I almost feel as if it isn’t right for me to be reviewing this bike because I am such a Bianchi fanboy. I own a 2004 Bianchi Brava and the more I ride it, the more I love it. I have logged well over 2000 miles on it in the last couple years, and I don’t see myself upgrading anytime soon. With that being said, I ran over to my LBS yesterday to give the latest Bianchi Brava a spin. I highly recommend all newbies to test ride about 10 aluminum bikes and then hop on some Bianchi Steel. The first thing you will notice is how smooth the bike rides. The little bumps that you would normally feel on an aluminum bike just aren’t there with a steel bike.

The Brava features Alex DA22 rims, which some feel is a bit on the heavy side. If you are buying a steel bike, weight obviously isn’t your main concern. The Brava has Shimano Sora shifters/derailleurs/brakes and a Bianchi carbon fork. The stock Bianchi saddle on the Brava has gotten a bit of a makeover in the last couple years. The saddle that came with my Brava was way to big and squishy and I had to upgrade it soon after buying it. The new saddle offering is actually pretty comfortable, and should do just fine for any new rider. The pedals are of the strap-in type, which is the standard in the sub $700 category. The color choices are Blue Jean and Celeste. I only saw the Blue Jean in my lbs, so I can’t comment on the Celeste, but the Blue Jean was very sweet.

As I said earlier, this bike is steel, and it is heavy. I live in Minnesota, and do most of my biking here. The trails are relatively flat compared to the mountain states, and weight really doesn’t matter to me. If you are planning on doing a lot of hill climbs, this bike is not for you. On the other hand, if you want a smooth riding bike that does well on flat trails, I would highly recommend giving the Brava a test ride. The Bianchi Brava is shows to retail at $729 on the Bianchi website, but it was selling for $699 at my lbs…so it will be allowed in the under $700 category.

Get all the Bianchi specs here [bianchiusa.com]