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TECH NEWS
Bianchi Oltre XR3 - 2.jpgBianchi launches Oltre XR3 aero race bike
Bianchi has announced the launch of the Oltre XR3 aero race bike featuring Countervail technology that, it’s claimed, cancels 80% of vibrations while increasing frame and fork stiffness and strength.
Check out our review of the existing Bianchi Oltre XR4 here.
The XR3 is said to be “inspired by and derived from” the XR4 which was developed with UCI WorldTour Team LottoNL–Jumbo.
“The proven benefits of the Countervail technology and the aerodynamic advantages of the Oltre XR4 are now shared with the XR3 model,” says Bianchi.
Countervail technology
The Oltre XR3 uses the same Countervail technology as several other models in Bianchi’s range including the high level Bianchi XR4, the Iightweight Specialissima, the Infinito CV (including the Infinito CV Disc) endurance road bike and the Aquila CV time trial/triathlon bike.
Bianchi argues that because your body accounts for about 80% of the aerodynamic drag that works against you as you cycle, it’s vital that you’re able to stay in your most efficient riding position for as long as possible. The Countervail technology is designed to help you do this by cancelling vibration and thereby increasing your control and reducing muscle fatigue.
Countervail “is a carbon composite-material system that, with its special fibre architecture, combines patented structural carbon with viscoelastic resin,” according to Bianchi. It comes from Materials Sciences Corporation and is exclusive to Bianchi in the cycling world.
“The result with the Oltre XR3 is a smooth ride and a racer who can stay focused on their fastest, most efficient aerodynamic position for longer,” says Bianchi. “Oltre XR3 riders retain the best possible control, a significant advantage wherever and however you ride and race, with no compromise in power transfer from pedal-stroke to pedal-stroke.”
Tech features
The Oltre XR3’s carbon monocoque frame boasts many features designed to reduce drag including an aero head tube that’s said to be “inspired by Oltre XR4 profiles”.
The seatpost is aero profiled too, with a clamp that’s hidden within the top tube. It has an adjustable head clamp offset (the amount the head clamp it is set back from the centre of the post) of 25mm or 10mm.
Many recognisable features of the existing Oltre models have been carried over, including the seat tube that's cutaway around the leading edge of the rear wheel and the wishbone seatstay design.
The full-carbon fork has deep legs while the crown is integrated into the head tube and down tube.
That fork has a claimed weight of 370g while the frame is said to hit the scales at 1,110g (+/-5%, size 55cm).
For comparison, the Oltre XR4 has a claimed frame weight of 980g (-/-5%, size 55cm), while the fork is said to weigh 370g, the same as that of the XR3.
Geometry
The Bianchi Oltre XR3 will be available in seven sizes from 47cm to 61cm.
The geometry is exactly the same as the existing Bianchi Oltre XR1, a bike that doesn't feature Countervail technology.
The top tubes of the various sizes are exactly the same lengths as those of the XR4 models while the head tubes are 5mm longer across the board.
To take a 55cm model as an example, the head tube is 14.5cm, the effective top tube is 55cm and the seat tube is 49.5cm.
The stack height (the vertical distance between the centre of the bottom bracket and the top of the head tube) is 545mm and the reach (the horizontal distance between those points) is 388mm.
The corresponding figures for the Oltre XR4 are 541mm and 390mm respectively, so the Oltre XR3 is a touch more relaxed but the difference is minor.
Builds
The Bianchi Oltre XR3 will be available in six different builds. These are they:
• Shimano Dura-Ace 11sp Compact 50/34
Wheels: Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG
• Campagnolo Chorus 11sp Compact 52/36
Wheels: Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG
• Shimano Ultegra Di2 11sp Compact 52/36
Wheels: Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG
• Shimano Ultegra 11sp Compact 52/36
Wheels: Fulcrum Racing 7 LG
• Campagnolo Potenza 11sp Compact 52/36
Wheels: Fulcrum Racing 7 LG
• Shimano 105 11sp Compact 52/36
Wheels: Fulcrum Racing Sport
You’re going to want to know prices, aren’t you? Unfortunately, we don’t have them yet because they’ve not been finalised. We’ll pass them on as soon as they're available.
We will be riding the new Bianchi Oltre XR3 next week, though, so we’ll have a First Ride report following that.
For more information go to www.bianchi.com/global/focuson/oltre-xr3-365126
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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11 comments
FFS!! I was 99% certain I was going to buy an XR1 next year and now Bianchi go and throw this into the mix!
Apologies if I missed it in the article, but is the XR3 designed to replace the XR1 in the Oltre range or will it sit where the old XR2 did? Also any news of a frameset only version?
The amount of BS in bicycle marketing is incredible.
Does that mean they've sacked the guy who did this?
1333551386739-1l67vjuyzdx57-1200-80.jpg
I'm pretty sure my final n+1 won't be carbon but the Oltres are the downright sexiest bikes to appear for ages
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> cancels 80% of vibrations
What vibrations? Big, small, longitudinal, lateral, vertical? I'm not buying it, most vibration on a bike is damped by the tyres, saddle and handlebar tape. Vague graphs and numbers lacking context suggest a load of marketing bollocks.
When they first launched the CV tech, Bianchi had a video on their website which used a set of forks, and a ping-pong ball in a tube to demonstrate how it worked. If you're interested it's worth having a search for as it was pretty interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlrUYjOBNg
Still meaningless. If it does as they say, they should be able to quantify it with facts and figures. So they should be telling us how much less vertical vibration there'll be at the handlebars, for instance. But they never do, which to my mind equals marketing bollocks.
All true of course, another 'tech' way of differentiating your product (and another sticker) ...except it works in practice, constantly and consistently. I've not ridden a Domane or Roubaix with rubber bungs but compared to any other road bike I've tried/owned (inc. steel/Ti/carbon gravel on 28s) regardless of tyre size or pressure, my CV on 25s is the most adept at absorbing high frequency road buzz.
You can see the road imperfections but the buzzy stuff just doesn't transfer through the bars and seat, a bit like you're just watching a video of the road rather than bouncing down it.
For me the difference in ride feel between a CV and say the recent Canyon Aeroad is significant so the XR CV bike should be a genuine improvement in that respect, looking forward to road.cc's test.
Even if they did publish that kind of data it would be pretty meaningless given factors like road surface quality and tyre pressures. I understand your scepticism, but if you're really interested then just try it and compare it to other bikes. It's the kind of thing that either works for you or doesn't.
PS. I don't own a CV equipped bike.
I've just started riding my new Infinito. I primarily bought it because of the geometry and I just live the look of the bike.
I think there is something in the CV but would not say it's the greatest thing ever. What I have noticed is how similar the bike feels to my steel and titanium bike (but lighter and stiffer of course ) . Very hard to describe and probably subjective.
On a different point regarding the new Oltre it's good to see direct mount brakes. These help clearance for wider tyres so should help rim brakes keep going for a bit longer.
It doesn't have direct mount brakes.