21st Century Innovation
Since 1906 Wilier Triestina has been one of the world's premier cycling brands. At more than 102 years Wilier has been around twice as long as Pinarello, and more than five times as long as Cervelo! Still, Wilier refuses to rest on its laurels and continues to push the design envelope by consistently introducing new technology and race-derived innovation. Early in 2008 Wilier, in conjunction with John Cobb, announced the creation of the world's most aerodynamically efficient time trial frameset, the Cento Crono. Now, late in 2008, they announce the creation of their flagship race machine: the Cento Uno. Watch for this bike beneath premier riders of Team Lampre during this year's Tour de France!
Wilier's new road racing frameset, the Cento Uno (literally, "one hundred one") falls in the footsteps of their phenomenally successful and race-proven Cento. The Cento has been used by Lampre to win any number of races and is best recognized under the legs of Damiano Cunego who sports a custom-painted, all-white version. You will also recognize this very same bike under Cadence pro triathlete, Rebeccah Wassner, who has won multiple triathlons this year, including last week's San Diego International Triathlon.
Wilier constantly experiments, constantly refines, and consistently wins. In addition to staying at the forefront of aerodynamic designs, Wilier has for years experimented with new designs for bikes for legends like Marco Pantani and David Rebellin. In the last decade, Wilier has worked intimately with Cofidis', Gerolsteiner's, and most recently Lampre's riders - including spring classic phenom Alessandro Ballan - to help them power through the great road races and cobblestones of the world's most gruelling races. With experience and a heritage that date back to 1906, Wilier Triestina understands that no company, rider or brand has the luxury to rest on the laurels of past glory.
Italians know a thing or two about putting the right ingredients into the best products: Italian food and wine is unparalleled, and the Italian automotive industry has churned out just a few icons, too! Being an Italian company, Wilier knows that the best ingredients make for the best finished product. For the Cento Uno, Wilier implemented Mitsubishi's 46Ton pre-preg carbon: it is the world's strongest, most resilient carbon fiber. Taking every advantage of the capabilities and characteristics of this kind of carbon fiber Wilier did significant CAD work to design chainstays and seatstays in a unified, single, monocoque unit. The chainstays are visibly asymmetrical meaning the drive-side stay differs from the nonâ€drive side to counter the increase of power transfer during extreme accelerations and climbs. Additionally, instead of conventionally conjoining the chain and seatstays at a sharp angle, with the dropouts serving as the intersection of both stays, on the Cento Uno dropouts are suspend from a continuous circuit of stays to dampen and dissipate road surface impacts and vibrations. (See Bicycling magazine's video review here.)
As has become more common, the Cento Uno implements an integrated seatmast to be used in conjunction with specially designed seatclamps. Unlike a number of brands to jump on the integrated seat post idea, though, Wilier tested and re-tested the design to make sure it provided a genuine benefit. For Wilier, however, a key feature of their system is a 31.6 internal diameter of the extended seat post which makes it possible for a qualified mechanic to retroâ€fit the seat tube by cutting it down to a more traditional height. Wilier preferred this approach for a number of reasons, including sponsorship arrangements that could require riders to use a specific manufacturer's seatpost and the ability to transfer the frame from one rider to another almost effortlessly.
Wilier's new bottom bracket design accommodates and fully integrates the use of Shimano, SRM, Campagnolo, Sram and other crank systems with adaptive composite spacers supplied as part of the frameset kit. This enables customers to choose and swiftly install whichever crank system they prefer, instead of being compelled to use a product that may or may not suit the rider's needs from a fit and/or power meter standpoint.
Innovative tube shapes have long been an element of Wilier designs. The Cento Uno's top and down tubes draw stability from oversized, thinâ€walled tubing that is squared at the head tube and gradually rounded as it extends toward the seat tube and bottom bracket. The Cento Uno's head tube is more round at the top than its predecessor Cento's, but gently squares towards the bottom to interface with the proprietary fork crown, which has been bulked up and squared off for increased stiffness. That stiffness enhances steerability, as well as stability when climbing or sprinting out of the saddle.
The average weight of the new Cento Uno, based on all six sizes, and factoring in the integrated seat post/seatmast, is about 2.2 lbs (1 kilo). Combined with the technical and weight-shaving improvements to the bottom bracket and rear dropouts, and the absence of an aftermarket seat post, a complete Cento Uno will be even lighter than the Cento - by almost 200 grams!
The Cento Uno frameset will be available in six sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL and XXL and lists an SRP for at $4,300.