My bike Monday: Bianchi Specialissima
With celeste CK16 paint, this eye-catching lightweight bike is built for performance
A thoroughbred, the Specialissima falls into the lightweight climbing category, coming in at 780 g for a 55 cm frame. With Bianchi’s Countervail vibration canceling technology, the Specialissima provides exceptional comfort and control for a featherweight climbing bike. A noticeably rigid frame that effectively manages road vibrations and provides increased confidence on descents, the build on Bianchi’s climbing bike that I had the opportunity to check out at the 11 Inc. respected and accentuated the sleek CK16 celeste frame set.
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The new Specialissima revealed in 2015 incorporates all sorts of technology including Countervail developed by Material Science Corp.
Clean lines on the front end of the Specialissima
Those Bianchi logos aren’t decals. They are painted by hand and thus slightly raised.
Bianchi take great care to get the details on the Specialissima just right, the logos are hand painted and the CK16 colour really pops ensuring with this bike you’ll be noticed on the group ride.
Additionally, it was important for Bianchi to ensure exceptional ride quality. A bike designed to go up with ease also needs to descent with confidence for the best ride experience. Managing vibrations with Countervail not only helps increase rider comfort and reduce fatigue, but it can really add to the overall control of the bike, especially through tricky descents and corners that can feel a little shaky on other lightweight frames.
With Dura Ace Di2 you can expect exceptional shifting on this 11 Inc. build
Enve bar and stem on the Specialissima
The Enve cockpit
Mavic Ksyrium Pro Cabron SL wheelset
Mavic Ksyrium Pro Powerlink 25-mm tubulars
This Specialissima at the 11 Inc. is build up with top of the line components as is fitting for such a high-performance frame. Dura Ace Di2 group set ensures exceptional shifting while the Enve seat post and cockpit gives the bike a sharp looking, lightweight overall build. The Mavic Ksyrium Carbon SL wheelset are light, responsive and a good fit on a race ready climbing bike.
This build would set you back $17,800. This one and others like are available at the 11 Inc. where we had a chance to check out some of their stock a couple of weeks ago.
