Bianchi has announced its latest addition to what it is describing as a 'splintered' gravel bike market. The Italian brand says its new Impulso RC is the "highest form of Bianchi's racing spirit, applied to gravel," with its flagship model weighing a claimed 8.1kg for a full build.
The new gravel race bike comes complete with aero attributes borrowed from the Bianchi Oltre RC, and an all-new carbon cockpit. Bianchi also says it has borrowed knowledge from the world of cross-country mountain biking in order to create a more progressive geometry.
Reparto Course, Bianchi's technical research division, says the brand has taken a systematic approach to the demands of gravel racing, those being weight, geometry, and aerodynamics - and we must say the result is pretty stunning, at least to look at.
The new frameset features a similar integrated fork head tube junction to that seen on the Oltre RC, and for a gravel bike, has a pretty sleek frontal profile.
Another affirmation that this bike is aimed truly at racing is the tyre clearance. Bianchi claims just 42mm front and rear which in the world where endurance road bikes such as the new Specialized Roubaix feature as much as 40mm clearance, is rather conservative.
The new race bike certainly errs on the side of road bike geometry, with a 71.5 degree head angle, 425mm chainstays, and a 70mm bottom bracket drop in a size medium. All of these measurements sit almost exactly in line with something like the Ridley Kanzo Fast (72mm BB drop), a bike we would certainly describe as being at the more aggressive end of the gravel genre.
Once again in persuit of racing pedigree, Bianchi has also designed a new fully integrated cockpit. Bianchi says the cockpit is stiffer, and provides a 16 degree flare on the drops, aimed at providing the rider with more control on descents. The full one piece setup is said to tip the scales at 340 grams, which is incredibly light - although we don't yet have conformation on what size bar this is claimed for.
The Impulso RC also come fitted with Reparto Course 43mm carbon wheels, again in the hunt for speed. Bianchi's in-house developed wheelset features a 31mm external rim width, and a 25mm internal rim width. The tubeless ready wheelset comes in at a claimed weight of 1,570g.
There are three available models for the new Bianchi Impulso, the RC, the Pro and the Comp.
The range topping Impulso RC is built with SRAM Force 2x AXS build, and available in Celeste Metalic/Graphite, coming in at €6,849 (approx. $7443/£5973).
The Impulso Pro is built with GRX 820 2x12 speed groupset and available in Celeste Metalic as well as Black/Grey matt, and retails at €4,249 (approx. $4,618/£3,706).
Finally, the Impulso Comp, built with GRX 620 2x12 speed, is available in Celeste and Terra, and retails at €2,999 (approx. $3,259/£2616).
For more information, visit the Bianchi Website.
