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

Pista Concept 2006

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.

15
16
20
48 (ratio)
6.4
6.0
4.8
48 (gear inch)
83.6
78.4
62.7

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.