Here’s an interesting history side note to evoke a quizzical silence when thrown out for a bike-know-it-all’s digestion: the first mountain bike was the 1915 Bianchi full-suspension Bersagliere model produced for the elite Italian Alpine Corps. A handy feature, since discontinued, was the machine-gun-mount on the rear rack. (Understandably, it would be considered an unfair race advantage in modern competition.)

We often find it humorous how the fruits of Edoardo’s fertile tinkerings have a habit of showing up way before their time. You’ll still find differences on today’s Bianchis that continue the tradition of setting ourselves a little left of center. Case in point: In 1998 we introduced a limited-production single-speed mountain bike we suspected might appeal to a small circus of cycling cogno-scenti; six years later the single-speed movement is still a small tribe but now is celebrated as a vibrant example of when good things happen with fun bikes. If you’re a hopeless bike-for-every-occasion victim, you’ll feel your nesting instincts perk up as you make room for the arrival of this year’s S.I.S.S. model. Two other press-worthy entries to the 2003 line we’ve relished testing (in the name of progress, of course) are the 21-pound, gravity-challenged Super Grizzly tarted up with the new lust-worthy XTR (including XTR-UST disk wheelset) and our new full-suspension IBEX featuring asymmetric tri-pivot shock linkage inducing butter-smooth progressive stroke through its entire 3 inches of travel.

We design and test Bianchi’s mountain bike prototypes at our Northern California location conveniently situated in the shadow of mountain biking’s “modern birthplace,” Mt Tam.