Bianchi Campione

If you have ever wondered why this blog is called Bianchinut, here is the reason.

In 2003 I started to look at getting back into road bikes. My previous road bike was a small framed 650c Lotus that I rode when I was a kid. It had been over 10 years since the last time I had ridden skinny tires. Not knowing if this was something I would pursue with dedication, I wanted to keep the cost low. I checked all the local bike shops in the city I was living in at the time but nothing caught my eye. And so I took to the internet.

I searched nearby cities and found a shop in New Orleans that had a Bianchi Campione from the previous model year that just happened to be my size and was clogging up their showroom floor. I sent them an email and asked them to hold it for me so I could make the hour long drive to check it out. They luckily agreed. I packed up and went to the shop as quickly as possible and when I walked in, I found a beautiful steel road bike in celeste that fit like a glove. The shop agreed to drop the price a couple hundred dollars to get rid of it and I was happy to oblige them in clearing out the old stock.

The bike was pretty portly weighing in around 22 pounds. I am a firm believer in the philosophy that one should ride a bike extensively before deciding on changes. After about a year, I realized a few things that needed to go. First things first, the wheels. Campagnolo Mirage hubs laced to Mavic rims, durable, strong, heavy, and slow. I was able to find a good deal on a set of Bontrager Race Lite wheels and as you may know by now my love of my Bontrager Privateer has given me a mild obsession with Bontrager branded products. The improvement from the wheels was dramatic! An additional bump came from swapping out the OEM Vittoria tires for some Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps.

The next replacement in the Bianchi's diet was the steel fork. Stumbling across a Mizuno full carbon fork sealed the deal. Swapping from threaded to threadless created a need for my favorite headset – the Cane Creek S2. A Ritchey Pro stem completed the swap and created a total weight savings of a pound and a half from these three parts.

After about another year, the seat was replaced with a WTB Rocket V. Initially, this felt like a horrible mistake. After the seat was properly broken in, I began receiving thank you letters from my butt.

The classic geometry and light weight steel tubing make this bike an absolute pleasure to ride. No road buzz and even expansion joints are soaked up with little fuss. The flexibility and forgiving nature of the frame makes maintaining a line even in a bumpy turn an easy and drama free affair.

After a decade of riding this bike, I am still excited every time I throw a leg over it. My cycling companions have difficulty understanding this since they feel the need to replace their bikes ever few years. My advice to them is simply this: Don't buy the hype, by the bike that makes you want to ride it.

Current Build--
Frame: Bianchi Campione
Fork: Mizuno carbon
Headset: Cane Creek S2
Stem: Ritchey Pro
Handlebar: ITM Bianchi anatomic
Shifters/Brake Levers: Campagnolo Mirage
Brakes: Campagnolo Veloce
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Mirage
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Mirage
Crankset: Campagnolo Veloce
Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo Veloce
Cassette: Campagnolo Veloce
Chain: Campagnolo 9 speed
Seatpost: Bianchi
Saddle: WTB Rocket V
Tape: Bianchi synthetic
Wheelset: Bontrager Race Lite
Tires F/R: Vredestien Fortezza Tri-Comp
Pedals: Look 206