Wilier Gran Turismo
The Gran Turismo – or GTR for short – is described as “the heart” of the Wilier range and that’s reflected in the fact it’s available in four builds for 2015.
The carbon fibre frame, which is paired with a full-carbon fork with a tapered steerer, is largely unchanged but is now compatible with both mechanical and electronic groupsets. The ‘sharp edge’ tube profiles are said to boost stiffness and comfort.
“These bikes take a lot of the technology from the top-end bikes,” said Izzard. “It’s a full-carbon frame and full-carbon fork, and the seatstays, chainstays and dropouts are all made in one piece, so there are no joints and you can optimise the carbon layup. The GTR is a race bike but it’s also for long days in the saddle and has some comfort built into the back.”
The GTR range opens with a £1,499 build based around a Campagnolo Veloce groupset (with a compact FSA Gossamer chainset and FSA/Wilier brakes) and Miche GTR X1 wheels, while step up a level and a build with Shimano 105 (again, with a compact FSA Gossamer chainset) and Shimano RS10 wheels will cost £300 more at £1,799.
A second Campagnolo build comes in the shape of an Athena-equipped (though that FSA Gossamer chainset remains and the brakes as FSA/Wilier units) machine at £1,999, while the top-of-the-range GTR with Shimano Ultegra (the compact chainset and brakes are non-series Shimano components, however) is yours for £2,099.
The GTS Disc, meanwhile, is a disc-equipped version of the GTR, with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset and TRP HyRd cable-operated hydraulic brakes for £2,399.
“What Wilier wanted to do was have a mid-level, carbon disc bike. They took a GTR frame and added a disc-specific, full-carbon fork at the front, while at the back there’s 135mm spacing, with a chainstay-mounted caliper,” said Izzard. “This kind of technology is from the 101XN cross-country mountain bikes, so Wilier are quite used to making disc-equipped, carbon frames. They’ve taken that knowledge and adapted it to the road.”
The geometry has also been tweaked to reflect the type of riding in which the GTS Disc is likely to be deployed, with a slightly taller headtube and slightly slacker seattube angle.
