Maybe 15 years ago Sue and I were on vacation in Calistoga (where the bottled water comes from). We had our bicycles with us and we were enjoying the Silverado Trail and other choice bicycling roads in Napa Valley. I had an aluminum-framed Giant roadbike in those days with entry-level componentry (if I recall, they branded it the Tiagra line). There was a bike shop in Calistoga, and like gun shops, I can’t pass a bicycle store without stopping to see what they have.
In the Calistoga shop, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. It was a Bianchi L’Una (“the One” in Italian), and it was the most visually-arresting bicycle I’d ever seen.
Riding an inexpensive aluminum bike, I lusted for a carbon fiber bike. I managed a plant back then that manufactured carbon fiber aviation components, and a carbon fiber bike was something I knew I needed.
The Bianchi wasn’t just carbon fiber, though. The bike had top-of-the-line Campagnolo components (Campy’s Record line, which is expensive stuff). Bicycle guys are elitists (although I’ve found they are not nearly as obnoxious as Facebook and motorcycle forum experts; I swear, some of these guys could be featured on the cover of Modern Proctology). But bicycle guys also have strong opinions, two of which are that carbon fiber and Campy Record componentry are as good as it gets.
Just about everything on the L’Una that could be carbon fiber was, and most of it was white carbon fiber (the frame, the stem, the seatpost, the forks, and the forks). The levers were conventional carbon, as were selected bits and pieces on the front and rear derailleurs. The brakes calipers and a few other machined bits and pieces were titanium. That’s expensive stuff. I knew from my aerospace job that the lead time on titanium in those days was a whopping 72 weeks. It was a stunning and stunningly-expensive bicycle. Everything about the bike was exotic. I had never seen anything like it.
I had to ask, and the Calistoga bike shop guy told me the L’Una was $5700. I’d never heard of a bicycle being that expensive, although today (15 years later), that would not be an unusually high price. Back then, though, you could have knocked me over with a feather. $5700. For a bicycle. Wow.
I continued to look at the L’Una for another half hour, but I told the sales dude not to get too excited. I was a looky-lou, I explained. There was no way I was going to spend that kind of money on a bicycle. But the bike was mesmerizing. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I asked if there was any room in the price, and the guy told me no. “Bianchi is only bringing a few of these in from Italy,” he said, “and they are what they are.”
The L’Una continued to dance around in my mind for months after that encounter. It was a vision that wouldn’t go away. I wanted it.
One day about a year later, I was poking around on E-Bay and I saw another L’Una for sale, brand new, at a bike store in Iowa somewhere. It was posted at $3700. That was still a pretty damn silly price for a bicycle, but it was $2,000 below what it I had seen in Calistoga. I called the shop, introduced myself, and asked the owner what the deal was.
“The deal is there’s two feet of snow outside my front door, I have another 25 Orbeas (that’s another high-end bike) coming in, and I need to make room,” he told me.
“What’s the frame size?” I asked, knowing there was little chance it would be my size. I’d have an easy out.
“It’s a 55,” he answered.
Hmmm. 55 centimeters is my frame size.
“Are there any marks or scratches on the bike?” I asked. “From the E-Bay photos, it looks like it’s on display in your store.” If it was scratched up or dinged, I’d have another out.
“Joe, I don’t know,” he answered. “Let me check it out and I’ll call you right back.”
A half hour later the phone rang. “I’ve gone over that bike with a magnifying glass,” came the report, “and it’s perfect.”
Hmmm. I thought about the L’Una all night. I talked to Sue and she said okay (and there went my last out). So I called the Iowa bike shop guy the next morning and offered $3400. “How’s that sound?” I asked.
“It sounds about $300 too light,” was his answer.
You can see from the photos here that I pulled the trigger, and even though I am one cheap SOB and I know spending $3700 on a bicycle is crazy, I’ve never regretted it. The L’Una is the most exorbitant purchase I ever made, and I own (and have owned) some pretty cool toys. But my L’Una is in a class all by itself. I still look at it and just think, “wow.” The bike fits me perfectly and it’s two miles per hour faster no matter what I’m doing (cruising, climbing, top end, whatever). In the bicycle world, that’s a lot. The fit and feel of the thing is just incredible.
You know, most bicycles, including Bianchi bicycles, are made in China today. And if you know anything about Gresh and me, and our travels here and overseas, you know that we think Chinese motorcycles are as good as any made anywhere in the world. You may have a different opinion, but hey, it’s okay for you to be wrong. But when it comes to my L’Una, it’s one of the original Italian Bianchi bicycles, and I like that.
You can read our blog about a steel-framed, Celeste green Bianchi bicycle here.
Read about Harrison Ford’s bike ride in Baja!
Hey, how about Gresh’s motorized bicycle!
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