I’m planning on getting a road bike for off-season training and occasional commuting. I want something with a comfortable position and a smooth ride.
I was just about sold on the Specialized Roubaix, with its ingenious/gimmicky zertz. Some say Roubaix lacks road feel, but that’s kinda what I want – less hand/butt fatigue after 3+ hours on weekends, and the ability to ride spotty roads on the way to work. (I currently commute on a MTB, but it’s overkill, overweight, and slow.)
LBS guy, who sold me my tri bikes, doesn’t sell Specialized, but recommends the Bianchi Intenso, which is also in the endurance bike category. Similar specs, similar price range.
Has anyone ridden the Intenso on a long ride? How does it compare to the Roubaix if you’ve ridden both? (Yes, I will test-ride both, but that will last just a few minutes, and I’m interested in other impressions, especially on long rides.) Thanks!
I have the Impulso Ultegra which is the same Bianchi family of C2C race/touring as what you’re considering. Mine is the aluminum frame. I absolutely love it. It’s comfortable and, to me at least, very fast. I also have a Specialized Tricross comp that has the Zertz inserts and carbon chain stays. I rode 25 tires on the cross bike as a commuter, and I love that bike too. It’s too soft, however, comparatively. The Roubaix would be stiffer, of course. I considered the Roubaix when looking at the Bianchi because I like the Specialized brand, and I knew no one that had Bianchi. I’m glad I went Italian.
Between the two, the Bianchi is the winner. Not an apple to apple comparison to what you’re looking at of course, but I heartily endorse the brand. Plus, and I freely acknowledge the important of this to me: the Bianchis win on looks every time. Mine is all Celeste coloring from the tape to the saddle, and I get tons of compliments. It’s just a pretty bike.
In general, I’ve found that data to show that endurance bikes are offering the tire pressure equivalent of 4-10psi tire reduction in vertical stiffness depending on which model and which other same brand model you are comparing to. So that’s to say that with same wheels and tires, endurance bike E with tires at 100psi will have similar vertical stiffness to Race bike R if R has tire pressure reduced to 90-96psi. Obviously, the goal is to take the added compliance of the endurance bike AND run lower pressures. Make sure that whatever you find will take at least 27mm tires, I run 28’s on my Pinarello Opera…which is a great example of a classic steel road bike that I use as a commuter bike, and with 28mm Challenge Roubaix tires at 65psi…the thing is super comfortable. On weekends I can go to 80-85psi and hang with the local group ride.
After tire pressure, the next most important factor (yes, even before frame) is seatpost. There is good data from Tour Magazine on it, Velonews did a test, but the differences in seatposts is very large. Just in the Velonews test you see posts of similar weights and materials that can either accentuate the comfort of bike E, or completely undo it making ride much more like bike R.
Yes, It’s a fantastic bike and like above poster said wide rims and low pressure make the ride awesome. I wanted a race bike so I went with another bike but highly recommend. I also have a thing for Bianchi bikes, also get the celeste colorway if possible.
That all sounds like good analysis. There’s no question Bianchi makes beautiful bikes – the best-looking ones out there, in my opinion. But it seems the Roubaix might technically be a better ride for my purposes.
I feel like The Bachelor. I’m looking at an Italian model that’s an absolute head-turning beauty and is highly responsive. The other option is a very good-looking American with slightly unusual features, but is more compatible with me on an endurance ride. I’d rather be seen with the Italian, but there seems like more long-term potential with the American. But the rules only allow me to pick one.
The Bianchi Infinito seems to combine the best-looking frame with the best ride, but (a) it’s too expensive and (b) I’m afraid someone would steal her. I mean steal it.
The Bianchi Infinito seems to combine the best-looking frame with the best ride, but (a) it’s too expensive and (b) I’m afraid someone would steal her. I mean steal it. If I had the budget, that would have been my bike for sure. Just gorgeous and a great ride. Had to step down, but I am still happy with what I got.
