Wilier

Gran Turismo Road Bike Frame

Given the name, you'd expect that Wilier's Gran Turismo Road Bike Frame could excel in any terrain and provide you with a comfortable and stylish ride. Like the variety of challenges offered in a Grand Tour, from relentless climbs to sketchy descents to endless stretches of broken tarmac, our regular training ground is just as indiscriminate. And if we had to have just one bike, the Gran Turismo would be one worth serious consideration.

What sets it apart aesthetically is its Razor Edge Design in front and the Smooth Rear design in back. In contrast to the more rounded tube shapes of the Cento1 and Izoard, Wilier designers took full advantage of the freedom afforded by its monocoque molding process to give the Gran Turismo lines that sing praise to Italian style while maintaining a Cento1 level of handling precision. To this end, the top and down tubes bear the most aggressive shaping to create a stable, confidence-inspiring ride. The head tube junction received a great portion of the attention, and the top and down tubes converge here in a unified mass of carbon fiber for unparalleled torsional stiffness. Look behind the seat tube and you'll notice skinny seatstays. These give the bike more vertical flex in back when riding over rough roads; they're not only skinny, but shaped to maximize comfort. The upper end is almost triangular and morphs over the length of the stays to be nearly flat by the dropouts.

Wilier uses a full monocoque process for the fork as well. This way, they can ensure that fibers run continuously from the fork ends to the top of the steerer, which, when combined with the massive front end, result in incredible lateral stiffness and impressive overall strength. They also manage to fit in some vertical compliance by designing the rake to start at the crown and taper to the trailing edge.

Hidden from view underneath its glorious paint, the Gran Turismo relies on carbon fiber sourced from two of Wilier's most trusted suppliers -- Toray and Mitsubishi. The performance goals for the frame are met with a careful lay-up schedule consisting of Toray's T-700SC and Mitsubishi's MR 60H and HS40 unidirectional fibers. This blend of high and medium modulus fibers is what gives their engineers the ability to fine tune the ride for maximum performance and comfort, and at the same time, make this bike more affordable than their top-of-the-range Cento1 series.

The Gran Turismo also benefits from asymmetrical chain stays in the rear end. Since the drivetrain applies different forces to the left and right sides of the frame, the shape and lay-up of the tubes in the rear triangle have been optimized to neutralize the torsional effect from pedaling, and to maximize comfort at the same time. Another aspect that makes this frame attractive is that it uses a standard English-threaded 68mm bottom bracket shell. While it adds a few grams over the integrated shell design found on the Cento1 frame, this one's a bit less complicated, especially if you haven't decided on your drivetrain, want the freedom to change easily, or aren't a Campagnolo diehard.

The Wilier Gran Turismo Road Bike Frame is available in Blue, Dark, and Red and comes in six sizes from X-Small to XX-Large. Like any bike with a sloping top tube, we suggest that you focus on the effective top tube and head tube lengths in determining the correct frame size. The frameset includes a custom, CNC-machined seatpost clamp and accepts a 31.6mm seatpost. Also included is an FSA Orbit CE Plus 1-1/8in integrated headset. The seat tube has a braze-on style front derailleur mount. Cables run internally.