Thursday, January 03, 2008


BIKE ENVY - BIANCHI MILANO CAFE RACER

I'm off to the airport for a quick vacation in the Florida Keys. It will be quite a shock to my system since we are in the middle of Vermont's coldest weather of the season. It was single digits yesterday, and plunged into single digits below zero last night. Right now it is... ONE degree. Since my wife is picking me up at work to head to the airport, I left the bike at home this morning and got a ride to work (thanks Shane!). I sure picked a good day to accept a ride in a toasty-warm vehicle!

So here I am in my last few minutes of work before vacation... daydreaming of palm trees, ocean breezes, margaritas, and really cool bikes. If I ever pull the trigger on a new commuter bike, it just might be the one pictured above - the Bianchi Milano. It is a sweet-looking bike, and perfect for commuters like me (5-10 mile trips). It has an 8-speed internal shifter, so no more deraileurs and no more frozen gears. I kinda like the color pictured... but you can get black too.

Check it out at http://bianchiusa.com/06_milano.html

4 comments:

Ben Mills said...

I'm sorry, but that's a girly looking bike.

prgvt said...

The green color is called "celeste"...it's Bianchi's signature...they've been painting their bikes that color for years. Here's a blurb I found on the web:

Bianchi (reportedly the oldest bicycle company in the world). Traditionally a Bianchi was only ever available in one colour: celeste (the blue/green colour). Bianchi started making bikes in 1885. The unusual celeste colour is (according to legend) based on the striking eye colour of the then Queen of Italy. Other stories say that Bianchi purchased a cheap job lot of surplus paint after World War 1.

HooHa...back on the bike...January thaw!

Suburban Vermonter said...

I wouldn't ever pick that color myself... but for some reason I think it looks great on this bike.

My other fantasy commuter bike is the Breezer Uptown 8. Check it out:

www.breezerbikes.com

Astrid said...

I owned this bike for three years and LOVED it, perfect for commuting in Portland, OR. I rode the men's version of the bike in Celeste which is the best and only color to get!

Someone stole this bike from me, sadly in NE portland right out of the hallway of my apartment building. :(

I want another one. I'm riding an old clunky schwinn, the Milano was like my car! I didn't feel at any point that I needed a car when I owned this bike. Now I am in Florida (sarasota) where the traffic is horrible, even on the sidewalks. There are hardly any bike lanes either.

Go for it. This one is a beauty and perfect for commuting!