Evil bike..?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

There's just something about that bike picture that makes it look oddly proportioned in some way, not sure what it is. The saddle and handlebars seem awfully big and clunky, but you say you changed the saddle. Everything looks so short in length and built up tall, even the frame, but it's just an impression...

[SouthernBelle]

There's just something about that bike picture that makes it look oddly proportioned in some way, not sure what it is. The saddle and handlebars seem awfully big and clunky, but you say you changed the saddle. Everything looks so short in length and built up tall, even the frame, but it's just an impression...

Look at the length of the headtube (term?) the distance from the toptube to the down tube does seemd to be greater. The backend seems to be higher too. Or is this all just an optical illusion. Could you compare the measurements on specific parts of the frame with your other bikes?

[Grog]

You didn't say anything about the wheels.

What about the hubs? Are they the same as your other bikes? Maybe they're a different quality and just don't roll as fast? Maybe the bearings need a bit more maintenance?

Just pitchin' in.

[Popoki_Nui]

You didn't say anything about the wheels.

What about the hubs? Are they the same as your other bikes? Maybe they're a different quality and just don't roll as fast? Maybe the bearings need a bit more maintenance?

Just pitchin' in.

All ideas gratefully received!! The hubs are Shimano 600, Ambrosio rim up front and Mavic rear. I completely disassembled them, replaced the bearings, lubed, reassembled, adjusted them when I rebuilt the bike. They spin nice and easily (only about 650km's on them), certainly as well as the hubs on my other bikes. Brand new XT cartridge BB, too.
To put this all into perspective, I normally do an avg speed or around 25-30km/h (15-18mph) on rolling roads/paths on my Gitane and Falcon on a nice Sunday ride. This bike I can just manage 20km/h (12mph) with the same effort. Just seems like I'm fighting to make it go.....

[Tuckervill]

Maybe you're only riding this bike when you're feeling slow and full of lead? Maybe it's not the bike at all.

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

I 2nd a wheel swap for comparison.

[Triskeliongirl]

I third the wheel swap idea. It looks like you have a mountain casette in the rear. I find when I ride the same bike with a 11-34 mountain casette vs 12-27 road casette it feels more sluggish cuz the gears are further apart, although if I am doing it cuz I really need the low gears, I need to do it. Your saddle also looks quite far forward in the pic, so perhaps you aren't in an effeceint pedaling postion. Do your other bikes have drop bars or flat? Could the twtichiness make me feel unstable and hold back on your speed psycologically. I don't understand why it was built with such a short wheelbase. Just some random thoughts. Please try the wheel swap and report back to us.

[Popoki_Nui]

Look at the length of the headtube (term?) the distance from the toptube to the down tube does seemd to be greater. The backend seems to be higher too. Or is this all just an optical illusion. Could you compare the measurements on specific parts of the frame with your other bikes?

Mostly it's an illusion from the angle I took the pic from, and those lines on my garage door don't help either Maybe I should try for a better pic...

I did compare measurements from my Gitane (which is supremely comfy to ride, and which I compare all potential project bikes with): the top tube, down tube, seat tube, and head tube are all the same. The head tube angle is identical. The seat tube angles are a degree or so different (72 degrees on the Gitane vs ~70.5 on the Bianchi). Nothing there explains why the dike requires such high effort to get the same speed. Curiouser and curiouser....

[Bluetree]

Nothing there explains why the dike requires such high effort to get the same speed. Curiouser and curiouser....

I'm sure our fellow TE'ers of a different s**ual persuasion would have more input on that one!

[DebW]

What about the tires, in terms of suppleness, weight, etc? Could you swap wheels between this bike and another one of your bikes and see if that makes it feel any different? There would be a noticable difference, for instance, between 2 wheelsets of the same overall weight but with different weight distributions between hub and rim.

[Popoki_Nui]

What about the tires, in terms of suppleness, weight, etc? Could you swap wheels between this bike and another one of your bikes and see if that makes it feel any different? There would be a noticable difference, for instance, between 2 wheelsets of the same overall weight but with different weight distributions between hub and rim.

Tires are currently brand new Schwalbe Blizzard Sports. The skins in the photo are Kendas. The Kenda's have a more 'square~ish' profile (bigger footprint on the road); thinking that might be a cause, I switched to the Schwalbes (more rounded profile, higher pressure, smaller footprint). Neither made much diff.
Wheelsets are more of a problem, since I'm short of spare ones. None of the wheels from my other bike have the right spacing; if I get desperate I can fix that and make 'em fit.
Triskeliongirl wondered about the cassette: it's a 14-28 6-speed Shimano 600 road cassette. I do have a few spare cassettes...I'll play around with them and see what happens.
Why did they make such a short wheelbase? Who knows? It's a killer hill-climbing bike, great for sprints and great on the local velodrome. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be a long-haul bike?

[Triskeliongirl]

Triskeliongirl wondered about the cassette: it's a 14-28 6-speed Shimano 600 road cassette. I do have a few spare cassettes...I'll play around with them and see what happens.

Hmmm. If a 14 is your smallest cog, could that be what its slow on the flats? What is the smallest cog on your other bikes?

[Popoki_Nui]

I'm sure our fellow TE'ers of a different s**ual persuasion would have more input on that one!

....oops!

[Kitsune06]

D'oh! I KNEW it was gonna happen! I've never had the "read thread- spit soda" experience before, but this one got me!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Nothing there explains why the dike requires such high effort to get the same speed.

Hmm....so what speed is SHE getting on it??...
(this is getting complicated)