Quote Originally Posted by SouthernBelle View Post
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....