Bianchi Oltre Nero

klingej

Hi All,

Got myself a Bianchi Oltre for last season and have been riding it for 12 months now, loving every minute of it! Quite stiff and racy but surprisingly comfortable, even if that wasn't a primary concern.

As for the spacer tower... well it's 20mm of spaces and is the result of a Retúl fitting session. I had a slipped disc in my back some years ago and am not as flexible as i might have wanted. However it looks tolerable and the handling doesn't suffer from it.

Bianchi Oltre Nero size 530
SRAM Force
Enve 45 clincher rim / DT Swiss 190 ceramic hubs
25mm Schwalbe Ultremo ZX HD tyres
Challenge latex tubes
3T Ergonova Ltd handlebar
Raceface 110 mm stem (Temporary - until i get my 110 mm 3T)
Specialized Romin saddle
Tune Bottle cages
Speedplay X1


Chose the Force group as it comes in BB30 and i've always been a SRAM fanboy. The group weight in the BB30 edition is less than 2 kgs, which I'd have to pay 3 times as much for if I'd chosen Record Ultra or some such.

joshvoulters

Looks phenomenal. Wouldn't change a thing. Other than maybe ghosted ENVE decals.

Weight?

klingej

Thanks!

I was considering the enve decals but i think i'll make it even stealthier instead; have got a pair of black-black Praxis Works chainrings and a set of Simkins Design black egg brakes in the mail and am currently stripping the chainset, rear derailleur, brake levers and headset cone & spacers of the white paint.

Haven't weighed it on a proper scale, but bathroom scale says 6,6 kgs which means it's somewhere btw 6.4 and 6.8.

Garry H

Where's the bike? All i can see is a silhouette

joshvoulters

Which 3T stem are you going for?

The blacked out Arx team?

TMR

Massive thumbs up! Beautiful! I love Bianchis

Matt the Tester

wow... i thought my bike was stealthy! STUNNING

markyone

Very nice

tim_wand

Certainly wouldnt say no and neither am I in a position too, But if it was mine, Super Record and Boras.

Sorry just cant get my head around top end Colnago's , and Bianchi's sporting anything other than Campag.

nickellis

That looks dangerous. If I saw that locked up to a lamp post, I'd sh!t myself and run away screaming.

klingej

Thanks for all the comments! I'm pretty happy with the result myself, but it can always be steathified a bit more :-)

@ joshvoulters: yeah, i got that one. Unfortunately it's a rebranded piece of cheaply produced chinese crap where they've slammed on a 3T faceplate so they can sell it for way too much to suckers like me. They've actually made a spelling mistake on the stem (lenght instead of length). But i guess it does the job so it'll stay for the near future.

@tim wand: I agree, aesthetically i would much prefer a super record (maybe even EPS) group, but it's just way to expensive for what you get when looking at mechanical quality, function and ergonomics, imho. It's actually very good on Campa - just not so much better that i would pay that much of a premium.

nickellis

klingej wrote:

Thanks for all the comments! I'm pretty happy with the result myself, but it can always be steathified a bit more :-)

About that, Darth Vader called, he wants his bike back..... 8)

PhilPub

klingej wrote:

@tim wand: I agree, aesthetically i would much prefer a super record (maybe even EPS) group, but it's just way to expensive for what you get when looking at mechanical quality, function and ergonomics, imho. It's actually very good on Campa - just not so much better that i would pay that much of a premium.

Aesthetically I prefer the SRAM for the levers and brakes, and the chainset not far behind. On the other hand, if people are being dogmatic about the Italian thing...

RideOnTime

yep, looks great...

postman

Wow,well that is just stunning.I think that is a work of art.

Lord Jimmy 7th

man that is gorgeous!!!!! soo jealous right about now!!!

tim_wand

To be fair didnt read your valid and reasonable justifications for running the SRAM grouppo and have to admit despite my cliched response about Campag groupsets on high end Italian bikes, yours looks 100 times better than this. IMO (and it Celeste and Campag)

http://windmillwheels.co.uk/news/22/72/Bianchi-Bikes-Arrive-Next-Week

These lads are local to me and new, Doing Enigma, Colnago (Only the ones still built in Bergamo C59/ Master) and the Bianchis and Kuota, which makes for a great catalogue/Stable

stickboybike

Good choice! Tastefully done with out being cliche and putting Red on the bike.

I just got my Oltre build up this month, first one, the handful of rides I've done on it have been nothing short of magnificent.

Enjoy the ride!

klingej

Thanks for all the positive comments! I know that I enjoy it very much - now i just need the legs to use it as it deserves!

