WILIER GRAN TURISMO/CAMPAGNOLO CHORUS 11 COMPLETE BIKE

Motivation comes in many forms. It may be a 75-degree bluebird day, the extra beer you had last night, or bragging rights at next week's Tuesday Night Worlds. There is, however, one motivator that we can all relate to: a new carbon-clad machine. The Wilier Gran Turismo/Campagnolo Chorus 11 Complete Bike will have you up an hour early in the morning, champing at the bit.

The front end tracks like it's laser-guided, the seatstays gobble up road vibration, and the bottom bracket juncture directs pedaling forces straight to the drivetrain. The ride is comfortable without feeling soft, nimble without twitchiness. The Gran Turismo is your all-day, all-terrain, all-surface machine.

Every bit the player as its pro-level sibling the Cento1, the Gran Turismo performs whether you’re bumping elbows at your next parking-lot criterium or burying yourself climbing a local canyon. But the performance similarities shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; after all, one look at the spec sheets and you’ll notice the geometry of the two bikes is nearly identical. What differs between the Gran Turismo and Cento 1 is the lay-ups and plies. The Gran Turismo gets different tube shaping throughout, with a head tube built up for lateral rigidity to provide laser-guided cornering. The most noticeable difference between the Gran Turismo and Cento1 is the non-integrated seatmast on the former. Sure, this adds a few extra grams to the Gran Turismo, but it adds far more to user-friendliness.

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 Wilier's engineers the ability to fine-tune the ride for maximum performance and comfort, and, at the same time, to make this bike more affordable than their top-of-the-range Cento1 series.

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

Building the Gran Turismo with anything but a full Campagnolo groupset would be like only eating at Subway on your next trip to Italy. We outfitted the Gran Turismo with a full Chorus group, including a compact (50/34) carbon crankset.

The Gran Turismo cockpit includes Easton’s EA70 bars and stem, the bars wrapped with high-quality Arundel cork tape. We use a matching EA70 seatpost to cradle the Selle Italia SL Kit Carbonio saddle. The SL Kit Carbonio features manganese rails, a carbon composite shell and a durable Lorica cover.

Wheelsets tend to be an afterthought for most people when purchasing a complete bike. However, when we spec'd the Gran Turismo, we weren’t looking for a wheelset to fill in the component gap and look pretty in photos; we wanted a wheelset that is stout enough to survive rough miles, yet light and nimble enough to race. We chose the Reynolds Solitude wheelset, which is built around 31mm-deep aluminum clincher rims. There are 20 radial front spokes and 24 rear spokes laced in a two-cross pattern on drive side and radial pattern on the non-drive side. The spokes are DT Revolution (14/17/14 gauge double-butted) for the radial spokes and DT Competition (14/15/14 gauge double-butted) for the crossed spokes. The nipples are internal and can be adjusted with the included Reynolds-specific internal spoke wrench. Reynolds builds the hubs from aluminum, and their sealed cartridge bearings are easily serviced.

We completed the package with a set of Schwalbe Lugano 23mm tires. The Luganos feature a puncture protection belt that’s been added into the casing so that you can ride through the nastiest patches of sand and road debris without constantly worrying about your tires' integrity.

TheWilier Gran Turismo/Campagnolo Chorus 11 Complete Bike is available in Dark in sizes X-Small through XX-Large.

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2013 Wilier Gran Turismo/Campagnolo Chorus 11 Complete Bike Geometry