Huggacast 49: Sneak Peak of Bianchi 2009
Last month I snuck into Bianchi USA HQ in Hayward, California. They have all of the new 2009 bikes tucked away in a room, but I didn’t have to drop in from a skylight to get to them. I saw some tasty items but I couldn’t ride them because A) No 49cm sizes and B) these are meant to be the show bikes for Interbike.
For 2009, the Mono-Q carbon road race bike compliments the more expensive T-Cube and SL (now called Superleggera) , the Gran Fondo-style 928 C2C carbon gets some sweet graphics, there’s a carbon CX bike, and strong offerings (particularly steel) below $2K for the everyman.
For the upcoming cyclocross season, Bianchi debuts a full-carbon CX bike, the D2 Cross Carbon (pictured above and below).
Bianchi also brings back the Pinella frameset, a top-level steel road frame built with Dedacciai superlight Boron steel tubing (next two pics).
In fact, Bianchi reaffirms its faith in the steel bicycle, with a return of the Imola (with Shimano Tiagra) and Vigorelli (Shimano 105) in the mid-priced range. These bikes feature triple cranks, a feature that makes them rare in the age of the compact double but that is sure to enhance the versatility of these bikes with many riders.