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I’m glad Bianchi avoided the temptation to run a one-piece bar/stem. I like the shallow drop for a gravel bike and the bend is nice on the hands. They’re made by FSA and badged with Bianchi’s Reparto Corse branding. In fairness, that’s pretty common on bikes with fully internal routing these days, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. At the very least (like when we tried to lower the stem just 5 mm), the system is incredibly fiddly, and at worst (like when we tried to drop the stem 15 mm), the brake lines should ideally be cut and re-bled. Don’t plan on going much wider, though tire clearance is capped at 700×42 mm or 650×47 mm.įSA’s semi-integrated bar/stem situation leaves something to be desired, mostly because it pulls the hydraulic lines underneath the stem and runs them down through the head tube. Twenty-four spokes front and rear and aluminum rims add a hint of vertical flex and comfort that is otherwise missing from the Arcadex package, and for that I salute Bianchi’s wheel spec choice, even if it’s not particularly fashionable. The 21 mm internal rim width keeps WTB’s 37 mm-wide Riddler tires right at that printed width. The Alex Rims GD24 tubeless-ready wheels are perfectly capable and would complement almost any gravel bike in this price range. That’s an adequate range for most gravel adventures but certainly narrower than true mullet setups or almost anything with a double. Our test bike was built with a Shimano GRX 600 mechanical groupset, set up with a single 40-tooth front chainring and an 11-42T cassette. Bianchi has produced a number of stunningly beautiful bikes over the years, but the Arcadex is not one of them. Which is a bit sad for me, personally, as Bianchi has historically made a number of my Top Ten Best Bikes - the Specialissima remains almost untouchably good, and the gravel-lite Impulso doesn’t leave much to complain about. It looks like it wants to be aggressive and it rides like it wants to go fast, but the fit is incredibly short, with front-center figures two to three centimeters shorter than equivalent bikes from other brands, so the overall effect is that of an angular supercar that’s just been run headfirst into a wall. Bianchi uses the word “sculpted” to describe its various shapes and edges and references “high-speed bikepacking” as a potential use case. It has design cues straight off the most hard-edged aero road frames. It is perhaps the stiffest gravel bike I’ve ever ridden.
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It’s a strange beast, the Bianchi Arcadex. Lows:Incredibly stiff, short fit, questionable looks, limited tire clearance.Weight:9.55 kg (21.05 lb, size medium, without pedals or accessories).Frame features:Oversized carbon fiber frame tubes, dropped seatstays, internal brake line routing, front and rear fender mounts.What it is:Bianchi’s take on aggressive gravel.