Vintage Pantani Bianchi Megapro 

I would agree...

Ive got one of those seats, I had an EV2, bloody loved it.

yes to all that...

Yep, thats a great bike, Dan

The shoes as well - nice touch, Dan

You have never developed fractures around the bottom bracket? I couldn't get mine to last an entire season.

I have 5 ev2's, xl pro and 2 EV3'3 and 2 EV4's. The xl pro has done many centuries in 20 years. It may come down to riding style. I raced motocross for many years and learned how to go fast putting the minimum strain on the equipment. I recently obtained a Pantani replica EV2 black wit the pink trim.

I ride Vittoria tires at 120 psi.

@@dennisspors7530 that's awesome. My story is a little different. I actually bought the Pantani model they came out with in 1999 after he won the Giro and Tour. I was riding Bianchi, and decided it was time to really step up. This was my first pro-level road bike. I rode it for several months, and during the Chicago winter, took it back to Oak Park Cyclery to have a winter tune-up done. When they removed the front derailleur clamp, they noticed the clamp Bianchi was using put a dent in the frame. It was their recommendation to replace it. It was the paint scheme with what I call the "eagle stripe." The replacement was the next year's model, the 2000 with the three blue stripes on the top tube and three on the seat tube. I started riding it in the Chicago spring. I was on RAGBRAI in July, which is torture on most bikes for a number of reasons. Iowa, with its long straight roads, loves to put rumble strips at their intersections. On RAGBRAI, you do your best to avoid them by riding in the left lane facing oncoming traffic. Occasionally, if traffic is coming, you have to eat the rumble strip. As we were wrapping up the final days, I was cleaning my bike for the last couple days of riding and noticed the stress fracture had developed on the seat tube. I called Oak Park Cyclery so they could start the warranty, and finished RAGBRAI with the crack in the frame. When I got back to Chicago, they replaced it a few days later with the black-painted frame. I rode it for two months. I was riding from Mount Propsect to Milwaukee, WI, one morning for a sales meeting to be held that weekend. I noticed in the hotel it developed the same stress fracture. Bianchi gave me resistance this time claiming I must have been jumping it or something to the like. They knew there was a problem. They tried to reduce the stress from the 1999 to 2000 models by putting foam in the bottom bracket area to dampen it. From what I understand, Pantani went through quite a few frames in those two years. I envy you, because I know how good this bike is. I loved it. I replaced it with the boron steel version and they wrote me a check for the difference in frame cost. I switched to Giant not long after, and have ridden Giant since, with a couple of exceptions. One was a Colnago Dream, which was also a great aluminum frame!

Bahamontes, Gaul, van Impe, Herrera, (even Virenque!) might disagree with you!

@@johns3106 Virenque? He wasn't even fit to carry Marco's bidons! The others here definitely would have given him a run for his money

@@EMC2Scotia Well, I can’t say that I was a fan of Virenque’s, but he sure has a lot more polka-dot jerseys than Pantani! 🤔💉

@@johns3106 I think we all know how many polka dot jersey's you have doesn't equal best climber of one's generation. Not like it did in the days of Gaul, Jiminez, Van Impe et. al. Virenque never did anything remotely as impressive as that done by Pantani.

The list is official, Pantani, Gaul, Bahamontes - you have to figure in the romance of climbing as well as results. Interestingly, I have a review, build and ride of Virenques `92 RMO TVT - same bike he wore the yellow jersey on in stage 2 of the tour, will be fascinating to see how that goes.

Many thanks, just getting warmed up...

I have been very lucky with mine , no cracks. I am 205 pounds and have ridded my xlpro since 1999in many centuries. People need to be careful when they buy I think I lile the EV2 the best. I have 5 of them.😮

Thats a lot of bikes to compare - one day... Dan@@dennisspors7530

Shame you didn`t like it - guess that extreme ally feel is not for everyone, Dan

Yep, one of my many mistakes... Dan.

@@vintagevelos9517 very nice video and super bike. thanks for sharing!

Yep, they sure are lumpy welds, same on the team bikes, Dan

​@@vintagevelos9517😅

With handle bars and also

@@hoseajimez2745 just check what they sell for on ebay, Dan

Glad you like the videos enough to subscribe - I`m sure you get all of your videos spot on... I had meant to say "last metal framed bike to win the tour". Bikes are a lot of fun, i think thats kind of the point of riding them as a hobby...

@@vintagevelos9517 you're not wrong great mate. As an aside I have a mercatone uno mega pro xl bianchi, except mine is the triple butted boron steel version.

Cool, always wanted to try the boron steel version - any idea how it compares to the ally frames?