2009 Wilier Le Roi - Competitive Cyclist

WILIER LE ROI

What's more important than the Tour of Flanders? Nothing. Nothing at all. On a generous day maybe we'll make exemptions for marriage and childbirth, but those days are rare indeed. In truth 364 days a year are spent preparing for the 1st Sunday in April. As a fan and as a rider theRonde van Vlaanderen gives the purest definition to the word "champion." Our sport is one defined by its monuments: Alpe d'Huez, the Passo Gavia, the Arenberg Forest, the Champs Élysées. But the Ronde is unlike any other race, with its flurry of monuments coming with ceaseless violence, causing the hardest of hardmen to reel. The Oude Kwaremont, the Koppenberg, the Tenbosse, the Muur, and the Bosberg -- these are merely the best-known. In a sport known for how riders hedge and conserve (we once read that Lance Armstrong won one of his Tours de France spending -- time trials aside -- <20km at the front), the Ronde demands a heroic, all-in attack. Sitting on, praying for a lot of luck and one good sprint: You might as well be racing Redlands instead.

The Le Roi is Wilier's answer for the races that matter most. In the Spring Classics the weather has all the subtlety of a gas station car wash. Horizontal rain and hail. Spinning machetes of wind. Smashmouth cobbles that devour both equipment and motivation. Ordinary frames and components aren't an option. There's a reason why every rider of every team chooses box section 32 hole rims. There's a reason why you'll see little other than green Vittoria Open Pavé CX tires. Unlike the fancy gear of summertime -- carbon rims, wireless powermeters, dimpled this-and-that -- in Spring Classics season you choose your gear with only one goal in mind: It won't fail.

Wilier Le Roi Detail Like the cost-is-no-object Cento Uno, the Le Roi is made with full carbon construction. The differences between them? The Le Roi lacks in some of the Cento Uno's more distinctive details: Rather than an integrated seatmast, it requires a 31.6mm seatpost. Rather than fitting bottom bracket bearings directly into the frame, you'll use a standard external BB. And instead of Mitsubishi 46 Ton carbon fiber, the frame is made from a combination of Toray T700 SC and M40 J carbon. The net result is a frame that weighs 1050g (allowing you to easily build a sub-16 lb. complete bike), and costs 33% less than the Cento Uno.

Wilier's goal with the Le Roi was to make a frameset light enough for the never-ending climbs of races like the Ronde, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and the Amstel Gold Race. But to build it with such an over-abundance of toughness that it could endure the beating of the cobbles found in Het Volk, Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem, and the Ronde. It's the best of all worlds: It's light without being delicate. And thanks to its oversized seatstays and chainstays, it's stiff without being harsh. As shown by Alessandro Ballan's dramatic victory in the 2007 Tour of Flanders and Damiano Cunego's victory in the 2008 Amstel Gold Race -- both won on the Le Roi -- it's clear to us that Wilier nailed it in every way: Weight, durability, stiffness, and adequate compliance in the worst conditions of the race season.

The Le Roi is available in sizes S-XXL in two colors. It requires the use of a 31.6mm seatpost, a 34.9mm clamp-on front derailleur and an English bottom bracket. Like any bike with a sloping top tube, we suggest that you focus on the effective top tube length in determining the correct frame size. It comes standard with a Wilier Monoscocca Monocoque carbon fork and a Ritchey integrated headset.

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