I'm sure a bunch of you will empathise... Now that I have my Fondriest built just as I wanted and have nothing to tinker with, thoughts stray to a another frame and a new build. Short of blowing more than I can afford on something cherry from the net I'm tempted to go for the bianchi pista, sell on all but the frame, and build from there. Anyone got one and can advise on the ride? I've got the fixation with the chrome and to get another frame and chrome it up would cost me near about as much as the whole Bianchi. Whaddayareckon?

ive ridden one for 12months now and i love it. wheels have been changed but everything else has held out pretty solid. Frame wise no idea as ive only just got another bike so had nothing to compare it with.

I like my bianchi pista. In fact the frameset will be up for sale soon, if you're interested. It has yellow & chrome Fausto Coppi forks and a threaded shimano STX headset, and the standard JIS taper BB.



Ask me towards the end of next week. I think i'll be wanting about £120, but open to offers.

I stripped the decals off, the chrome is shinier without the clearcoat & shows no sign of corrosion. As far as I know the frame has no dents, but is a bit dirty and obviously has scoring around the dropouts. That green thing is just a bit of electrical tape to protect the top tube.

Let me know if you're interested

- Alex

edit: oh, it's a 55cm. I'm 6ft and it fitted me ok, with a longer stem and a lot of seatpost. Very comfy & good fun! I'll take some better pictures once i've taken all the bits off, and check it over properly for scratches or dings. Pretty sure it's in good shape though.

pistas ride fine... not as good as my other bike, but fine.

Hey Alex.
Well how's that for timing? I'd be very interested in the frameset if it's going. Do you still have the original forks? And in case you're after a replacement, I have a Guerciotti columbus frame with chromed stays and some nice detailing that you might be interested in. Let me know when the pista's available.
Thanks man.
James.

alex really needs another bike/frame right now. he really does.

No i really don't, that sounds nice though.

I do have the original forks and even the original stem, i could chuck both of them in for another 25 quid (the original forks of course are threadless, and the frame would need the headset removing, however).

I'm afraid i'm looking for cash, unless you magically happen to have a 650c clincher wheel lying around? In which case i'd want less cash in proportion to the quality of the 650c clincher. :)

The bike is currently still in one piece, I will take it to pieces midway through next week. At the moment you have first refusal - someone else was interested but i'm pretty sure they'd be better suited with a bike with a rear brake drilling (and also, a complete bike).

why you want 650cc? you been shopping? what you going to do with new lo-pro? play hipster bingo?

@ asm... what did you use to strip the decals? Am tempted to 'have a go' with my Pista in the next couple of weeks (even more so after seeing how your's looks). Checked out all the usual links and they're talking about US products. That strangely enough aren't available in Amsterdam. Thanks

pj - i have purchased the cinelli lo pro, and have 2 650c tubs, but i don't really want to have to deal with tubular tyres/punctures.

Archi Pelago - thanks! I used mangers paint stripper. It's like this thick goop which you paste on and it slowly eats the clearcoat away. took a couple of applications and a lot of scrubbing. I'm pretty sure any paint thinner would do the job. try it on a hidden area first i guess, but chrome is pretty resilient, as long as you don't leave the stripper on too long.

Please someone take that last sentence wildly out of context.

ta! will be sure not to leave the stripper on too long. Thanks for that warning. Wouldn't want anything to happen to my top tube. : )

(disclaimer: it's Sunday night, it's late, best I could do!)

Bump

hey Jimalex, just PM'd you. Let me know if you're interested in this frame.

OMG, asm is botching another bike, watch this space :(

I too love my pista - to be fair i haven't got a lot to compare with, but it's much comfier/lighter/smoother than my road bike. Once I get cash gonna do the same as ASM and buy me new bits as and when...

Having never seen one up close and being too lazy to go into Evans can a pista owner confirm that there is no drilling for a back brake! A friend is about to buy one and Mr Evans said he would supply a freewheel and a front brake and it would be fine for singlespeed!!!!! Clever!

no drilling rear 4 sure.

Thanking you

once the stickers are off the pista frame, have you re used a top coat to protect the chrome.if so, what.also if you took off just some of the stickers would the frame just end up looking patchy.
i need to some of the stickers off, the top tube is too cluttered.

thanks

Have a look at the Pista with the World Champ stripes taped over with green.. who's is that?
It's a good way of making the Pista look 100x better..

^ Crispin Glover's

Pic?

Why do Bianchi Pistas look ugly as fuck online but they look alright in real life?

It's known as the reverse Will effect.

it in the OTP Lover topic, lemmie butcher for it.

edited; here it is.

may i ask why on earth the guy a few posts up has changed from threadless too quill?

mad.

if you want an old style bike. do not buy a £400 mass produced OTP from a retail chain store.

But if you wanted a new bike in the style of an old bike...
...you might buy a Pista and change the forks.

I bought a pista and kinda regret it, even though many said it is a "solid bike" I dont think it is. I had mine for less than 6 months and the rear hub stripped itself (which seems to be an issue) and the joint of the rear triangle and seatpost cracked and started to split the seatpost. Although its ok for the price, it really should last a little longer and seems a little underfed. the £400 is still a dent in thr pocket and nothing to stick ones nose up to. Given a time machine I would head over to charge or fuji

or make it fit for the track even;



http://www.flickr.com/photos/yearofthesheep/2708611381/

That shouldn´t have happened, the Pista is quite a reliable bike, I hasn´t heard many horror story about it (none actually).

thought it´s very inferior right now since the RRP of the Pista is now 550 quid, what the point of buying that instead of the excellent genesis flyer?

£550! thats mad
I guess I was unfortunate. Its also annoying as they've had it in the factory for nearly a week and still can't tell me if its under the warranty or not!

Valve caps on the track, really?

It looks lovely but just needs the chainring (and frame) changing.

;-)

You don't need to do anything to protect the chrome, the chrome is there to protect the metal. I love my pista, throw it around loads and its fine.

Like that white one with the cinelli forks and the rolls.

Doesn't really look like this anymore as its my daily trasher, but I like to pop this picture out every now and then.

Wow. Despite the slack chain that looks very nice.

Electrical taped stays? That's pretty neat.