Bummer I was hoping to hear your ride report / thoughts on the Bianchi, I guess it must not have been that impressive ?
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A Classical Affair (Litespeed Classic)
Moderators: MrCurrieinahurry, maxim809, Moderator Team
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tonytourist
- Posts: 1427
- Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:13 am
- Location: 90039
Damn Karl really loves getting those ride reports!
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Ha... the Bianchi is Gone?! Lol. Did you even ride it? That’s hilarious, but hey... if it feeds your soul...RyanH wrote:It never goes away Cal...
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
I didn't ride it a ton but I did 402 miles on it, which is probably more than most bicycle magazine reviewers do.
It got subjected to a wide variety of rides including the Haute Route Malibu Gran Fondo (Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2218000707), which I won my age category. We dropped a lot of the ride within the first 10 miles on the first climb and descent (Stefano Barberi chastised us for descending too aggressively...I blame Dave Z). After that we had a mix of 67kph on the flats (tailwind), 45kph in an echelon (nasty sidewind), a climb that hit 20% grades and a nasty, broken pavement descent plus a good mix of fast technical descents. All of that is to say that it got properly put through the paces.
It's a fantastic bike but at nearly a full kg heavier and twice as expensive as my Izalco Max, I didn't feel like it was any better. I don't think that's so much a knock on the XR4 as much as it is praise for the Max. I spent yesterday going back and forth between the two on my local loop. I decided that the max had a slight edge on straightline stability and comfort while seemingly not giving up much aero in my very rudimentary unscientific comparison of doing a loop at 256w with first the max, then the XR4 then the max again. The setup is different so it's not apples to apples but my baby bars on the Max seem to help keep it competitive in that regards.
With all that being said, would I recommend the Bianchi? Yes.
It got subjected to a wide variety of rides including the Haute Route Malibu Gran Fondo (Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2218000707), which I won my age category. We dropped a lot of the ride within the first 10 miles on the first climb and descent (Stefano Barberi chastised us for descending too aggressively...I blame Dave Z). After that we had a mix of 67kph on the flats (tailwind), 45kph in an echelon (nasty sidewind), a climb that hit 20% grades and a nasty, broken pavement descent plus a good mix of fast technical descents. All of that is to say that it got properly put through the paces.
It's a fantastic bike but at nearly a full kg heavier and twice as expensive as my Izalco Max, I didn't feel like it was any better. I don't think that's so much a knock on the XR4 as much as it is praise for the Max. I spent yesterday going back and forth between the two on my local loop. I decided that the max had a slight edge on straightline stability and comfort while seemingly not giving up much aero in my very rudimentary unscientific comparison of doing a loop at 256w with first the max, then the XR4 then the max again. The setup is different so it's not apples to apples but my baby bars on the Max seem to help keep it competitive in that regards.
With all that being said, would I recommend the Bianchi? Yes.
True, probably a lot more.RyanH wrote:I didn't ride it a ton but I did 402 miles on it, which is probably more than most bicycle magazine reviewers do.
But it’s celeste, one of the most iconic colors in cycling history... right up there with yellow. Sad to see it go...RyanH wrote: It's a fantastic bike but at nearly a full kg heavier and twice as expensive as my Izalco Max, I didn't feel like it was any better.
Next...
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
Yes sir I do on frames and wheels !
Especialy from guys like You, Ryan, Calnago, Imaking20, Clean39T and several others on here. I dont have the time to buy, set up and ride as many bikes as I would love to, and I dont trust most bicycle magazine reviewers. Its especially meaningful when the bikes are riden back to back on the same day, same roads with the same wheels and tires as Ryan does. Again I dont have the time to do this, so I live vicariously through some of you, it saves me time and $, thank you.
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C64 My Sixty 4 SR EPS 12
I've been wanting to ride this bike so I decided to strap (literally) EPS onto it to take it for a spin. I'm having an issue with the CK headset though as the compression cap won't sit flush and is rubbing. Anyone else have this issue before? The only thing I can think of is that the crown race isn't fully set but I double checked it and it looks fully seated.
Here's it in temporary garb:
The problem:
Here's it in temporary garb:
The problem:
Fork is temporary since I had that on hand. I have a Columbus minimal coming.
I'm hesitant to drill it since the chainstays are so small and the hole would make up a large swath of it. I did the external routing pretty half assed since I was in a hurry but I think if I actually tried, it would be pretty discrete.
I'm hesitant to drill it since the chainstays are so small and the hole would make up a large swath of it. I did the external routing pretty half assed since I was in a hurry but I think if I actually tried, it would be pretty discrete.
