Competitive Cyclist

BIANCHI 928 SL

Four years after Bianchi's inception, the 25-year-old Edoardo Bianchi was already using racing as the proving grounds for the bikes bearing his name. The very first victory on a Bianchi came by the efforts of Giovanni Ferdinando Tomaselli who in 1899 won the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris, the predecessor to the Tour de France. Since that initial victory Bianchi has amassed what is likely the most illustrious palmares in cycling history, so to say that the Bianchi 928 SL has the rich racing blood of all Bianchi machines coursing through its carbon veins is surely accurate. In fact, the name for the 928 (nove, due, otto) is inspired by the last numeral in each of the years 1949, 1952, and 1998 when Bianchi won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.

No doubt old Edoardo would be pleased by the innovations found on the 928 SL. The 928 SL (SL stands for superleggera, or super light) is part of Bianchi's HOC, or Hors Categorie series, and like the hardest climbs in the Tour de France bearing this moniker, the HOC range of Bianchi bikes represents the highest echelon of their craft.

Where each lovingly hand-assembled 928 SL excels is perhaps not immediately noticeable to the naked eye. First there's the 928 SL's lightness: Bianchi claims a size 55 with integrated seatmast weighs on average a scant 1080 grams, or an astonishing 2.38 pounds. This feathery result was achieved through two means. First, the 928 SL uses the latest iteration of carbon nanotechnology. Carbon nanotechnology in the cycling industry was introduced roughly four years back as a joint effort between Easton composites and BMC and its first application saw life on BMC's SLC 01 Pro Machine. Like the nanotechnology used four years ago, each 928 SL benefits from molecular-scale cylinders composed of a skin with an external lattice work of interlocking hexagonal graphite structures. These cylinders, or nanotubes, are aligned in carbon sheets in such a way that the overall amount of resin and graphite material required is dramatically reduced. Including the Integrated Aero Seat Post (IASP), this reduction makes the 2010 928 SL 50 grams lighter than its 2009 counterpart with no reduction in durability.

Second, Bianchi utilizes an innovative new technology called Wrinkleless Molding Process (WMP). This process eliminates the tendency of the carbon fabric to wrinkle as it's pressed into a monocoque mold. In much the same fashion as you might smooth out a freshly laid tablecloth, WMP smooths out the swaths of carbon fiber as they're laid into their tube molds. The difference between a tablecloth and carbon fiber, though, is that the smoothed out excess material on the tablecloth just extends its length, while its overall weight remains constant. With carbon, however, the excess cloth that gets smoothed out is actually trimmed away thereby reducing its overall weight.

There's no question the 928 SL is light. But the traditional Holy Grail of bike building is not just building a really light or supremely stiff frame, but rather finding that critical balance between low weight and stiffness. These two seemingly contradictory ideals are hardly at odds in the 928 SL. Again, the new generation of carbon nanotechnology accounts for this frame's remarkable resilience. Tests have shown that carbon fiber sheets utilizing nanotubes have a tensile strength 400 times greater than that of steel. This means that when you step on the pedals of the 928 SL more of your energy is being put into forward motion, whether that's in the form of sprinting a la Robbie Hunter, climbing a la Mauricio Soler, or launching an attack on an unsuspecting peloton. Furthermore, the new nanotechnology eliminates micro-cracks which can lead to frame failures and long-term durability concerns.

When frame builders pursue that seemingly impossible equilibrium between low weight and stiffness there's a tendency to regard ride quality and rider comfort as an afterthought. After all, in a sport that cherishes suffering as a hallowed state of being, the idea of comfort is laughable -- if not an outright sign of weakness. Bianchi bucks tradition by focusing their efforts on rider comfort under the premise that, when the heat is on -- and the heat is always on in the pro peloton -- a more comfortable rider is a fresher and more powerful competitor. Starting with that premise, Bianchi engineered the tube shapes of the 928 SL to a) minimize high frequency vibrations, and b) provide a laterally more compliant ride. So, despite all the elements can throw at the grizzled pro -- the rain, the snow, the sleet, the scorching sun, the dust, etc etc -- and in spite of the histrionics hurled from the team director, at the end of the race Bianchi will have done all it can to have minimized the suffering.

The Bianchi 928 SL comes in six sizes (50, 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61) with an aerodynamic integrated seat mast and FSA seat clamp, Bianchi FC09 315 gram full carbon fork, and FSA headset. It requires the use of a 34.9mm clamp-on front derailleur and an English threaded bottom bracket.

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2010 Bianchi 928 SL Pricing

2010 Bianchi 928 SL Geometry

Size	Seat Tube c-t	Actual Top Tube	Effective Top Tube	Head Tube	Seat Angle	Head Tube Angle
49	49.0	51.0	52.5	11.0	74.0	71.0
52	52.0	52.0	53.0	11.0	74.0	71.5
55	55.0	54.5	55.0	12.5	74.0	72.0
58	58.0	56.0	56.0	14.0	74.0	72.0