Bianchi Oltre XR

Bianchi's new Oltre XR is among the very best high-performance bikes out there. Lighter and stiffer than the previous Oltre, this pro-level model really sparkles out on the road.

Everyone knows the Bianchi brand – it has been around since 1885, a time when most bicycles were horses. The Italian brand has more heritage than you could shake a stick of spaghetti at. Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi, Mario Cipollini, Laurent Fignon, Marco Pantani... they've all ridden Bianchis over the years.

Some people would have you believe that Bianchi relied on that heritage a little too much for a while, and took their collective eye off the ball in terms of technology and product development. If that was ever the case, the Oltre XR proves that they are fully focused once again.

The XR bit of the Oltre XR's name comes from 'extreme rigidity-to-weight ratio', so it's clear from the start where Bianchi's priorities are in this design.

Climb aboard the Oltre XR and you can feel just how stiff the frame is from the first few pedal strokes. You'll notice it especially during sweat-flying sprints and out-of-the saddle climbs when the bike remains remarkably in shape even though your arms and legs are trying to wrench it in opposite directions.

Bianchi have worked hard to achieve this level of frame rigidity – they reckon they've boosted stiffness by 20% over the previous Oltre... if putting a figure on it means anything to you. The Oltre XR is a carbon monocoque with UMS 40 and CN 60 ultra high modulus carbon fibre used in the construction. Like most other pro-level bikes these days, it gets an oversized BB30 bottom bracket and a tapered head tube – 1 1/8in at the top, 1 1/2in at the bottom – for increased rigidity in both those areas.

What Bianchi do differently is that they use their X-Tex process to increase the structural stiffness further. X-Tex, lest this one has passed you by, is a cross weave layer inside the head tube. Carbon strips are moulded on top of the existing carbon structure so it looks a bit like a waffle surface in there, the idea being to add to the rigidity without bumping up the weight much.

The Oltre XR also comes with a huge down tube and mighty-looking chainstays. That doesn't mean a lot in itself, of course, but the sum total of all these features is a frame with barely a hint of flex when you grapple it from side to side.

The handling is sharp as a nail too. That sturdy head tube works with Bianchi's full-carbon HoC fork to provide immaculate steering even when you're flinging the bike as fast as you dare through the S-bends and hanging on for dear life. The Oltre XR will end up exactly where you want it to, giving you the assurance you need to lay off the brakes just a tad longer.

Switching to the other side of the 'extreme rigidity-to-weight ratio' line, our complete 59cm test bike, less pedals, weighs in at 7.17kg (16.9lb). That's pretty light, especially considering that we have a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset on there – it's great stuff, but you can certainly get lighter. Bianchi claim a frame weight of just 895g (+/– 5%) – which is 30g lighter than the previous generation – plus 355g for the fork.

They keep the weight down partly through their wrinkleless molding process that, as the name implies, ensures the inner surfaces of the frame are as smooth as the outside. Other manufacturers have similar techniques. Bianchi reckon that controlling the walls in this way allows them to get the stiffness they want without using any more material than is absolutely necessary.

The Oltre XR certainly feels like a light bike in use – it's very, very responsive, jumping forward when you twitch your muscles that little bit faster. There's none of that lag while it mulls over the options; it just accelerates beautifully.

When you hit the climbs, the Bianchi is a worthy partner, shooting up the slopes like a Sherpa guide on EPO. We had a compact chainset (50/34-tooth chainrings) on our test bike which certainly took the pain out of the steep stuff although, to me, a standard chainset would be more suitable. I guess it'll all come down to your personal preference and the terrain you usually ride, but if any bike is crying out for a standard chainset it's this one.

As well as the stiffness and the weight, the other key characteristic of the Oltre XR that Bianchi like to shout about is its aerodynamics. Most obviously, the forks come with slim legs and a crown that flows back into the down tube, the seat tube is aero profiled at the top and cutaway around the rear wheel, and the full carbon seat post is shaped to reduce drag. The cables run internally too.

How aero is the performance? I don't know, to be honest, and I wouldn't trust the judgment of anyone who claims to know from simply riding the bike. Bianchi say they did a lot of development work in the wind tunnel with the Vacansoleil pro riders but they're not publishing any figures so your guess is as good as anyone's.

When it comes to comfort, I'm more confident in giving a verdict – my butt, wrists and back tell me all I need to know here and they all say the Oltre XR does pretty well on this score. I wouldn't say this is the most butter-smooth bike ever but, as performance-driven bikes go, it's a sweet enough ride. Bianchi reckon those ultra thin seat stays are responsible for removing a lot of road buzz and that seems like a reasonable enough explanation to me.

Of course, that assumes you're happy with a race geometry and aren't hoping for a lofty front end – this is, after all, a bike that's raced at the highest level. We have a 59cm model with a 580mm stack (vertical distance from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top centre of the head tube), a 397mm reach (the horizontal distance between those two points), an 18cm head tube and parallel 73° frame angles.

There's nothing too wild there. We did, though, have FSA's Wing Pro Compact bars on our test bike with a drop of just 125mm. Whether or not you're into that is a question of taste. It works for me.

The Oltre XR is available as a frameset (frame, fork, seatpost, headset) for £3,200, or in six different builds in the UK. Here are the groupsets, wheels and colours (because we know how important that is) and prices...

* Shimano Ultegra Di2, Fulcrum Racing 3, red/black, £5,250

* Campagnolo Athena EPS, Fulcrum Racing 3, celeste/black, £6,250

* Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical, Shimano WH 9000, matt/gloss black, £6,500

* Campagnolo Super Record mechanical, Fulcrum Racing Zero, celeste/black, £7,500

* Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Shimano WH 9000, matt/gloss black, £8,500

* Campagnolo Super Record EPS, Fulcrum Red Wind XLR, celeste/black, £9,500

If you're eagle eyed you'll see that our test bike isn't quite any of these. It's Ultegra Di2 equipped but with Fulcrum Racing Zeros rather than Racing 3s, and the price would be about £5,800.

I won't go into any depth on the build because of the various options available. You'll doubtless already know whether you prefer Campag or Shimano (don't fall for the oft repeated but seldom thought through cliché that you have to have Campag on an Italian brand bike – rules are for fools, doncha know?), and whether you want mechanical or electronic shifting. All I'll say there is that the more I use Ultegra Di2, the more I like it. Oh, and Fizik's Antares saddle is a winner too.

So, as I said up top, the Oltre XR is among the very best high-performance road bikes out there. Bianchi have got things nailed with this one. Lightweight, stiff, fast, cheap... it's all but one of those things.

Verdict

Lightweight speed machine that's stiff enough to stand up to the most powerful of sprinters; it absolutely flies.