Bianchi Specialissima
The superlative machine
IMatthew Pioro
’ve been asking questions about Countervail since it first appeared on Bianchi frames in 2013 at that year’s Paris-roubaix. Countervail is a viscoelastic material that was worked into the carbon-fibre layup of the Infinito CV, the Italian company’s endurance bike. Bianchi says Countervail cancels road vibrations. So, I wanted to know where this material was exactly. Was it like different types of carbon fibre, which are deployed strategically in frame to achieve different levels of stiffness or compliance? Was it only used at certain spots on the frame? Bianchi didn’t say. When I met with Angelo Lecchi, Bianchi’s road product manager, at Interbike in 2014, he wouldn’t tell me. In June 2015, Bianchi launched the Specialissima, a lightweight performance bike with a new, lighter formula of Countervail. Soon after I got a bike to test, I spoke with Fred Morini, Bianchi’s product marketing and communication manager. Again, I Bianchi has a long-term agreement with msc for exclusivity on the material.
So, how did the Countervail affect my rides? Well, on my long rides, I definitely felt that the micro-vibrations the road sent throughout the frame were well managed. It was great on the not-so-great surfaces beyond the city limits. (I’m afraid pothole management in the city is beyond the abilities of Countervail, but the same is true for most suspension systems.) Countervail is also supposed to offer the rider more control, especially when descending on such a light frame (claimed weight of a size 55, black frame: 780 g). I don’t have the necessary mountain descents to really put the control claims to the test, but a local screamer did seem a bit tamer, not slower, than usual. Another tester, who rode the Specialissima in Italy, told me about the confidence he gained on descents with the Bianchi compared with another brand of performance bike he’d been riding. That tester was able to go downhill faster and felt more in control on the Specialissima.
The new bike takes its geometry from Bianchi’s other race machine, the Oltre XR. Like the Oltre, the steering is very