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Bianchi 2017 – overpriced?

  • This topic has 30 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by Mungecrundle.
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  • May 30, 2017 at 8:41 pm #27172
    IanEdward

    I’ve wanted a Bianchi for a while, well basically since always, watching Pantani as a kid and even watching the Giro this year thought the Bianchis looked amazing.

    Thankfully the Intenso mimics the sort of geometry I want, and also comes with a Potenza groupset, another tick as I wanted to try Campag.

    But… when I look at the spec all I can see is cost cutting, cheapest of the cheap Fulcrum wheels and a butt-ugly OEM FSA crankset instead of the Potenza crankset.

    For some reason the overall effect is to put me right off the bike, not to mention I could get a Rose Xeon GF for £200 less with 100% Ultegra components and RS81 wheels, including better seatpost, handlebars, stem, tyres etc. etc. The GF is aluminium but going on printed weights alone is still almost 1kg lighter!

    Have I just been spoiled by the direct to consumer pricing of the Rose?

     

    (excuse the handlebar tape colour, they don’t let you choose green!)

     

    http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o612/ianezzi/rose_zpsw25gtb2w.png

     

    http://www.bianchibikes.co.uk/image/cache/catalog/2017%20Intenso/Inten%20Potenza-900×900.jpg

     

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  • June 3, 2017 at 10:39 am #894233
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    Mungecrundle

    Actually I’ve just re-read
    Actually I’ve just re-read the thread and seen the “last bike before first baby”.

    Sorry buddy, you are screwed, man are those things expensive!

    Forget any idea of costly bicycle upgrades for at least the next 18 years! You have other priorities now.

    June 3, 2017 at 10:01 am #894231
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    700c

    Mungecrundle wrote:

    Mungecrundle wrote:
    If you really crave the Bianchi then you are paying for all the reasons that you do so. The costs of sponsoring those teams and riders that you admire. The investment over decades in creating the brand heritage that you want to buy into. The development of the high end exotica that the company is associated with and the dedicated dealer network there to fluff the client with a personal service experience.

    You forgot ‘marketing’. Other brands manage to do all this but offer better value

    Frame looks nice though.

    June 3, 2017 at 9:44 am #894229
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    Mungecrundle

    If you really crave the
    If you really crave the Bianchi then you are paying for all the reasons that you do so. The costs of sponsoring those teams and riders that you admire. The investment over decades in creating the brand heritage that you want to buy into. The development of the high end exotica that the company is associated with and the dedicated dealer network there to fluff the client with a personal service experience. And yes the result of all that passion, dedication, experience and commercialisation of a brand to you is that it is more expensive.

    But cost aside, what is the value of opening your garage door, removing the dust sheet off your pride and joy and taking 30 seconds to just stand back and enjoy the satisfaction in ownership of something you always wanted?

    If you cannot afford to spec the Bianchi you really desire right now, then settle for cheap second best and make the sacrifices necessary to save for another year or two. The bikes will still be available or maybe something else shiny will have caught your eye.

    June 3, 2017 at 12:54 am #894227
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    risoto

    I have both brands. A Bianchi

    I have both brands. A Bianchi Impulso – alu bike with Campagnolo Veloce, and a Rose pro cross 2000 for riding in nasty weather and in the winter.

    The Bianchi is fantastic, not just the looks of it, but it seems to me they know a thing or two about frame building (sorry, frame design, the frame is of course manufactured in Taiwan). It just feels fantastic, cornering, going uphill, accelerating etc. I got it at a discount for 700 at Wiggle.

    The Rose bike is very nice too but I wasn’t aware that cross bikes are shorter which continues to annoy me – not a fault of Rose though. It performs perfectly with a full 105 group set.  It was 1,200. But I don’t love it. I would keep the Bianchi if I could only have one bike.

    I am also annoyed that almost all the big brands put  cheap components into the build. I really can’t understand it. Is their, very misguided, thinking that it has to be as cheap as possible to sell? FSA chainrings and BB are ok, but it’s not Veloce! They also put on a Selle San Marco saddle that is a pain in the ass – one of the cheapest saddles around. 

    However, I wouldn’t trade the Bianchi for anything. It’s all about emotional value. For me it’s nostalgia, history, tradition, Italian etc. I would strongly recommend that you follow your heart in this. If you buy the Rose, you might regret it every single day as what you really wanted was the Bianchi. So think hard about it if the emotional values are important to you. It isn’t about the bike in this case.

    Saving a small amount will make you happy the day you pay for the bike but the pain of using it will stay for years if it’s not what you want. It’s tricky, but in my experince, after many years of making the wrong call, if you really want something, pay the price. Otherwise you’ll regret the decision each and every day. 

    I really think that 200£ is not even worth considering if its a Bianchi you really want. You can always change the chainrings and wheels later if you find that is really so important. 

     

    June 1, 2017 at 12:24 pm #894225
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    Flying Scot

    I have to say that Campag

    I have to say that Campag ‘bits’ are easier to come by than those from Shimano, the latter usually means an entire assembly.

    Ive got 1960’s Campag hubs and 9 speed Record, I dont struggle for parts, either from Ebay, better on line retailers or indeed old school LBS’.

     

    June 1, 2017 at 11:53 am #894223
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    Daveyraveygravey

    One other comment, I had

    One other comment, I had Campagnolo Veloce on my old bike.  It was great, but…  Then the non-drive side crank arm came off, and I lost some little bits in the road.  It took me a fortnight to get it sorted out; I doubt you’d have to wait that long for the equivalent Shimano parts.  If you have something else to ride in the meantime it isn’t so bad, but if it’s your only bike?

    June 1, 2017 at 9:21 am #894221
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    IanEdward

    Totally understand the

    Totally understand the comments about Rose pricing (I don’t know where all the Canyon comments are coming from, not considering a Canyon! smiley ) and shouldn’t really have confused my original post by dragging that up.

