GRAVEL...far from new...but..
...this one has a twist. Heather's new Bianchi has something different. Can you tell what it is?
Above is a clue.
And the rear wheel hub is the giveaway, Mahle's E-bike Motion X35 system. Their X20 system looks even better and we're currently begging Favaloro to check it out with the idea of having something weighing around the same as our beloved steel bikes, yet with a battery and hub motor like X20. There are already bikes on the market weighing 11 kgs while this aluminum Bianchi is double that...but rides a lot like a normal bike when the motor is off...and you're not going uphill.
Yeah, we know, E-bikes are cheating. And Zio hates disc brakes, thru-axles and Shimano components...but when your wife's doc says limit her heart rate to X and that level you find yourself waiting too much, what's the solution? E-bike. It's NOT an electric motorcycle and the coolest thing about this is (now that we ditched the cheapo wire-bead, low TPI tires, slapped on some non-flared handlebars and a decent-length stem) is the computer-controlled motor assist. Heather straps on a heart rate monitor and tells the bike to assist ONLY when her heart rate gets up to a preset level. So when Zio Lorenzo is going too fast, the motor kicks-in and everyone's happy! And sometimes Zio has to chase uphill!
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