Bianchi Pista Concept 2006
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

I have always thought the Pista Concept is one of the most beautiful contemporary bikes. It features the pure and simple lines of a track bike, but with modern touches like a straight blade carbon fiber fork, shaped aluminum tubing, a contoured seat tube for rear wheel clearance, all in coat of celeste paint with simple bold black logotype.

The Pista Concept was initially made in 2003 and 2004 as a frameset only, flat black with celeste logotype. Starting in 2005, it was available as a frameset or as a complete bike. The 2005 and 2006 models were celeste with black logotype. The final 2007 model was white with celeste logotype.

I think the 2005 model is the most attractive because of the deep profile Mavic Ellipse wheelset with flat bladed spokes and the black low profile saddle. Since I wasn't even aware of track bikes back in 2005, I obviously didn't buy one when they were new. So I told myself that I'd like to get a 2005 Pista Concept if I ever saw a pristine one in my size; that was only a few weeks ago. Then I found a NOS 2006 model in 55cm on eBay. Well, its not a 2005, but it turned out to be the best year. It features a standard profile Cane Creek wheelset, which is much lighter than the Mavics and has the standard lockring threading. It also has tubular tires and a celeste saddle. The 2006 model is also the most expensive year, retailing for $1500. The 2007 model came down to $1400 again, but instead of the nice Sugino 75 crankset, they spec'd a cheaper Truvativ Omnium crankset instead. So on August 31, 2009 at 8:28 PM, I won my bike from a seller in Colorado Springs, CO. Can't wait till it shows up in a box!

9/8/2009 - The bike showed up in a big box at work, so I threw it in the back of the Audi and waited until I came home to open the box. The bike was well wrapped in bubble wrap and stuffed with newspaper balls. I spent the evening installing everything, lubing and torquing everything properly. The bike is in pretty good condition, a few more paint chips than I expected, but overall a very nice bike.

11/5/2010 - Riding on Canada Road today, I rode over a small rock and punctured my front tire. Since it was a tubular, I had to get picked up. I noticed the bike is a bit long for me, since the seatpost has an unusually long setback of 30mm, where most have about 20mm or less. Thinking about getting a Thomson seatpost, which basically has zero setback.

12/15/2010 - I received the Thomson seatpost and installed it. Even though the post is 80mm longer than the OEM post, it is still two ounces lighter. I went with the longer post to put less stress on the frameset, as I heard that the seatpost clamp area is a common place of failure on these frames. I also put on a clincher wheelset. Since my last flat on a tubular and the hours spent with nasty solvents to remove the glue, I'm pretty turned off with tubulars at the moment. Even with the lighter seatpost, the bike gained over a pound, due to the heavier wheels and tires.

4/4/2011 - After messing around with Tufo tubular tape, I'm back into tubulars. I was able to remove a tire cleanly from the rim, then even more surprisingly, remove the tape cleanly from the tire! So I bought a new Continental Podium tire and mounted it back up. So the bike is really light again with the sexy 19mm tires.

1/31/2012 - The PC has been on display for too long, I've decided to ride it more often, but this requires two steps: 1. lower the gearing and 2. make the geometry more comfortable.
Gearing: I had many ideas, from putting on new a new bottom bracket and crankset, to using a 44T 130 BCD chainring I had, to going with a 3/32" drivetrain. I finally realized that by going with a a 20T 1/8" cog, I would get the gearing that I wanted and I wouldn't have to change anything else. Thank goodness that SOMA Fabrications makes a 1/8" cog as large as 21T!
Geometry: Using the SR Alpine Sport as my reference, I wanted a stem that was slightly shorter and slightly taller. After breaking out my adjustable triangle and metric scale, I drew a bunch of diagrams to try and determine what I needed. Turns out a 110mm stem with 0 degree rise would be just about perfect. So looking at the Thomson website (to match my seatpost), I found that the only stem that would work was the Elite X4 mountain bike stem. The Elite X4 comes in 0 degree and 10 degree, while their Elite X2 road stem only comes in 10 and 17 degrees only.

3/26/2013 - I sold the bike to a person in Washington.

Here are the specs:

Frame: Bianchi Pista Concept, double-butted aluminum tubing, 55cm, 120mm spacing. Serial Number: H6K24318.
Fork: Bianchi Pista Concept, speed-reinforced straight blade carbon fiber with aluminum 1-1/8" threadless steerer.
Wheelset: Cane Creek Volos track wheelset.
Tires: Continental Podium tubulars, 700x19c.
Cranks: Sugino 75 Track, aluminum, 165mm, 144 BCD. Standard 42mm chainline.
Chainring: Sugino 48T, 1/8".
Bottom Bracket: Sugino SG-75.
Cog: SOMA Fabrications 20T, 1/8".
Lockring: Cane Creek, hardened steel.
Headset: Tange Integrated, 1-1/8" threadless.
Chain: Miche Pista Track, 1/8" silver.
Stem: Thomson Elite X4 1-1/8" threadless with 31.8mm clamp diameter, 110mm reach, 0 degree rise, black.
Handlebar: Deda Elementi Pista, double butted 6061 T6 aluminum alloy, 31.7mm, black.
Bar Wrap: Bianchi Cork Ribbon, celeste with chrome Bianchi bar end plugs.
Pedals: LOOK KeO Classic, black.
Seatpost: Thomson Elite, 27.2mm diameter, 0 setback, 330mm length.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR, black.

The bike currently weighs 15lbs 5oz as shown.

The following are OE parts that I am currently not using:

Cog: Shimano Dura Ace16T, 1/8".
Chain: KMC K710, silver.
Stem: Bianchi Componenti 1-1/8" threadless with 31.8mm clamp diameter, 120mm reach, 10 degree rise, black.
Seatpost: Bianchi Componenti, 27.2mm diameter, 30mm setback, 250mm length.
Saddle: Bianchi Pro Pista, celeste.

Here is a link to the original 2006 Bianchi Pista Concept page.