Hi all,

After years of mountain biking, decided to join the dark side and got my first road bike this past week, an 07 Bianchi Via Nirone with 105s. Took it out for the first time yesterday and love it! Only managed to do a very windy, 20 mile ride before running out of pedal fluid, but I can see having a lot of fun this summer.

I do have a question though: I have Bianchi RC461 brakes, what pads are compatible with it? Shimano? Campy? Whatever brand pads these are, they are a far cry from my Avid discs on the mtb.

Here is a pic of my new toy:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5220/dscn0091df2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I found making the change from MTB to road leaves me with one question. Why do they put brakes on a road bike:D Mine get little use I'm sure the cheap pads that came on my Cane Creek brakes will be there for a very long time. Unlike the Hayes pads on my MTB which get changed every 3 or 4 months.

I too am a MTB'er joining the dark side. I've found that whatever I try, my conditioning on the MTBs has hit a plateau. Recently, I've been doing 40 mile rides on the weekends with some roadie buddies, but even with slicks on my hardtail, I can only maintain an average of 17-18 mph. It's a great workout, but I just can't keep up with the road bikes on the flat stretches. I can't wait to see what I can do after a few months on the new (to me) road bike (a mint '06 Roubaix Pro I bought from the RBR classifieds). I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying road riding so far.

That's a beautiful looking machine, jtdbsr. What MTB(s) do you ride?

Welcome to RBR. Nice bike!

Hi all, . . I do have a question though: I have Bianchi RC461 brakes, what pads are compatible with it? Shimano? Campy? Whatever brand pads these are, they are a far cry from my Avid discs on the mtb. . .

I believe the brake pads are Shimano compatible.

Pretty, shiny...did I say, pretty, shiny? love the Irish ass icon. Very new to biking, say, since my tricycle, age 3.

Thanks all, I have an 06 Marin Attack Trail that I absolutely love, but unfortunately, I can only ride on the weekends. So, to get out more often, I picked up the Bianchi. It's very convenient to be able to ride straight from the house instead of driving 30-60 minutes to the trail.