Wilier Cento Uno

Continuing our road tests of Italian exotica, here's part two of four.  A glorious weekend spent riding a world championship winning frame with more innovations than digits to count them on. 

Looking at the bike sitting there in the shop, I ask myself; "Can this bike really go as well as it looks?"  Only a thorough road ride would tell.  So, without a second thought, that's what I did.

Who are Wilier
Since 1906, Wilier have been producing bikes from their factory base at Monte Grappa, just sixty miles from Venice.  2006 saw them produced the centenary celebrating Cento range.  The frame concept has continued to evolve right up to the current day.

You'll best recognise their bikes as the transport of choice for the Lampre Pro Tour Team and will have seen their riders take Grand Tour, single day classics and world championship victories on these very versatile bikes. 

Courtesy of Big Maggys, one found it's way in to my hands for a long weekend.

The Bike
The Cento Uno is the bike that covers it all.  From the flat hell that is Paris Roubaix, to the lumpy heaven of the Giro's Dolomites and the marauding mayhem that is the Tour's sprints, the Cento Uno has danced them all with the style of Darcy Bustle.

It's even been piloted to a Varese world championship one-two with Alessandro Ballan and Damiano Cunego astride the enigmatic frame that almost defies description. 

Unlike Ballan, I was riding a Shimano Di2 equipped bike, with the same Reynolds wheels I'd tried on the Kuota Kebel in part one of this series.  It's a tough job but someone's got to do it...

The Frame
Where do we start?  The first thing you notice, is that it's all curves, then you notice, it isn't.

The back end triangle initially draws your attention as it appears "strange to the eye".  It doesn't conform to your usual expectations of how a bike's back end should look.  The seat stays are bowed out, in a sublime arc which you can see perfectly on the photos above.

What you only get a glimpse of, is the asymmetric chain stays that, on the drive side has an exaggerated curve that feeds in to the integrated swing arm and integrated drop out.  It also contains the electric feed cable for the rear mech. 

Look at Ballan's straight, horizontal chain stay above, then look at the curved drive side chain stay below.  We've all been conditioned to like symmetry, it's nature's way.  If things don't mirror each other we become suspicious.  Initially, suspicious I was; read on to find out if my prejudices' were pandered or placated.

The rear drop outs, helped by the paint design, seem to "hang out" the back of the beautiful, curved, single piece of carbon that appears to come from the head tube, through the seat post, down the back, around the corner and feed seamlessly in to the substantial, bottom bracket area. 

Talking of which, here's the engine room...

The cleverly designed, integrated, oversize bottom bracket can take any make of drive train but just be aware that you can't fit a Quarq power meter as it fouls the carbon used to stiffen this area to within an inch of it's life. 

It now has a 39% (I'd of rounded it up to 40) increased surface area to ensure all the power you transfer in to the crank goes out the back to the wheels, not up the frame to the seat post. 

It's all very fluid, very sexy, very Italian.  If you're a man of a certain age, you'll remember the gorgeous Pininfarina cars of the 70's that have continued to beguile car lovers for decades.  This bike has an element of Pininfarina's vision, style and passion about it. 

Staying at the back end and moving up, we have the integrated seat post.  Atop of which we have a Ritchey WCS seat clamp, gripping the frame and the ubiquitous Fizik Arione saddle.

It's the Big Maggys attention to the details you can't see, never mind those you can, that set them apart from your normal local bike shop.

Checkout the tricoloure italiano bottle cage for one, and a few others you don't see unless you pay really close attention. 

This bike belongs to shop co-owner Tony Moffa, a man of Italian ancestry, and it shows in his bikes.  Unfortunately not his dress sense, but that's the subject of a future review!

After being seduced by all the elegant curves, all of a sudden you notice the first "square" on the frame.  Then they begin to jump out at you from all areas!  I have no idea how they manage it, but the head tube goes from round to square in about ten centimetres!

This "squaring" of this round tube, allows huge strength to be built in to the front end and allows the top tube and down tube to feed off them with as much carbon contact as possible. 

Back to my old car engineering days, it also allows for a huge gusset (stop laughing at the back) to be built between the three points of contact, further beefing up the main pivot point of the bike. 

It doesn't take me to point out that this looks a very sturdy and unforgiving front end.  Especially when you look at the girder like fork legs and the lack of a spacer between the top of the upper bearing race and the bar stem. 

Mr Moffa is a bit like myself in that respect.  Get as low as you can at the front and suffer the back pain, because it's a fair price to pay for speed and aerodynamic power savings!  You get used to it after about fifteen years.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any stiffer (I've told you once!) we connect to a full on FSA built, Wilier specced and branded integrated bar and stem.  All colour coded of course and another piece of Italian art to admire and distract you from the pain in your legs while you're climbing a mountain.

Finally, we come to the carbon itself.  The Cento Uno is laid up from Mitsubishi 46 Ton Carbon; one of the worlds strongest and resilient carbon fibres.

It can withstand stresses of up to 46 tons per square millimetre.  So people like ourselves (no offence) shouldn't be troubling it with our 1100 watt sprints.

Above the 46 Ton logo you can see the integrated seat post. 

But again, the Wilier design surprise is in the twist, and attention to detail, that you won't find on other frames.

A big issue with integrated seat posts is what happens when I chop it down to size to fit me?  I can then only sell the bike to someone physically the same size or smaller.  Well not any more...

The clever people at Wilier have created a position where you can cut the seat tube to a "normal" height and fit a standard seat post and seat clamp.  Bang!  You're back in the tall market and can sell your bike on to those less vertically challenged than yourself. 

The Wheels
As with the Kuota test, the Cento Uno glided along on a set of beautiful Reynolds DVT 46/66 wheels. 

