The month of July has been filled with ups and downs for Bianchi when it comes to the off-road world. First, the company announces an all new full suspension XC bike in the Methanol CV FS. However, that launch was followed with the announcement that Team Bianchi-Countervail will cease operations at the end of this year after a decades-long involvement in mountain bike and CX racing. According to the release, that’s “due to a new strategic direction involving the Bianchi Reparto Corse (Bianchi Racing division).” But even though Bianchi-Countervail won’t be racing the Methanol CV FS next year, that doesn’t mean you won’t be…
We’ve seen a resurgence in more capable XC race bikes lately, and the Bianchi Methanol CV FS is no different. By moving to a more modern geometry combined with their CV or CounterVail carbon technology, the bike is said to be better than ever at going downhill. The CV system employs a special viscoelastic resin and carbon system that is said to reduce vibration by up to 80%.
The new carbon frame is 1x only and has clearance for up to 29 x 2.4″ tires. It also has the ability to run internally routed dropper posts which makes the Trail Configuration a possibility.
In the XC configuration, the bike has 100mm of travel front and rear with a revised suspension layout, but the Trail Configuration boosts that to 120mm in the front and 100mm in the rear and adds a Fox 34 SC fork, DT Swiss M Series wheels, a dropper post, and wider 760mm bars.
Both versions feature a remote lockout for the front and rear suspension, so the Trail version has an additional lever for the dropper which is mounted to the right side of the bar and upside down. Though it seems like you could probably switch the position of the dropper and lockout levers if you wanted.
Both versions see a slacker head tube angle, longer reach, and shorter chainstay numbers, while the trail version gets even slacker with the addition of a longer fork.
Frame specifics include a custom upper chainguide, Boost 148mm rear spacing, a BB92 (41 x 92mm) bottom bracket, and internal cable routing.
