Bianchi Specialissima review: Less Italian heritage, more superbike performance

A UCI-illegal weight and a sorted aero package make for quite the ride

Bianchi Specialissima
(Image: © Will Jones)

Cyclingnews Verdict

Bonkers light, crazy fast, and a little jittery sometimes too, but does well to justify its price tag compared to some of its compatriots.

Pros

  • +

    Extremely low weight

  • +

    Decently aero too

  • +

    Just silly fast on basically any road

Cons

  • -

    Needs an inline seatpost

  • -

    Narrow TT tyres are sketchy

  • -

    Lacks that intangible Italian desirability factor

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Tech Specs: Bianchi Specialissima

Price: €12,749

Size: 47, 50, 53, 55 (tested), 57, 59cm

Weight: 6.56kg 

Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 

Wheels: Reparto Corse RC Carbon 33

Tyres: Pirelli P-Zero TT 26mm

Bar Stem: Reparto Corse 110mm x 40cm

Saddle: Bianchi RC139

I get to test a lot of the best road bikes on the market at this job. The majority tend to sit between £2k and abut £8k, the sort of bike prices that consumers can reasonably be expected to pay for anything from a pretty sorted entry level road bike up to fully fledged racing machines. Infrequently though I get to swing a leg over what people tend to refer to as ‘superbikes’. Until now I’d only tested three of those, two top-end Colnago machines and a custom titanium Sturdy. Now it’s the turn of another Italian machine, the Bianchi Specialissima, the top of the range Reparto Corse (RC) model, fully decked out with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 to the tune of €12,749 and a weight of 6.56kg by my scales, before adding pedals, a computer mount, or bottle cages. That’s €1.94 for every gram of mass.

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Testing scorecard and notes
AttributesNotesRating
Design and aesthetics On balance I like the silhouette, but the gloss wheels and the 'Reparto Corse' logo are a turn off8/10
BuildThe only real flaw for me are the tyres; while fast they hold it back in the corners, but an easy swap nonetheless for a bike of this price9/10
PerformanceA little jittery sometimes, especially in the wind, but crazy fast more or less everywhere10/10
WeightIt's not quite class-leading but it's UCI illegal so it's hard to mark down here10/10
ValueIt's expensive, but it's in the same ballpark as other top-end race bikes and holds its own in such company8/10
Overall ratingRow 5 - Cell 1 90%
Will Jones
Senior Tech Writer

Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.