There’s nothing quite like the prospect of a new bike to add to the building excitement of the coming race season. So I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Bianchi Methanol 29 FS, especially with the ABSA Cape Epic just on the horizon.
I would hesitate to call this a proper bike review, because I don’t consider myself a proper bike reviewer – but it’s great to be able to report back on whether a new toy measures up to expectations. I’m always conscious though that when I read reviews elsewhere, especially reviews written by irregular reviewers, there is a risk of confirmation bias – if someone has chosen a bike, they are hardly likely to say that it is terrible, even less so in a public forum. To do so would be to admit error.
But even with all those reasons why this might not be the most scientific review ever, I’m still happy to report that I love this bike!
Lots of bits – there’s a bike in there somewhere
Before we get to that, there was some building to be done. The bike arrived, courtesy of team Subaru-MarathonMTB.com, in a number of pieces, packed into the smallest cardboard box you could possibly imagine could contain most of a bicycle. Some help from my LBS got the swingarm put on, with some Ti prep and a torque wrench on the bolts. Then it was a case of assembling all the necessary parts from various locations, which always takes longer than you think.
One of the drawbacks of getting hold of a new bike in February in the UK is that if you want to ride it, you have to expect to get it covered in filth on its first ride, which is always a bit galling. But I got lucky. I had a weekend set aside for two rides on the new steed, and it happened that we’re in the middle of a cold spell, resulting in some truly exceptional conditions for the time of year – fairly dry trails which had then been firmly frozen.
Mid-ride Coke pause
So how about that ride? Well my first ride was so much fun that I had squeeze a second one in on the Sunday, despite not really having the time to do so. It had been 18 months since my last full-sus was stolen from an Italian hotel during a race, so it took a little while to readjust to the somewhat different style of riding. But once I’d passed that initial stage, it was all good. The big wheels combined with the full suspension means that rear wheel grip feels endless, and it rolls over roots and rocks with ease.
Having said that this wouldn’t be a very scientific review, there is an element of science that can be brought to bear. I’ve only been using Strava for about nine months, but I’ve ridden my home trails in Surrey about 15 or 20 times in that period; so I’ve got plenty of reference points, in all sorts of conditions ranging from standard UK winter muck through to the brief window of dust we had in mid-August 2012.
The bike felt very quick – it made me want to push into every corner and down every section of singletrack. And when I got home I found that my impression was correct – plenty of bits of singletrack were showing fastest ever times, despite temperatures barely breaking freezing point.
One trade-off that I’ve detected is a fairly low BB; especially early in the ride, while I was still getting used to it, I was getting quite a few pedal strikes, especially while the suspension was in its fully active mode. But on the flip-side the bike felt incredibly stable at speed – the combination of big wheels and full suspension inspires a lot of confidence – great news for long descents in marathons and stage races.
A touch of Italy comes to Peaslake – the heart of Surrey mountain biking
I hadn’t used Fox suspension with the ‘CTD’ designation before, which is on most of their products for 2013. CTD stands for Climb / Trail / Descend – three different modes of compression damping, which is pretty intuitive. I found myself using the middle ‘Trail’ setting on the Fox shock and forks most of the time, although I suspect that the ‘Descend’ setting will get more use on the loose rocks of the ABSA Cape Epic.
Apart from a great ride, I also like that it looks quite like a ‘normal’ bike – no funny vertical shocks like some brands. And it’s got a good line in lairy Euro graphics and a fantastic metallic head-badge.
Nice head badge
Overall, the ABSA Cape Epic will be the real acid test, and I’ll be reporting back with a fuller view; but for now I’m very happy with it. Nice work Bianchi!
Full spec:
- Frame: Bianchi Methanol 29 FS, size 53cm
- Shock: Fox Float CTD 100mm, 1.5 tapered, QR15, Kashima
- Fork: Fox Float CTD Kashima
- Wheels: Hope Hoops ZTR Crest on Hope Pro 2 Evo
- Tyres: Maxxis Ikon for racing, Ignitors for the time being
- Seatpost: Fizik Cyrano carbon
- Brakes: Shimano XT
- Groupset: Shimano XT apart from a SRAM XX BB30 chainset
- Saddle: my favourite Specialized Phenom
- Bars: Race Face Turbine until I get my hands on a Mt Zoom carbon set
- Mt Zoom bar-ends