Get the steel, seriously. Why anyone looking for a comfort oriented non-racing bike would buy any material besides steel is beyond me. Well, I know why, it’s because carbon markets better and they haven’t ridden a steel frame (or think that the weight or “performance” of carbon matters). One long ride and you will be a “Steel is real” convert for life. I ride a mid-90’s Bianchi lugged steel frame with a modern SRAM mix as my off season bike. Bianchi has a lugged steel frameset on their website that looks so pretty. You could get an old one cheaper, and a couple adapters make everything good (I use a threaded to threadless stem adapter and downtube cable stops that hook onto the old shifter bosses). IMHO, if you’re gonna go steel, go lugged as well.
I run 28’s on my Pinarello Opera…which is a great example of a classic steel road bike that I use as a commuter bike, and with 28mm Challenge Roubaix tires at 65psi…the thing is super comfortable. On weekends I can go to 80-85psi and hang with the local group ride.
that’s odd… is this because you can’t find a decent pump that’ll let you get the tires pumped up all the way?
Yes, but, because … carbon. I mean, because full carbon.
Seriously, though, the point on steel is much appreciated. It looks like Bianchi only makes the lugged steel in a frameset, not a complete bike. The Vigorelli’s got high-quality butted steel, though, and it’s cheaper than the bike I’d build because I’d nickel-and-dime myself into a $3k+ bike with upgraded components, etc. I.e., it’d cost more than my tri bike. Know thyself.
When you say the steel ride’s smoother, does that refer to its handling of bigger bumps or the jitter/hum that wears you down on a 3-4 hour ride? I’m looking for both – bump-reduction for commuting, and jitter/hum-reduction on long off-season rides. That’s why the Roubaix was tops on my list until my LBS got me fantasizing about the Bianchis.
Unfortunately, a steel Bianchi would be a special order, so I wouldn’t have the chance to ride Bianchi steel before ordering. I took a short ride on the Bianchi Intenso, and it doesn’t feel especially smooth – the position might be more relaxed, but it was as jittery as my carbon tri bike.
I ride an infinito (2010 model). not the newest infinito CV, but the older one. It is my Race bike.
I would agree that the bianchi C2C line does not offer the absolute smoothest ride- but that’s not what they were made for. the C2C line has suffered abit in being marketed as ‘endurance’ bikes, when they’re not exactly endurance bikes. they are gran fondo bikes, bikes for weekend warrior racers who are reasonably fit but probably don’t have the ftiness or flexibility to get the best out of a pure race frame. I’m a reasonably ok road racer (Cat 3 equivalent) and the infinito fits me like a glove, with no spacers, stem slammed, fitter endorsed. it looks much better than all the other guys out there trying to make a race frame like a tarmac SL4 work with a stack of spacer towers underneath the stem.
The C2C series is best ridden all day, fast. it’s main plus is the position you can get in it and the handling- the infinito is one of the best all-day handling bikes I’ve ridden, very well mannered. not as instantly flickable as a crit bike but very stable and good on long descents. You will still fell bumps here and there- but just enough to remind you that you have a stiff, eminently raceable frame under you. I’ve raced for 3 years on my infinito and it’s good enough to be competitive yet is never harsh and doesn’t beat me up. I’m guessing the intenso is probably not much different from my infinito having benefited from tricke down.
Personally, If both fit well, I’d go for the one that I lust after more and makes me want to ride it. The intenso is certainly not a bad bike and It’s certainly not that bad that you’re going to be aching all over after a bad ride. The roubaix is a good bike as well, but it just felt abit tall to me. and I reallly wanted the infinito. bianchi’s are certainly unique and I get lots of comments. chicks dig celeste.
