La Piovra

Hello all,
Im liking the look of the new La Piovra frame sets BLB are stocking, i have searched for reviews but couldent find much, does anyone own one? whats the qulity like? as im in bristol i have only seen them on my computor screen so dont know much about them, comments?
Cheers,

I don't own one but I was in BLB a while ago and had a close look at these frames in the shop. I believe they are built in Poland and look to be be very well made and the finish is good.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread39267.html#post1267355

Any other news on these frames as very tempted to get one from BLB. £460 pretty much custom built, as far as BLB do.. Columbus tubing and got a real nice wishbone rear end... Anyone ridden one?

Yep. I don't get to London very much and would like to find out more on these. They look nice!

http://www.lfgss.com/thread39267.html#post1267355

yeah, i was just about to say, rychtarski is building these. he makes good frames.

@ rydon - i bit the bullet and bought a slightly discounted La Piovra from BLB (very helpful and enthusiastic bunch of guys), discounted due to small cosmetic damage to finish - apparently Harry's doing!
I am no reviewer expert so i cant go into technical details etc but i can say i absolutely love this bike, it looks brilliant and i frequently get stopped and asked about the frame and where its from, which is nice. I ride it loads around town and i find the ride really solid, very quick (well bearing in mind i'm riding it - so maybe not that fast!) and easy to manouvre. lovely frames!

pics of the full build please?

@mickey moo moo. Did you buy the frame they had on display in the shop? Do you find any problems with toe overlap? The frame looks tight. I'm about >-< this close to ordering a frame this week.

Nic pm'd ya...

maybe im want to buy this frame as well..

but a few questions maybe you can answer

wicht geometrie does it use (classic piste timetrail? degrees of the angels etc)
is it possible to put a 700c fork in front. without screwing up the whole geometrie
what is the weight of the frame?

mailed blb as well.. but there not so fast..

thnx!

well i bought the frame but need to know a few specs. so i can buy the headset , bracket and saddle stem.

anyone knows the sizes of those?

im told the headset of 1" could have to different sizes of the fork ring.. 26.4 and the rare 27.

thnx in advandce!

wouter

0207 0339053

hehe,

i asked my retailer who is waiting on a reply.so i thought let's try it this way.
i thought it would go a bit faster asking people who already own the bike.

patience is virtue . i know.

hi,

i will get my piovra next week or the week after.
i bought it trough a shop in the netherlands were i had to pay 550 euro.
in england it cost around 469 pound.

anyways i will give my thought about the frame and some pics as soon a i get it.

yes

hehe your right! but my dream was to have a funny frame in pearlwhite.. so i sold my other track frame to buy this one.

btw: tubing is not the best.. thron/chromor. 26.8 seatpost. and im not too happy with the italian threading..oh well... can't have it all.

pics soon.

got my frame since two days.

the build is nicely done (welding etc)but the paint is not the best. in my eyes not worthy of such an expensive frame

. it got speckels dust or another colour paint on it. and on some spots you have layer difference of paint on it what looks like a sort of paint clap (used the dictionary dutch-english for this word so correct me if im wrong).

you have to be a weenie to see these things (if you are 1m away from it you hardly see).
but it bothers me in a way..

willng to post pics if people are interested.

blb doesn't want to take the frame back because the paint job could vary in there opinion.
wtf! so all the frame's are not the same quality? wow... and that for a frame wicht cost 550 euro..

i never buy a frame what is made by blb again.

Yeah, gotta back up what everythingzen is saying here - the frame seems to be built really well but the paint might as well be made out of blacmange, utterly crap. To add to the fact that it came in the wrong colour (their version of metallic is not metallic, it's just sparkly) and the dropouts were rubbish, I'd recommend steering well clear of this framebuilder.

There is probably lots on the forum already about this so if someone could point me to the relevant threads then thanks!

If not then I have about 500 odd pounds to spend on a frame fancied getting one built so I can get the colour I want with with a new frame etc etc. Both BLB and 14 offer custon built frames at similar prices.

I have spent money in both shops and do no have a problem with either for the record, I have to say that 14 seemed more enthusastic and I like that there frames are British made.

I've bought bikes from both and I'd have to say neither. They're both quality frames made by quality framebuilders, but the shops themselves have such a high turnaround of parts and customers that they can't possibly give the kind of service you'd expect when spending £500+ on a bit of painted steel. My 14 frame was nice but it came with all the wrong parts. The Piovra came in the wrong colour with the wrong stripes and the wrong dropouts. Neither shop seemed to give much of a fuck about it.

Go direct to the manufacturer dude. You'll be better off.

what kinda dropouts did you get?

Standard campy ones, but BLB told me that one of the reasons Piovras were more expensive was because they had those ones with the screws to control chain tightness. Not a huge deal but wouldn't have been the case if I'd gone straight to the source.

i removed the screws immediately... more is less :)

i have the drop outs like on this picture:

weird that you have other drop outs though...

my bike will be finished next week. will post a picture of it in a lo-pro thread.