    In truth my disappointment with the spec on the Bianchi is in isolation to the price difference between the Intenso and the Rose, even for a £2200 bike I would consider that spec pretty poor, if only because of the subsitute components (like the poster above says, seems a real shame to spec 90% of a Campag groupset then stick an ugly chainset on it) and not even managing to spec Racing 7 or Racing 5 wheels (I think the Racing Sports are a £120 wheelset at best).

    It doesn’t seem in keeping with the image Bianchi are trying to project of quality and heritage etc. but as people above have pointed out perhaps that’s never really been Bianchi’s true M.O. and I’ve just swallowed the Kool-aid (doesn’t stop me wanting one though!).

    Tough decision! I’m speaking to a local shop now about getting a test ride on a Bianchi and how much it would cost to upgrade wheels and tyres, that might swing it…

    June 1, 2017 at 8:31 am #894219
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    Rapha Nadal

    Flying Scot wrote:

    Flying Scot wrote:
    They are not overpriced, you are paying for the brand and the dealer networks costs, you cant really compare to Rose and Canyon who are ‘mail order’ only with no hands on warranty.

    This guy/gal gets it.  I really don’t understand why others can’t see beyond the £££ signs and see why there’s a price difference.

    Having worked for a Bianchi dealer years ago, I can attest to the build quality of them.  We rarely saw any come back other than for parts upgrades, services etc.  It’ll last you for years.  Just a shame that the majority of them are so damn ugly!

    To the person complaining about the cost of tooling & Super Record cassettes – completely unfounded.  If you can afford to run SR all year round then the cost of an SR cassette shouldn’t phase you.  And, if you’re only an occassional user of the best bike then you won’t be replacing cassettes too frequently.  Plus, 11 speed Shimano cassettes will work with 11 speed Campag if you’re that concerned about costs.

    June 1, 2017 at 7:17 am #894217
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    Flying Scot

    They are not overpriced, you

    They are not overpriced, you are paying for the brand and the dealer networks costs, you cant really compare to Rose and Canyon who are ‘mail order’ only with no hands on warranty.

    I do chuckle though, as back in the day Bianchi was just Italy’s answer to Raleigh/Peugeot/Gitane and they made some awful junk (in Italy) sure, like the other 2 they had some lovely hand built stuff for the pro teams, but their shop fodder weighed an absolute ton, was rarely straight and was dead as a dodo.

    So really, it means nothing to me, they were never in the same league as Cinelli, De Rosa, Colnago etc. and even some Colnago’s (at their peak of steel production) with the paint removed were not up to much either, £100 frame with a £900 paint job used to be the  adage.

    If you like the look and the heritage buy a Bianchi, as many point out, ally and carbon frames are pretty generic at each price point, though I must say Canyon’s carbon frames are offensive to my peepers.

    If you are buying the look and heritage though, you really do want a Campag groupset on it – a complete one! Not bothered about the crap wheels, virtually every complete bike comes with crap wheels.

    May 31, 2017 at 10:41 pm #894215
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    Bob Wheeler CX

    The sad this is,  it’s not

    The sad thing is,  it’s not even made in Italy.

    Performance, endurance and price-wise, a 105 Canyon would smoke that bike. The way they don’t even give you a full Campag groupset is ridiculous, plus Vittoria tyres have more issues than Conti.

    May 31, 2017 at 9:05 pm #894213
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    BeatPoet

    I’d also check out ebay for

    I’d also check out ebay for bikes around that price. If this was in my size I’d be all over it! Celeste, Super Record, Zipp 303…

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bianchi-Oltre-XR-Race-Bike-/152564337741?hash=item23858b0c4d:g:W1gAAOSwt0FZBvv0

     

    May 31, 2017 at 8:15 pm #894211
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    IanEdward

    Quote:

    everyone checks out a Bianchi

    Haha, yeah, me included!

    I almost bought one in Vancouver years ago*, one day I caught myself checking out a nice Bianchi stopped at the lights as I walked past, until I looked up and noticed the rider was the extremely gorgeous Italian girl who owned the shop I was going to buy from, wasn’t sure whether to be embarassed in case she thought I was checking her out, or to be embarrassed if she realised I wasn’t…

     

    Just waiting to hear back from the local Bianchi dealer to see what stock they have, they’re advertising the Intenso Ultegra for £2150 down from £2400…

     

    *decided against it as I suddenly developed a deep fear of transporting a carbon fibre racing bike on a 10hr transatlantic flight back to Edinburgh, plus it seemed a bit perverse flying all the way to Canada to come back with an Italian bike…

    May 31, 2017 at 7:55 pm #894209
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    BeatPoet

    I’m sure the Rose is a fine

    I’m sure the Rose is a fine bike and it has a fine spec. But you’re never going to be able to pretend you’re Marco Pantani on it!

    For what it’s worth I managed to get an Infinito CV on sale from here just over a year ago for £2000 so I’d possibly wait till end of season to see if you can get a better deal/spec:

    http://www.startfitness.co.uk/cycle/bikes.html?manufacturer=2240

    Oh, and if it makes any difference to you – everyone checks out a Bianchi 😉

     

    May 31, 2017 at 7:44 pm #894207
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    reliablemeatloaf

    If you want a new Bianchi,

    If you want a new Bianchi, buy a new Bianchi, and tell everyone to sod off.

    Try to make peace with your own time, instead of pretending it’s 1977.

    Nostalgia is bullshit.

    May 31, 2017 at 7:40 pm #894205
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    simonmb

    Don’t marry the profficient

    Don’t marry the profficient Claudia Schiffer without first getting to know the flair of Monica Bellucci. It’ll end in tears.

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