Bianchi Infinito CV Disc road bike

Bianchi have embraced the future by giving their highly regarded Infinito CV a disc brake makeover. The result is an impressively capable bike providing all the benefits of disc brakes with the same silky smoothness and ride performance of last year's road.cc Bike of the Year winner. It's not cheap though and neither is it very light.

Performance

With a longer wheelbase and taller head tube than an out-and-out race bikes, the Infinito CV Disc is a bike for going the distance, for long days in the saddle when comfort is a priority over speed.

Bianchi's Coast 2 Coast (C2C) geometry means the Infinito CV Disc has a 2cm taller head tube than their Oltre XR2 race bike - it's 17cm on this 55cm frame. The wheelbase is longer at 100.2cm. It's a geometry that toes the line between race bikes and more relaxed sportive bikes, providing a position that will appeal to those that still want to get reasonably low and stretched.

Handling balance is spot-on, with good reactions through the corners and solid stability at higher speeds. Direction changes don't come with the same immediacy as you'd expect from a race bike, but it is far more forgiving when the pace heats up, especially through fast corners. And when the road gets rough the Infinito CV Disc remains stable and composed.

Despite the changes to account for the disc brakes, the Infinito CV Disc offers the same exquisite balance of smoothness and stiffness as the regular Infinito CV. The Vision wheels provide a touch more stiffness than the Fulcrum tubular wheels on the regular Infinito CV I tested last year, but the difference is very slight. The main thing to take away here is that the Infinito CV Disc offers a very smooth ride when the road surface gets rough and broken.

On the scales the Bianchi weighs 8.2kg. That's not exactly heavy; it's in the ballpark for a carbon fibre bike with an Ultegra Di2 disc build, and much of the weight difference compared to the Infinito I tested last year will be down to the difference in the groupsets and wheels. Compared to similar specced bikes the weight is on the money. However compared to non-disc bikes at this price the Infinito CV Disc does look heavy, and for anyone placing a lot of importance on weight, this might be a concern. I didn't find the weight a huge issue when riding the Infinito CV Disc, even on some of the longer climbs around Riccione in Italy and up some of the Cotswolds steepest ascents. If you want a lighter option, then at present a hydraulic disc bike probably isn't for you.

Shimano R785 hydraulic disc brakes

Disc brakes on road bikes are a controversial technology at present. Bianchi offers the Infinito with a choice of brakes so you can take your pick, depending on your preference. You'll know if you want disc brakes or not, and if you do the Infinito CV Disc integrates Shimano's R785 disc brakes very well, with internal hose routing and the use of Shimano's recommended 140mm rotors (160mm rotors can be used with adaptors) used on Shimano hubs laced to Vision Metron 40 carbon fibre clincher rims.

Shimano's R785 hydraulic disc brakes (/content/review/114970-shimano-br-r785-road-hydraulic-discs) are the current benchmark. We've yet to thoroughly test SRAM's revamped hydraulic discs to see how they compare. Much has been written about Shimano's brakes previously. Suffice to say, performance is highly impressive. Lever action is firm with good feel in all situations. Decent modulation makes it really easy to feed in just the right amount of braking power for any given situation, from high speed braking to slow speed adjustments.

The Shimano discs are most impressive when descending mountain roads with tight hairpins requiring heavy braking to scrub off a lot of speed in a short space of time. Compared to riding the same descents on carbon fibre clinchers with regular rim brakes, there really is no comparison, the disc brakes are far better. They simply provide more confidence in being able to slow down when approaching a corner that requires you halving your speed before you turn in.

I had no issues with overheating during some of the longer and faster descents on the Italian roads used to test the Bianchi, nor any concerns with an excess of braking power forcing lockups. There was also no brake rub during general use.

However, there was a small amount of brake rub from the front brake during out of saddle climbing. It's not enough to measurably slow your progress, but the sound is annoying. Clearly the fork isn't stiff enough, despite Bianchi having developed a new one for this bike. Would a thru-axle boost stiffness enough to resist the small amount of twist that is exhibited in this fork? Probably, but without trying such a fork in this frame it's difficult to say for certain.

Frame and fork

The Infinito CV Disc frame carries all the same styling cues as the non-disc Infinito but there are a few changes. More carbon fibre has been added in key places, in the stays, to handle the forces generated by the disc brakes, and in the new fork too.

While the new fork looks the same, is has the hydraulic hose routed inside the left leg - the frame also features internal brake hose routing. It's all very nearly done, and the frame is compatible with mechanical groupsets as well - Bianchi will offer an Ultegra mechanical build of this bike. Post mounts are used at the fork and in the rear triangle for mounting the Shimano disc calipers and regular quick release axles are used, with rear wheel spacing the now standard 135mm.

Under the paint the new disc frame utilises the same CounterVail Vibration Cancelling Composite Technology. This is a viscoelastic material within the carbon fibre that aims to dampen vibrations caused from riding over rough roads. As I found with the regular Infinito CV, it's a technology that works well and in the the disc version has lost none of the smoothness. Rough roads, from rippled tarmac to cracked roads highlight the Infinito's ability to filter out the harsh vibrations and provide an impressively smooth ride.

Build

Shimano Ultegra Di2 really needs no explanation, in fact you could just read my review of it here. An 11-speed groupset, with the compact 50/34 chainset providing a good spread of low gears in combination with an 11-28t cassette. The frame has internal wire routing and the battery is concealed inside the seatpost.

The bike gets an FSA and Vision build. Vision supply the Metron 40 Disc carbon fibre clincher rims laced to Shimano CX75 disc hubs. The Vision rims, as their name suggests, are 40mm deep and have a fashionably wide profile. They're fast wheels and cope well in blustery wind conditions with very good stability.

The wide rims provide a good base for the 25mm Hutchinson Fusion 3 tyres that come fitted, with a smooth transition from rim to tyre. The tyres provide good grip and at 100psi good bump absorption over a variety of road surfaces, with good rolling resistance too.

FSA's Wing Compact handlebar is made from aluminium and the short reach and drop is comfortable and makes it easy to ride in the drops for extended periods. An FSA Team Issue carbon stem and SL-K carbon seatpost complete the build. The Fizik Aliante Gamma saddle is as comfortable as we've come to expect from the Italian company. Considering the price of the bike we might reasonably expect some slightly higher grade components, particularly a carbon fibre handlebar.

Conclusion

The Infinito offers a good balance between high speed performance and long distance ride comfort, with engaging handling for the more enthusiastic cyclists. It might not be as light as some other bikes at this price, but it's not exactly heavy and for many the benefits of the disc brakes will outweigh the small weight penalty. Apart from a small amount of brake rub when out of the saddle, the disc brakes provide compelling performance in all situations that really makes it hard to ga back to a regular non-disc bike.

That just leaves the price. £5,600 is a lot of money, and is brought sharply into focus when compared to the similarly specced Orbea Avant I tested earlier this year: it costs £1,150 less. There's a big difference in wheels though, the Avant's Shimano RX31 wheels compared to the Bianchi's Vision Metron 40 wheels which have a list price of about £1,500. It's a serious upgrade and the wheels do have a positive impact, and the Bianchi edges the Orbea on performance and ride smoothness too.

Verdict

Smooth ride and racey performance with the benefits of disc brakes, but it's not exactly cheap and the fork isn't stiff enough