option.

Nestled comfortably amongst their niche' brands are Bianchi Bicycles. 2009 brought dealers the B4P Mono-Q road bike. This bike falls in that $3k bracket and Greg and Todd are putting their own stamp on this model.


The Mono-Q is a race ready bike with it's stock Ultegra SL groupo and Mavic wheel set. Era has add a bit of their own flavor and stripped and flipped the bike into a SRAM Red/Easton/Fizik equipped bike.


This bike boasts a full SRAM Red groupo and Easton EA90 Aero wheel set and tips the scales at just over 16 lbs for the 57cm as shown.

This is a taste of what Era Ski & Bike can offer the Bianchi customer; stock or custom. Make mine a 61cm and consider me sold!
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Will Mahler

A weekend in the shadows of the Philly Pro Race.

One of my greatest beliefs with any job or any passion is that you should never take more than you give. With that in mind, I latched onto the BMW-Bianchi Elite Team for the weekend of the 2009 TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship.

Hailing from the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic region, I met up with the team the day before the race at The Bicycle Stable in Philadelphia, Pa. The shop was to be used as a departure point for what would shape up to be a Recon Race Course Ride, led by 2-time US Olympian Jame Carney. Jame is also Erica Allar's cycling coach- Erica has just joined the team near the end of last month.

Also on hand for the ride kick off was Ed Nasjleti from SRAM and his tech guy. They were nice enough to lay some bike porn on us by showing off the 2010 SRAM Force grouppo. This new build kit is receiving trickle down technology from the Red kit; shifter internals, Zero Loss shifting, hardware to better center the brake calipers to the wheel and an improved chainring strength and construction.

(l-r) Chris, Kevin and Derek. The guys that keep Chaz of The Bicycle Stable sane through the week. Notice in the background over Derek's shoulder that the front door to the shop is painted celeste green. That's devotion!

Two things worth mentioning about the SRAMs new Force grouppo is the ease of shifter mechanism replacement and it's value to the performance road bike market. The internals can be removed with two simple pieces of hardware, all while the shifter is still attached to the handlebar. The gear mech slides out and a new one slides back into it's place. Secondly, the new Force kit will give you a sub-2k gram grouppo at a grand less than the new Dura-Ace 7900. Yes, a grand less. Those savings will allow you to buy those Carbon 50s you've wanted for race day.



Dana and Erica waiting to leave. I believe that Erica is practicing 'Two John-ic Law' and verifying that the elastic on her cycling shorts isn't flipped up on her legs. Good job Erica!




The creators of the BMW-Bianchi Elite Team, Laura Weislo and Dana Carson. Dana is now with Hutchinson Tires and provides the team with product for the race course.

note: Dana has been gracious enough to hook me up with a set of Hutchinson Intensives (230gr training/race tire) and a pair of Hutchinson Fusion 2 Ultra tires. I've been logging miles on the Intensives and have now been converted from Continental. The Intensive's 'Moto GP' casing profile have great top end speed and offer great flat protection on long road rides. It's sidewall is reinforced with a rubber that is used on Hutchinson's MTB tires; sidewall slice protection without sacrificing casing suppleness. More on the tires later!



So, after introductions, hand shakes, oogling and potty breaks, we clipped in and rolled out with the owner of the Bicycle Stable, Chaz and his 3 partners in crime, the Team and myself. En route' to meet Jame and the rest of the racers for the Recon Ride.



In the US Olympian jersey, Jame Carney discusses the course and what lies in store for those racing on Sunday. He has done this event numerous times and is aware of every section that may pose as a struggle for those that will be competing for top positioning during this 25 year old race. Kirsten Davis in the foreground, listening to Jame's advice and strategy.



After pre-riding the course, I helped Emory and JK clean and prep the bikes for Sunday's event. Carbon pads were switched out, race hoops installed and final shinning of the bikes was performed.

Race Day:



The women's field was riding as if passing the Men's Field was a preem. In fact, the ladies did catch and pass the men. With this blistering pass, the field was torn apart after Lap 2. Some racers were pulled, IMOP, way too early. Either way, the ladies gave it their best. Erica and her guest teammate made across in the third group.

I really enjoyed working the feed zone and seeing the race unfold throughout the morning. A big thanks again to the Team and all their sponsors. I'll see you at the West Chester Twilight Crit in July!

Ya' bone 'eh!

2009 BMW-Bianchi Elite Racing Team

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Will Mahler

D2 Super Pista Update.

Ok. It's fair to say that this bike is quick-the D2 SP. It's been a ball to ride and is a regular town bike since the end of winter. The funny thing with riding this frame is that it's actually opened up a new yearning for ANOTHER Bianchi bike to be in my stable...the 1885.

The tubeset of the SP is similar in shape and construction to the 2009 1885. Knowing what I know about riding the SP, it has to be on another level when you mix up those ingredients and bake up a B4P geometry, race frame.

Looking into the pedigree of the 1885 you'll find a unique manufacturing process that not many bike manufacturers are using-Super Plastic Forming or SPF for short. In a nut shell you have Hyrdroforming aluminum tubes and you have SPF. The shaping concept of SPF is similiar to Hydroforming but instead of a high pressure hydraulic fluid inside of the tube/die, the aluminum is almost heated up to 1000 deg. F in the die, then slowly injected with a gas instead of a fluid. This will allow the tubing to expand and reshape itself to a much greater size and shape. All the while maintaining a high level of strength and becoming heat treated in the process. 2009 also marks for a first time since it's introduction in 2005, an 1885 frame in all aluminum- no rear carbon fiber seat stay.

With 9 frame sizes ranging from 46cm - 63cm/+2cm, there's a frame for every cyclist...unless you're Zinn. That guy makes me look small! The B4P geometry that I have been riding for over a year now is solid. On my T-Cube and Mono-Q, the handling is predictable and inspires confidence to push the handling limits of the bike. If you build this frame up with SRAM Red and carbon 50s, you're looking at a sub-17lbs crit bike that will withstand the g-forces of a 35mph_outside pedal down on the corner_crappy DC road surface_local race. Phew, really!

Now if we could only get a 63cm in stock...
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Will Mahler