Bicycles

First Impressions: Bianchi Jab 7700

Details

Parent Category: Bicycles

Category: Bianchi

Published on Thursday, 14 October 2010 07:46

Written by Luca Salvatelli

 Go to Photo Gallery

Go to Video Gallery

The new Bianchi Jab 7700 proudly presents the new frame Jab, entirely revised respect to the previous season. The hydroformed aluminum frame is triple butted, with the headset 1 inch and 1/8. The bike has a very short head tube and horizontal tube from the arched profile that is to jointly form a single tube high rear curved line. The vertical tube houses the seat diameter of 31.6 mm, while the oblique tube is a good size. The bike is assembled with the Shimano XT 10v, with the introduction of Magura Louise brakes, FSA Comet crankset 42/32/24, chain and sprocket 11-34Shimano SLX. The wheels are assembled on Shimano Deore hubs and Mavic rims. The tires are Hutchinson. As standard the pedals (Shimano PDM 505) and bottle cage. The saddle is a San Marco Ponza; seatpost, stems and handlebar FSA are made of aluminum. The fork is a Rock Shox Recon Gold, with 100 mm of travel. Jab addition to the model 7700, available models Jab 7400 (Shimano XT/SLX) and Jab 7100 (Shimano XT/Deore). Four sizes available (38-43-48-53). In the version described, size 43, the bike weighs 11.7 kg without pedals.

The road test

The new Jab is presented with an aesthetic eye-catching, thanks to a sophisticated and successful design studio. The quality of the painting and its frame is quite good, while the assembly is good, as 7700, but suffers from an excessive mix of components. In fact, instead of using the full Shimano XT group, we preferred to do a mix of Shimano XT, SLX, Deore, FSA, Mavic and Magura. This certainly will not please purists, but remember that the final price takes account of these "sacrifices" and promises to be competitive. Excellent definition of the geometry of the frame, leading to a driving position more than fair and geared up to control. Good grip knobs and handlebar FSA. Shimano commands always perfect, to be precise in the steps of report content and the effort to operate the controls themselves. This means that the mix of components has not tarnished the good characteristics of precision and smoothness of the Shimano XT. More than good the brakes, and for power modulation. More good the wheels assembled, although certainly not read, and the grip offered by tires. The fork is a bit stiff, but it was new and have not had time to try different settings. Good, however, its ability to collect the hardest blows and effective blocking of the excursion. On the move you can appreciate the good rigidity of the frame and the correct geometry of its shares leading to a bicycle handle, though not extreme. Very safe on the fast, where the steering control is not always easy and safe, and perfect in its precision curve, where the grip offered by the tires never fails. The rigidity of the frame is more than excellent for the type of material used, and allows effective acceleration out of tight corners. The quick test did not allow us to go deeper into other aspects such as stability at high speeds or conduct on funds roughest and difficult passages. But it seemed a good way, of medium range, which allows you to have good overall performance, suitable for use or non-competitive people who want to bring to competition, but without considering figures reported. In his segment, whereas the purchase price, even with the benefit of the doubt, we felt it was half good and competitive total. The test model is priced at Euro 1890, a fair price for the weight of bike parts and adopted the name "Bianchi". To get a better value for money, you must look to other products which can not boast the same strength and appeal of the brand. Also fixed the prices of other models: 1450 Euro the Jab 7400 and 1090 Euro model 7100. The latter can be considered the best model for those who like to Mtb, with a good way, reliable and valid, but without spending large sums.