Up until fall 2007, I had been relying on my fixed gear commuter and my Pogliaghi for around-town transportation, but was interested in getting a road bike. The advantages are obvious - brakes, gears, the ability to go down hills going really fast. It was part of my gradual transition from, you know, being somebody who rides in cut-off jeans to being somebody who rides in lycra.

Last fall, a trip up to Rhode Island coincided with somebody in Westchester County selling an older, brifter-equipped steel-and-carbon roadbike, and so on our way I picked up the Bianchi Veloce, set up with Campy 9 speed. It took a little while to get it to fit - I had to get a comfortable saddle (I started with an Selle Italia SLR, used a Flite for a while, and I've settled on an Arione), more appropriately "ergo" bars with a shallower drop (I hate the square-shaped ergo drops), a threadless adapter so I could use an open-face stem with these bendy bars... I also picked up a double crankset (didn't need the granny!), a prettier and more adjustable seatpost, road pedals, and a short-cage rear dérailleur (a story of its own...). The bike was meant to be a more recreation-oriented road bike, but I was going to try to squeeze a bit more performance out of it. The differences lie in gearing, easily changeable setup, and vanity, so it's not hard to do.

The shifting was pretty finicky at first - it took me a while to get used to getting the shifting on point, but replacing the cable and housing took care of that. Still, though, the rear shifter has what I assume is a worn-out spring in the mechanism, which makes it possible to overshift by half a cog without the mechanism returning to the center of the click. This gives a unique ability to trim the rear dérailleur, which is particularly necessary after shifting up or down two or three cogs at a time - the pull from the shifter causes the dérailleur to over shift a fraction. I've gotten quite deft at it - flicking the mouse-ear and then tapping the paddle to center the dérailleur on the cog of choice - but wouldn't mind a rebuild that would get the shifting to lock in a bit more precisely.

The wheels are 32-spoked, 3-cross wheels, which I don't mind. Since I do use this bike regularly, it sees some lock-up time and I like avoiding some bling factor. However, I wouldn't mind some sportier wheels for next season's racing. I'm keeping my eyes open on ebay and craigslist for something with fewer spokes and a deeper rim.

It's not the fanciest rig on the streets, but it gets me riding places I wouldn't be riding otherwise, and - like all my bikes - is a tough little workhorse with that fierce underdog pride.

Here it is from last week's 40-miler up toward River Road/Hudson Drive with Ev. It's a bit shrouded in shadow.