This company stays relatively true to its Italian roots. When you talk to its personnel, or its dealers, you tend to get a slight bit of attitude, and that's okay—in fact it's part of the experience. You'd somehow feel cheated if you didn't get a little dissed. After all, this is a company that makes bikes for those who ride, not for those who stick it in the garage.
The Brava is Bianchi's entry-level bike, and at $750 you pay a bit more than you would for a Sora-equipped bike from, say, Felt or Giant. But these bikes are made out of steel—remember, this is an Italian brand—and steel bikes are harder to make than aluminum bikes. You'd have to look at LeMond in order to get a similarly built bike, and even then the geometries would be a bit different.
The frame is made of Reynolds 520 double-butted Chrome-moly and the fork is steel as well.
I spoke to Turin Bicycle Company in Evanston, Illinois, about the Eros 9($1100) because it has been a venerable Bianchi dealer for an awful long time. The Eros is "Ours and Bianchi's best seller" said the Turin folks. This is your proverbial "Aids Ride" bike. It's built for longer rides and has a geometry and wheelbase more suited for centuries and rougher hauls. It's also got a triple crank and eyelets for racks. Bianchi chooses a mix of Campagnolo Mirage and Veloce components. 27 speeds.
I should stop here and say that many of these bikes are available in one or another color scheme, with a second option of "celeste." That's the color at left. There is no bike company more attached to a trademark color than Bianchi is attached to celeste. I would therefore not own a non-celeste Bianchi. It would be like getting Levi's 501 jeans in white. What's the point?
The Campione is the same price and with the same components as the Eros, but it's a bit on the racier side. It's an entry-level race bike.
The Imola is new this year, and costs around $1400. It's got a Reynolds 631 main triangle and a Reynolds 525 rear triangle. Bianchi goes with a carbon fork with threadless CrMo steerer at this price level, and Felts, Giants, and certain other brands start giving you a carbon fork for around $1000 or not much over. The Imola is a Shimano 105 bike with a triple crank.
The Giro (right) sells for around $1400 as well, and Bianchi says it's a "a favorite of triathletes." That must be because it's one of the few aluminum road bikes Bianchi makes. It's got an Easton UltraLite tubeset, with the Bianchi carbon fork with CrMo steerer. It's also got a Shimano wheelset.
The Veloce, same price as the above two, is—notwithstanding Turin's comment—what Bianchi calls, "Our most popular road bike, with that famous Italian steel ride and all Italian components." As opposed to 105 on the above two models, this bike is equipped with Campagnolo Veloce parts.
I must say that I've got a problem with Bianchi's reasoning. If the Giro is the bike triathletes want because it's a lightweight aluminum Shimano-equipped bike with caleidoscope wheels, then this is problematic, because quite frankly there are companies out there—like Felt and Giant—that are much more competitive than Bianchi at this style of manufacture. In other words, it would be better for Bianchi if it was wrong about what triathletes want.
One day bike companies will realize that triathletes put their bike shorts on one leg at a time, just like cyclists. The only difference is that they do two additional sports. When they want a road bike, there's no reason not to want an Italian one. Bianchi may or may not have misread triathletes. Either way, they do know road bikes quite well. For those looking for a straight-up road bike in the traditional motif, Bianchi doesn't fair badly at all.
Bianchi's website is here.