Just saw the Bikeradar review. Gotta love the way these guys have with words... I'm not quite sure my Oltre "pulses forward with sublime efficiency" even if it sounds like a very rewarding experience

@Tim Wand: I must admit I also prefer mine to the one you linked to, however i think that's because of the paint scheme and not the grouppo. The Celeste scheme on the Oltre is a bit to busy for me - to much going on.

bristolpete

That is stunning. Enjoy.

alexgomy

Badass

rake

stunning. looks like one of those fm taiwan factory jobs.

mroli

Big fan. Think the Oltre Nero is a lovely looking bike and like what you've done with it (although I would have some splashes of colour - I'm not good enough to ride a stealth bike like that!)

klingej

Thanks guys! A nice side benefit of this bike is that it has motivated me to train properly so as not to look like a total tool with more money than sense at the Wednesday night club rides :-)

Front ring shifting is not the very best with the sram chainrings (which are quite noodly) and chain (which is almost industrial in the noise it makes) so i'm experimenting s bit to see just how well mechanical front shifting can be; there's a small update coming up - all black Praxis Works chainrings, dura-ace chain & 11-25 cassette and Powercordz derailleur cables. Next step beyond that is the new SRAM red 2102 derailleur with that fancy yaw feature :-)

Obviously the easy solution for best mechanical front shifting is just to go full dura-ace but I do prefer SRAM over Shimano so I'm trying to push my current setup a bit. Should be interesting.

canbakay

power cords will ruin it trust me! i had the same problem with mine (red), was about to switch to di2 thought id hang back till campy elec prices come down a bit...mean while changed the chain to DA to match the DA cassette and i cannot stress how much the front shifting has improved. Id skip the chainrings too just wait n get the 2012 sram red minus the da chain & cs.
if u do try, post back!

that aside, beautiful beautiful bike! I always prefer the solid wider frames and the confidence they bring over the size 0 looks.

ps, my god please get a set of veloflex on the enves!

stickboybike

Hey there. I have an Oltre as well. Mine with a Red crank (gray ano ring color) BB30 crank and the shifting is spot on due to a couple of cheats on the set up.

1) Dura Ace chain w/Whipperman quick link.(Be sure the chain isn't too short and make sure it's installed in the correct running direction.)
2) Campy Ergo cable set and route the derailleur housing behind the bars, don't cross the housing to the inside and run parallel w/the brake housing. You want to reduce the bend the der cable experiences when leaving the shifter body. (forget the Gore covered cables as the coating will wear off a gum up internally)
3) Don't over tighten the 5mm bolt which secures the band clamp on the shifter body. Many times this can compress the shifter body, down on to the underlying cable.
4) Force front derailleur, not a flimsy Red frt der. braze-on style. (seems to be a stiffer derailleur body when running a braze on style and not a total band clamp version; Force or Red.
5) Follow frt derailleur cage height setting on the SRAM Youtube Channel.
6) Do not apply too much cable tension on the frt der cable, like Campy, extremely firm is too much.
7) Also: Had great success running FSA Super Rings on my GXP Red cranks for cx racing too. http://bianchilifemidatlantic.blogspot.com/2011/08/2012-bianchi-cavaria-sram-red.html

Yes the chain will run a bit noisier in comparison to a Shimano D/A kit and I'd gather to say that the SRAM kit (force or red) are not any more noisy than Campy, which I rode for years before trying SRAM.

Front shifting of a Force/Red crank/ergo does require you to hold the shifter paddle a 1/2 second longer than you would on a Shimano and Campy shifter/crank set up but after a season of racing the same SRAM kit for road and cyclocross, I'm just not having the issues others are experiencing with my kit. Oddly, the frt der shifts better when the chain is NOT on gears 1-4 on the cassette. Shifts are quick on the front when the chain is closer to the center line of the cassette. (Excuses aside, this is just an observation, not a complaint.)

klingej

@canbakay: right, will hold off on the power cordz. Too bad considering the price for the things...

@stickboybike: first things first - that Cavaria is HOT!! May be the best looking cx bike I've ever seen. And - thanks for the cheat sheet, will be trying out a few of those things!

Btw - how do you both like the Oltre? I've been riding it since last spring and still grin like an idiot when at the start of a ride :-)

stickboybike

Thanks for the shout on the Cavaria. Last year was my first season of racing 'cross. That bike took a licking and handles like a crit bike on the grass due to it's short headtube. <Too many companies just slap a road bike sized head tube on their cx frames which leads to a slow steering bike.>

I like the Oltre a lot. So far have a handful or rides on it and plan on racing it this year. The Bianchi bikes I've owned, up to this are: '07 928L Chorus, '08 T-Cube Chorus, , '09 '09 Mono-Q, '10 1885 Chorus build then w/sram red last year. Naturally, the Oltre is the best I've ridden.

I'm amazed how fast it spools up, even with my training wheels, A-class ALX 730 roadtubeless. The most notable thing I'll claim is it's ability to rail into a corner, yet be able to make mid-apex steering corrections and the bike remains stable. The T-cube was the stiffest Bianchi I've owned and this is a bit stiffer, stiff without being harsh.

mroli

stickboybike wrote:

The Bianchi bikes I've owned, up to this are: '07 928L Chorus, '08 T-Cube Chorus, , '09 '09 Mono-Q, '10 1885 Chorus build then w/sram red last year. Naturally, the Oltre is the best I've ridden.

Oh come on I was jealous enough when it was just the Oltre, but this is rubbing it in - no where is that jealousy icon - here it is

nice, nice, nice...

Mad Roadie

sweet - but i do prefer the celeste version personally

stickboybike

Ha. Thx mroli.

Was trying to make a point that the good keep getting better.