Bianchi has history, and more of it than several of the industry’s biggest brands combined, so it’s fair to say the Italian firm knows how to make a good bike. It’s also fair to say that although there have been a few misses over the years, Bianchi has been on a roll recently, with an array of exciting and innovative models.
This does of course beg the question, just how exciting can an alloy bike be? Well, in this case the answer is: exciting enough to make it a contender for Bike of the Year 2016 in our sister mag Cycling Plus's recent roadie mega-shootout.
Old-fashioned good looks
The Freccia Celeste’s triple butted tube dimensions look quite restrained and classical alongside some of the beefy carbon competition, and its sloping top tube design and short head tube give old school race bike looks – if you take old school to be the late 90s – and with good reason, as Bianchi has revived the EV tubeset that saw Marco Pantani to victory in the 1998 Tour de France. As for the colour, well it doesn’t get more Bianchi than Celeste, to the extent that it comprises half of this model’s name.
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Welds are tidy but visible – and the alloy frame's performance puts some carbon ones in the shade
Our 55cm frame has a titchy 145mm hourglass head tube, so for the rider after an intermediate setup that’s not too aggressive and not too leisurely, it might be worth going up a size if top tube length allows. That, or embrace a stack of spacers.
Frisky yet balanced ride
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