Bianchi’s adventure gravel Arcadex gets a major redesign, inheriting fast good looks from their light gravel race bike. But it’s not just a vain facelift, the new Bianchi Arcadex gets a much-needed fat tire clearance upgrade, plus contemporary full internal cables and new in-frame storage. Now it’s a proper adventure-ready bikepacking bike, and gives you plenty of options to customize a bike build perfect for your style of riding gravel…
2024 Bianchi Arcadex carbon adventure gravel bike
After their boxy original carbon adventure gravel that was created to share a platform with an ebike sibling, now Bianchi gives the Arcadex its own dedicated carbon frame. The result is a much better-looking bike. And I doubt anyone could argue with that.
But it isn’t just a prettier bike, with looks inspired by Bianchi’s fast gravel Impulso. The new Arcadex is a much more capable and versatile gravel bike, designed for adventure cycling and bikepacking. And it gets a bunch of functional upgrades to get out there.
What’s new?
Bianchi says the most obvious is the new internal frame storage. That’s a small glovebox opening in the downtube, under the bottle cage, with a small bag tucked away inside.
You aren’t going to pack much in there. But for bikepackers it might be an easy place to stash your mini-tool, CO2 inflator & tire levers (but not enough room specifically for a tube in the bag) without getting mixed in with the full expedition gear in your packs. And that core repair kit will always be with the bike, even when you take the packs off.
Now, the really important update is bigger tire clearance – where the previous bike was glaringly lacking. The new bike though features clearance for up to 700 x 50mm tires. (Or Bianchi says 45mm tires with clip-on fenders.) All bikes come spec’d with fast-rolling 45mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M tires. But you can go still full knobby if you plan a rough adventure track.
New endurance gravel geometry
The core steep-ish angles of the bike haven’t changed – in 5 sizes (XS-XL).
But Bianchi rewrote the Stack & Reach figures completely across all sizes, to offer a better and wider range of performance fits. Reach is now at least 1cm longer across all sizes. But Stack is now 21mm lower on the smallest XS, about the same by the L, and up to 15mm higher on the biggest bike.
Overall, 5mm longer chainstays and 1-2cm longer wheelbase figures, mean more stable endurance geometry for day-after-day of riding, without erasing reactive handling.
Tech details
The full carbon Bianchi Arcadex frame and fork now feature full internal cable routing, with mechanical shift & hydraulic lines running through an Acros headset. The Pro spec bikes hide cables fully inside the 2-piece bar & stem, while Comp builds are semi-internal through a cover bolted under the stem.
The 1x-only frame features a new UDH for drivetrain/transmission compatibility. It gets a BB86 PressFit bottom bracket, round 27.2mm seatpost with a wedge clamp, and flat mount disc brakes with 12mm thru-axles.
The removable thru-axle lever includes a multi-wrench with 4, 5 & 6mm hexes. It’s tiny, but when you snap on the outer lever, it should be good to tighten most bolts without over-torqueing.
The new adventure bikepacking bike gets two standard sets of cage mounts inside the main triangle, a third cage mount under the downtube, and direct toptube bag mounts. Plus, 3-pack mounts on each leg if you opt for the carbon fork.
New bikepacking bags, too
All the new Arcadex gravel bikes can be configured at your Bianchi dealer with new matching made-in-Italy Bianchi bikepacking bags.
Pick from 4 bags. Orma 01 1L bolt-on top tube bag; Orma 03 waterproof 3L partial frame bag; Orma 07 waterproof 7L saddlepack; and Orma 09 waterproof 9L dual-rolltop handlebar pack.
2024 Bianchi Arcadex – Pricing, options & availability
Bianchi offers the new Arcadex in two versions – Pro & Comp – each with two drivetrain options.
The Bianchi Arcadex Pro comes spec’d with 25mm internal Velomann Terbium 30 hooked carbon wheels in Celeste or dark forest green. And you get to pick from either an electronic SRAM Apex+GX Eagle AXS Mullet build from 5100€. Or opt for a wide mechanical Shimano GRX 12sp (820/822) from 4200€.
Bianchi also offer more affordable builds with the Arcadex Comp fitted with 22mm internal alloy Fulcrum Rapid Red wheels, in Celeste or metallic sand gold. Here, drive train options are the mechanical Apex Eagle or a lower spec but still wide GRX 12sp (610/822), each from 3000€.
All bikes come standard with a full carbon bikepacking fork with 3-pack anything cage mounts. But each can be upgraded to a 30mm travel RockShox Rudy Xplr gravel suspension fork. Drop by your local Bianchi dealer bikeshop now, to configure an Arcadex adventure gravel bike just how you want it.