{"id":41626,"date":"2025-02-20T17:02:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T16:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ridelikeaturtle.com\/sport\/?p=41626"},"modified":"2025-02-20T17:02:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T16:02:54","slug":"bianchi-sl3-lite-alloy-underrated-aluminum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ridelikeaturtle.com\/sport\/bianchi-sl3-lite-alloy-underrated-aluminum\/","title":{"rendered":"Bianchi SL3 Lite Alloy: Underrated Aluminum?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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2004 Bianchi SL3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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I’ve said in the past how I really like Bianchi aluminum bikes, only reluctantly selling my 2000 Bianchi M Alloy Pro<\/a>. It has always surprised me how these aluminum mid-00s Bianchi frames don’t seem to get a lot of appreciation. About a year ago now, after picking up the most gorgeous gold 2004 Bianchi ML3<\/a> in France for my girlfriend, the search began for another one for myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought it might be hard to find one at the right price, but finding one in my size at all was a challenge! Zero chance of finding one locally, I would occasionally find one listed in Italy or France, and even then it was often nowhere near my size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FFWD to now, and I found one in Italy in my size, and the seller was sound enough to ship it to me. At about the same time, a mixed Campagnolo\/Miche 9 speed groupset (derailleurs, brakes, cranks, shifters) came up for sale in Belgium at a very good price. All this came together for the perfect build, as I already had (from the ML3) the correct Bianchi wheelset with a Miche 9 speed cassette!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a specs breakdown of what I’ve built, I had a few other things in the shed already:<\/p>\n\n\n\n