Optimised for aero performance on the road, the 66 mm rear and 46 mm front, give stability in cross winds through the lower profile front.  While creating better aerodynamics with a deeper rear that makes the most of the dirty air around your legs, pedals and bum! 

It's a win ~ win.  Speed and stability.  With 20 DT aerolite spokes both front and back, and a realistic weight of 1309 grams, these are wheels that can be ridden on all road surfaces and in all conditions.   Roubaix to Ventoux on one set of wheels.  How good is that?

There's no flex when climbing out the saddle, no howling rims when braking, no rubbing brake blocks when sprinting (I have mine set very, very close) and no noisy ratcheting when freewheeling. 

They did everything you can expect of an alloy wheel but they're made of carbon and are lighter, cheaper, prettier.  Result!

The Ride
I really, really, really was genuinely surprised when I rode the Wilier on my first ride of the weekend.  Before I get to ride the exotica I'm trusted with, I do all my homework.  I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to engineering, so I go off and read all the specs, the charts and the kit lists to see what I can expect.

What I expected from the Cento Uno, was a harsh, nervous bucking bronco that would perform like an Italian sports car.  I once drove an Alfa Romeo from Brands Hatch to Oulton Park and had to stop off at Silverstone for a rest!  A lovely car to look at, a fantastic engine, but not something you'd want to take over the Alps. Very fast yes, vaguely comfortable, no!

So imagine my surprise when I appeared to sit in, rather than on, the Wilier.  It really was such a shock.  Even though it was saddled with my usual seat of choice, giving me at least one point of reference, a Pro Tour bike with this pedigree should be harsh, buzzy and generally a pain in the ars...  It was anything but, it was like gliding on a magic carpet.  But a very fast one.

I've ridden some other "big name" Pro Tour bikes in the past and not had a pleasant experience.  The pro's get paid to sacrifice comfort for speed, we don't.  When they say the pro's ride the same off the peg bikes as our paying clients, guess who's making the speed versus comfort compromise?  Because it ain't them!

As I said, you feel as though you're sat "in" the Wilier; the frame geometry is neither traditional nor compact.  The top tube slopes, but subtly.  The head tube to top tube ratio is a little out of kilter with modern thinking, which explains the lack of spacers under the bars.  But this just seems to reinforce that there must be something else disguising the frame's theoretical shortcomings..

The frame components are neither fully round nor fully square. Neither are they a consistent shape; they start round and finish square or they start square and finish oval.  And that's just the straight ones!

This is a bike of enigmas and dichotomy's all wrapped up in 46 ton carbon fibre cloak of deception.  It should be harsh, it isn't; it should be nervous, it isn't; it should be a slouch when responding; it most definitely isn't.

Designing anything other than a formula one car is always a battle of compromises.  What makes one element a "best in class design" means something else has to be second best, or even worse. 

Bikes with so many technical innovations are often looking for something special, and very often they miss it, or cancel it out with another "innovation" but in the Wilier they may of just found the answerer everyone's looking for. 

Handling, was second to none, it really did corner as good as you would expect any Pro Tour bike to.  Having said that, almost all Grand Tour bikes grip the road like a leach, but with some you have to hang on and physically manhandle them to make them do so.  Very tiring, especially on big days in the mountains with multi descents.

If ever a bike was designed for long days in the racing saddle, then it's this one.  Remember earlier I explained that Ballan and Cunego finished one-two in the worlds on these bikes.  Was it a coincidence that they were the freshest riders at the end of that very long day?

And that's before you factor in the race wins and sprinter's jerseys Petacchi has won these last few years.  So it corners well, it climbs well, it sprints well.  

The Wilier has the full-on handling capabilities of a Specialised or Trek, so you won't be found lacking in that department.  But it has the all day ride-ability of a Colnago.  The best of both worlds it seems; but don't take my word for it.

If you want to see how one of these handles, watch this.  It's long, so you don't have to watch it all but if you ever had any doubts about how fast a Wilier could corner or well it can handle this should remove them forever...

Summary
So there we have it, an Italian piece of art that you can ride.  And what a ride; quality, comfort, speed and safety all in one nice tight little package that manages to combine taught handling with all day riding ability.

For just £3061, you can have a race ready, Campag Athena, 11 speed equipped, Cento Uno in Matt Carbon trim.  A standard frameset is £1921 and a Di2 frameset is £2009. (Jersey prices)

If you want to drop a little comfort, to gain a little speed, and spend a few more pounds (dollars), you can go for the Cento Uno Super Leggera (like flamme rouger Andy Perree used to help take the team prize at the 2010 and 2011 Marc Gomez Sportive). 

But for mere mortals, the Cento Uno is a perfect compromise of speed, strength, lightness and durability.  It's the Maserati of the cycling world and very worthy of your spending considerations.

The final word goes to the French.  Le Cycle (the leading French Sportive Magazine that does unbelievably thorough bike tests) were so impressed by this bike that they saw fit to give it their prestigious Road Bike of the Year award. 

And let me tell you, for an Italian bike to win an award from a French cycling magazine, tells you a lot more about this bike than I ever could!

Frame Sizing
If you want one, this is how you size them up, or you could just drop in to the shop and sit on a few of the models before you commit yourself...

Big Maggys
If you decide that a Wilier is for you (the other bikes in the range are as good in their class range as the Cento Uno is in the ultimate race bike class), why not take the opportunity to take it away and tackle a foreign sportive? 

Big Maggy's sportive trips are organised regularly throughout the season.  A great bike deserves a great occasion.  Check out our sportives pages, see what they're all about, then contact Ian Williams (no relation) to get yourself on one of his "Ride Like a Pro" trips.

The Tester
What makes me think I'm qualified to write articles and critique bikes? Click here and I'll try to explain.