Wilier Cento1SR Road Bike Frameset 2017

Whether in the liberal arts, culinary or oenophilic pursuits, or the storied history of cycling, few countries have made such contributions to the West's romantic passions as Italy. Since 1906, the Italian manufacturer Wilier has also brought that romantic touch to the art of frameset design, pouring a comically divine amount of precision, obsession, and passion into the deceptively simple process of building a bicycle. Given this impressive breadth of century plus production which not even The Great War could fully interrupt it's little surprise that the Cento1SR Road Bike Frameset, Wilier's professional flagship model, should return in 2017 with few modifications outside of aesthetics. The Cento1SR's tripartite composition is a properly Dantean story of threes. Wilier uses three distinct types of carbon fiber in different areas of the frame in order to meet the exacting demands of three criteria: stiffness, weight, and comfort. The drive spine and joints most integral to power transfer are built with Mitsubishi's 60t, a material with such high tensile strength that we've referred to it elsewhere as the synthetic equivalent of Superman's hair. We stand by that bit of artistic license, though we're also compelled to note that such stiff power transferring efficiency does come at the cost of elasticity and vertical compliance. It also makes 60t as rare and expensive as kryptonite. Other areas of the frame are built with lower modulus T800H and T700SC carbon fibers, which add a vibration damping and compliance to 60t's unforgiving ride and bring the cost of production down without sacrificing a single watt of drive spine efficiency. Though the construction is impressive, few elements define Wilier framesets in cycling's popular imagination more than handling, which is in turn defined by the frame's geometry. The Cento1SR's tight wheelbase and tapered head tube net apparently contradictory properties. While the former contributes to a race ready, jumpy respo...