Bianchi Axis |
A quasi-cyclocross bike |
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The Bianchi Axis was designed as a sort of mass-produced cyclocross bike. It was, perhaps, one of the original hybrid designs from a company that was not afraid to be innovative. Originally, this bike came with a funky shoulder strap, which is now missing, though the brazeons are there. Cyclocross racers will tell you that the first version of the Axis was too heavy and that a racing cyclocross bike would not have a triple chainring. Still, the bike makes a fine commuting bike for my 20-mile trip into work. The only problem is that the cantilevers work very well unless the rims get coated with snow, at which point they can become close to useless. The wide tires are just the thing for the dirt road when it isn't at its best, which is most of the time, but they are a lot easier on the pavement than those of my mountain bike. In better weather, I'll put a set of road tires on it, though the small knobbies are really not that bad, only producing a light whine at speed. The 7-speed indexed bar-ends work very well and the low (28 x 28) gearing is handy when the steep dirt road (over 16%, at its worse) is soft and I'm tired at the end of a long day. The really nasty frozen ruts still demand the studded tires of my Fat Chance, but when the weather is right for this bike, it can make going to work downright fun! Maybe next winter I will pick up a pair of those Nokian 700x35C studded tires for it. Email
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