I’ve been shopping for a bike and just rode the Intenso and fell in love. Rode the Ruby (WSD version of the Roubaix) and the Cannondale Synapse, as well as the Amira and Madone, and nothing felt as good as the Intenso. Bike shop didn’t have my size, so I test rode one size down and am waiting for them to get one of my size in stock, but I can’t wait to buy and ride her (Celeste, of course). I went back looking for this thread when I got home just to confirm my positive impressions.
Erin, what was it about the ride of the Bianchi that you liked? I’ve ever ridden the Ruby, but assume it was very Roubaix-like. Were all the tires the same size/pressure?
If you couldn’t see the gorgeous Intenso, and didn’t know its Italian lineage, would you have felt the same?
(I ask the last question because a recent study showed that violin experts cannot reliably hear the difference between a Stradivarius and a high-end modern violin. I am also wondering if I should periodically remind my wife of my distant Italian heritage.)
Erin, what was it about the ride of the Bianchi that you liked? I’ve ever ridden the Ruby, but assume it was very Roubaix-like. Were all the tires the same size/pressure?
If you couldn’t see the gorgeous Intenso, and didn’t know its Italian lineage, would you have felt the same?
(I ask the last question because a recent study showed that violin experts cannot reliably hear the difference between a Stradivarius and a high-end modern violin. I am also wondering if I should periodically remind my wife of my distant Italian heritage.)
Now I don’t know about the tires – the bike shop guys just inflated the tires to however much they thought they should be and off I went. But I equated the Ruby ride to a Cadillac – smooth, but you couldn’t feel anything, and not real responsive. The Intenso ride wasn’t anything like a sports car ride (feel everything, highly responsive) but somewhere in between. But I felt I could steer/turn better on the Intenso and just felt better ‘balanced’. It felt more alive under me. I felt like I could whip around a sharp turn at speed and be totally in control, whereas the Ruby didn’t have that responsiveness. Also just felt faster and felt better going up the slight gradient I was riding on. I live in the Bay Area so climbing of some sort is going to be a fact of life for me for most rides.
I felt like I was expending less effort on the Intenso but was going faster. Yet it was still totally comfortable and smooth.
As a contrast, the Amira (female version of Tarmac) felt chattery, rough, unforgiving, and hurt my ass from the moment I sat on it. It seems to me that the Intenso is the perfect middle ground between those two.
I didnt’ want to like the Intenso, even though it was pretty. It is more than I really wanted to spend so it really had to work hard to win me over, especially since yesterday I was just thinking “chuck it, I’m going to buy the Ruby today cause I’m tired of shopping and want to ride”. Now I’m happy to wait for my size to come in for the Bianchi.
Oh, I rode the Ultegra version of both Ruby and Intenso, so it was as equal a comparison as I could make it.
I’ll agree with erin that I didn’t initially fall in love with the infinito when I first saw it. I liked how it looked, but I was more drawn toward a slightly cheaper LOOK. but once I found out that the fit was perfect and based on several glowing reviews, I pulled the trigger. I’ve loved it ever since because it’s proved to be a really versatile and well handling bike.
I’d contend that bikes from bianchi are overpriced and based on marketing hype. brands like spesh and cannondale spend way more on marketing than a smaller brand like bianchi, and the amount you’d spend on a low/mid range bianchi bike the the sempre would be similar to something similarly specced from other, bigger brands- maybe a few hundred in difference, not too far off though. ( the excpetoion to this rule, locally, is Giant- they’re dirt cheap here compared to everything else) . Are those few hundred worth the extra nice paint job? the answer is up to you, really. Don’t discount the worth of a nice looking bike though- You’ll want to ride a bike which to you ( looks nice) more than one which dosnt- sort of like your wife or girlfriend- looks aren’t everything, but they ARE important- after all it would be rather sad if you didn’t feel physically attracted to your wife. That being said, IMO Bianchi isn’t very well distributed or marketed, so they don’t really ahve the cache or selling power of brands like colnago or pinarello. ask around, or wait for autumn when new bikes are being unloaded. someone will cut you a good deal.