Mountain Biking Guide

Wilier have been making bikes for more than a century and the Mortirolo is the least expensive full-carbon bike in their catalog. You do not have to ride it far to grasp that does not imply we are left with a compromise-for-cost framework though .


Ride & handling : Handling and commitment is simply fantastic The Mortirolo's class terribly quickly becomes clear when you start riding. The 1st push of the pedal produces a reassuring surge of speed and even our huge sample never attempted to keep pace in the pack. As quickly as the competitive urges appeared it was stiff and responsive enough to keep even the quickest of rivals in its sights.

Accuracy, capability to effectively induct higher body strength and last power delivery to the wheels is certainly electrifying. The taut, muscled feel that resonates from pedals and bars never did not fire us up for action on each ride. What really sets the Mortirolo except for almost all of its peers is the proven fact that it does not punish you for making such good use of your effort. Careful layup of the huge pipes and the angled rear stays screen out a good amount of road grief. This leaves the frame feeling cosy, buoyant and enthusiastically characterful out of all proportion to its price.

The handling is glorious, with only occasional flutter and shudder from the fork on braking bump entries into corkscrew corners to become used to. Otherwise, the commitment you can truly chuck the front end of the bike into corners or roundabouts is galvanizing and that effect increases fast the more you ride. Actually the Wilier is still one of the few more cost-effective carbon fibre bikes that has a really engaging and pleasurable personality outside the obedient but lifeless option from a Taiwanese catalog. The frame quality makes it easily worth adopting as an upgrading project too.

Frame : Superb frame and fork for the price, though wire adjusters can be difficult to get to the Wilier is actually no shrinking violet. A large top tube and down tube lead back from the smooth head tube with frontal reinforcing bands. Out back, a tall slim wishbone with oblong lower section splits into lazy 'S'-to-round section seatstays. The chainstays follow the same profile with a slight step where the white painted monocoque meets the chainstay bridge. Further triangulation comes in the form of the smoothly pointed carbon fork legs.

Frame-mounted wire adjusters are harder to reach than the hood side Shimano ones though . We tested a massive bike ; medium-sized frames get a lower, aero-tuck-friendly head tube length.

Apparatus : Campag Mirage groupset and Khamsin wheels, compact chainset and Ritchey finishing kit For an Italian frame with as much heritage as Wilier, Campagnolo's Mirage groupset is a glaring choice.

It's a touch clunkier in use than Shimano but the positive action means you will never not know you have made a shift. The compact chainset keeps intonation and knee strain reasonable for mere mortals the majority of the time. The Mortirolo has a close proportion block, so you aren't getting a dinner-plate climbing gear but you do get far better intonation control from the smaller openings between gears. According to the spec list, the bike should come with Fulcrum Racing seven wheels.

Ours was rolling on the rarer, but similarly effective, Campagnolo Khamsin three wheels, complete with attention-grabbing three-spoke grouping. Wilier's own Kevlar racing tyres complete the lightest wheelset here in a dependably sturdy style, though the stylish frame gags for higher-quality rubber. Robust , if soft feeling, Mirage brakes control speed, while incredibly un-Italian, but no less effective, Ritchey elements complete the finishing kit. The Italians do mount a rearguard action in the slim shape of the Selle saddle. Wilier produce a Shimano 105 version of the Mortirolo with a particularly similar spec for £1,775 if you like a Jap flavor to your shifting.

You get a bottle and Wilier cage too, which is a pleasant visible sweetener, if not a high worth one.