Wilier Cento1 – aka One O Ooonnnneeeessssss

A couple of weeks ago Harry and I went down to Italy for some shopping.

We left Senlis at 6:00am and ou friend Francesco Scardaoni (Oooones) of team Felt picked us up at the Bologna airport and drove us to Terni.

When we arrived at Ruota Libera (store photo) my favourite bike store, I simply stated a budget and the requirement that the bike be Italian.

Francesco, Roberto and “the Wizard” consulted among each other briefly and quickly came to a concensus:

A 2009 Wilier Cento1 with Campagnolo Chorus 11S, Ritchey WCS componentry and Ursus Gallardo wheels was what I needed.  Fitting all this in my budget was possible thanks to Roberto’s always friendly pricing and Euro700 from the Italian government as part of an incentive to promote biking as an alternative to cars.

Roberto asked to be left alone to “create” the new beast.  He gave us a set of road bikes and told us to go and get lost … which we did.  Francesco lead Harry and I on beautiful 75km bike ride in the middle of the Appenine mountains.  Despite my dismal performance I really enjoyed the ride!

The Wilier Cento1 is the evolution of the Wilier Cento which is Wilier’s flagship bike.

The first thing to say about it is that it looks great.  The marriage of geometry and livery strikes a perfect balance.  The bike demands attention without being too flashy.  How about them white wheels!

The second thing to say about this bike is that it rides like the wind!  The Cento1 has incredible stiffness when pedaling and yet each imperfection on the road is absorbed sooooo smoothly you can barely feel it.

How did Wilier achieve such a balance?

Material and Geometry.

Material: the Cento1 is made of 46Ton Carbon Fiber.  This means that the fiber has a strength of

46Tons/mm2!!  That means that you could stack about 50 Peugeot 206 on top a piece of carbon fiber the size of the lead of pencil!

The only other bike to match this spec is the Pinnarello FP7.  The Pinnarello Prince FP outspecs all bikes with a 50Ton/mm2 fiber.

As far as geometry goes the stiffness comes from two main areas: the bottom bracket and the headset.  As you can see from the pics the bottom bracket is absolutely massive and the bearings are integrated in the frame for a reduction in weight and a gain in stiffness.

Looking from the top you can really see how the frame really bulges out to make a housing for the pressed in cups.

The other source of stiffness is the headset area.  Here you can really notice the massive structure that supports the fork.

Curiously enough the section is square at the bottom and round at the top.

Form and function chase each other all over the frame resulting in

Rule #3 of the Universal Biking Manual:

YOUR BIKE CANNOT HAVE ENOUGH ITALIAN FLAGS ON IT.

Speaking of Italian, the bike is equipped with Campagnolo Chours 11s.  The 50/34 combination will be great this August in the Rocky Mountains, but for l’Oise the 34 is too small and so it will soon be replaced by a 38.

On the other hand, nothing but praises for the 11s cassette and deraileur.  The extra speed delivers fast, smooth changes and you can always find exactly the ratio you are looking for.  Also gotta love the “clang” on the upshift!

In conclusion the only thing that I can say is that I simply can’t get enough of this view!!