A possible cause to the headset problem is that the head tube is not perfectly straight. This causes the two headset cups to be very slightly misaligned. Or if the head tube is OK, the two reamed headset cup surfaces are not perfectly aligned.
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romanmoser
- Posts: 573
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 8:30 pm
Yes It can be made quite neat even with external cabling
it's up to you to decide if this defeat the purpose of the '' cheap bike ''
Regarding headtube diameter : 1" , standart 1/1 8 or 44mm it's not that important for a small bike it is more for a taller headbtube in my experiences with a litespeed ultimate 59cm even if I am light ...
it's up to you to decide if this defeat the purpose of the '' cheap bike ''
Regarding headtube diameter : 1" , standart 1/1 8 or 44mm it's not that important for a small bike it is more for a taller headbtube in my experiences with a litespeed ultimate 59cm even if I am light ...
Crooked h/s possibilities:
- galling/deposit/burr on the beveled surfaces; cap or bearing
- check the cap bore for deposits, corrosion
- upper bearing not fully seated straight in the cup
- stem lower surface not square
- spacer between stem and cap not square
- upper bearing damaged?
CK makes nice stuff but things occasionally go wrong. I had a freehub bearing where the ball bearings’ polished surface chipped. CK kindly sent replacements.
- galling/deposit/burr on the beveled surfaces; cap or bearing
- check the cap bore for deposits, corrosion
- upper bearing not fully seated straight in the cup
- stem lower surface not square
- spacer between stem and cap not square
- upper bearing damaged?
CK makes nice stuff but things occasionally go wrong. I had a freehub bearing where the ball bearings’ polished surface chipped. CK kindly sent replacements.
Can’t really tell much from the pic. But...
-was the headset new when you installed it?
- what condition were the faces of the headtube in... I’m assuming they were properly faced since just like a BB shell, a headtube needs to be properly and precisely faced. But that should have been done but the builder.
- the stem lower edge should be faced as well, although it’s rare with today’s stems that’s a problem. Still, Chris King even has a tool for facing stems.
- how was it installed, which press, which drifts. Did those drifts jam up against the bearing surface edges themselves or were proper fitting drifts used that would for sure not damage or skew the bearings within the cup.
Here’s a pic of a Chris king upper cup alongside a proper Chris King drift. It fits perfectly in the cup with bevelled edge and ALL the pressure from the press is placed directly on the edges of the sturdy cup itself; the drifts never actually touch the actual bearing within the cup.
And here is the drift atop and inside the cup... fitting perfectly at the edges...
It’s kind of impossible to tell what’s wrong from the pic, but it would seem that somewhere there is a misalignment. I’m assuming the top of the fork crown was clear of any debris before pressing the baseplate on. Something as small as a grain of sand, some thick paint, etc., can throw that alignment off.
Not likely, but check the o-ring within the top cover is properly in place as well, although that should have been very noticeable if it wasn’t when you were putting it on.
Good luck.
-was the headset new when you installed it?
- what condition were the faces of the headtube in... I’m assuming they were properly faced since just like a BB shell, a headtube needs to be properly and precisely faced. But that should have been done but the builder.
- the stem lower edge should be faced as well, although it’s rare with today’s stems that’s a problem. Still, Chris King even has a tool for facing stems.
- how was it installed, which press, which drifts. Did those drifts jam up against the bearing surface edges themselves or were proper fitting drifts used that would for sure not damage or skew the bearings within the cup.
Here’s a pic of a Chris king upper cup alongside a proper Chris King drift. It fits perfectly in the cup with bevelled edge and ALL the pressure from the press is placed directly on the edges of the sturdy cup itself; the drifts never actually touch the actual bearing within the cup.
And here is the drift atop and inside the cup... fitting perfectly at the edges...
It’s kind of impossible to tell what’s wrong from the pic, but it would seem that somewhere there is a misalignment. I’m assuming the top of the fork crown was clear of any debris before pressing the baseplate on. Something as small as a grain of sand, some thick paint, etc., can throw that alignment off.
Not likely, but check the o-ring within the top cover is properly in place as well, although that should have been very noticeable if it wasn’t when you were putting it on.
Good luck.
Last edited by Calnago on Fri Apr 05, 2019 5:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
You have to keep that wound-up dude. Looks so good, way more epic than the Columbus one.
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Great Prices ✓ Broad Selection ✓ Worldwide Delivery ✓
www.starbike.com
