Review –
Wilier Cross Disc Alu
Back in the middle of October I took delivery of my new cross
bike which I have been using for all my road training, with some gravel-road
bashing thrown in for a bit of variation.
The bike is a frame size small and the RRP in Sweden is
11995kr. The bike comes specced with mainly Shimano 105 10 speed components
apart from the Tiagra cassette, KMC chain and FSA crankset. Wilier have a good
relationship with FSA as a cockpit supplier, so FSA cranksets seems to pop up a
lot on their range of bikes. Not a bad thing in my opinion, with them being
stiff, light and easy to source spares for.
This being an ‘in trend’ modern CX bike it is also fitted
with disc brakes. This is in fact the
second disc equipped CX bike I have now owned. The first was equipped with
TRP’s fully mechanical system, whereas the Wilier has the excellent
mechanical/hydraulic HYDR1’s fitted. Straight out of the box the brakes were
sharp, positive and powerful with no rub at all. This would however be my first
change to the bike, to swap the brakes over to the British way, and have the
front brake operated by the right hand – moto style. Most Swedes look at me in
disbelief when I tell them that 99% of people in the UK ride with their brakes
in this configuration!
Other than that the only real pre-ride change to the bike was to fit
another saddle as the provided Selle San Marco offering didn’t suit my bottom
so well. As with all saddles, it’s a very personal thing, and my partner has
found the Selle San Marco’s fit her well, in contrast.
The first thing I noticed on my first ride was how stable,
light and smooth the bike felt. In comparison to my old Scott CX and the other
disc equipped machine at least. For this price I thought that the 10,3kg was
acceptable, and could easily be dropped to sub-10 with some small strategic
changes. But the bike didn’t ride at all like a 10kg lump. On gravel roads the
bike glides with little or no noise from drivetrain or frame. Grip from the
Maxxis tyres has been excellent on all but the most muddy trails, and the
handling is very stable and neutral, giving me confidence to go deeper and
faster into turns knowing there won’t be any nasty surprises mid-way. After my
first longer ride I felt that the cockpit was a little cramped, so swapped out
to a slightly longer stem, in doing so I was impressed with the low weight of
the stock item that I removed. Another change was also required after this
ride, but that was due to the horrendous weather and nature of the event I
rode. My brake pads were down to the metal! A wet and windy ride on gravel
tracks had killed them. Having read about it, it would appear that TRP use a
very soft organic pad that gets eaten quickly by the gravel, so a sintered set
should last a little longer.
Overall a great value and great spec bike, that looks good
and rides fantastically.
