We’ve seen it on bikes such as the Trek Domane and the Pinarello Dogma K8-S, and now Wilier has joined the game. Its new Cento10NDR comes with a suspension system at the rear end, designed to turn rough roads smooth.
However, unlike those other bikes, the Wilier Cento10NDR doesn’t claim to be a ‘cobbles’ bike or a ‘Classics’ bike. Nor is it a ‘gravel’ bike, ‘all-road’ bike, or any of the other monikers being given to the new breed of multi-purpose bikes that are so popular right now.
‘It’s a road bike,’ says Claudio Salomoni, product manager for Wilier. ‘It’s a race machine, only it’s more forgiving because of the geometry and because the rear stays are very, very comfortable.’
Wilier has its sights set on the growing band of riders who want to ride a top-end road bike, but struggle to cope with the geometry of a full-on race machine, such as the company’s best-selling Cento10Air.
‘It’s not just a question of age,’ adds Salomoni. ‘It could be that you are 30 but have problems with your back. If you want something premium but cannot fit the racing geometry, you can still have it.’
Flexible friend
The suspension system is called Actiflex and it works like this: the chainstays and seatstays are created in one piece for strength, but the tops of the seatstays are not attached permanently to the seatpost.
Instead, they are connected to an alloy ‘link’ that houses a rubbery block called a Shox. This is made of a ‘technopolymer’ – a sort of hi-tech elastomer – and acts as a shock absorber.
Whenever the rear wheel hits a bump, the stays flex upwards, squashing the Shox and reducing the impact felt by the rider.
It’s fairly similar to the system employed by Pinarello in its K8-S, which also uses a rubber shock absorber between the seatstays and seatpost, but Wilier insists its Actiflex is superior.
Where Pinarello employs a cylindrical elastomer that attaches to the seatpost at a single, narrow point, the Actiflex is a wider unit that is held in place by two long bolts, thereby ensuring the lateral stiffness of the rear end is not compromised, according to Wilier, even though the vertical flex is greatly increased.
Wilier also believes its system is better than Trek’s Isospeed on the Domane, which uses a ‘decoupler’ to allow the seatpost to flex backwards and forwards when the bike hits a bump.
On the Cento10NDR, the main triangle of the frame is ‘closed’, with the additional flex only occurring at the rear triangle, which means the saddle never moves in relation to the bottom bracket, unlike the Domane. Wilier insists this is vital for maintaining power and pedalling efficiency while riding.
There are three different levels of Shox inserts, with the softest one being specced on the smallest bikes, and the hardest one on the largest frames, although customers will be able to choose whichever they prefer depending on their weight and riding style.
According to Salomoni, there is about 3-4mm of travel in the Shox: ‘If you’re heavy about 5mm. It just cuts the micro-vibrations from normal riding.’
Playing the angles
After the Actiflex suspension, the other major difference with the NDR, when compared to the Cento10Air, is the geometry. The Cento10NDR (the NDR stands for ‘endurance’) is higher and shorter in terms of stack and reach.
It allows for a more upright position, and doesn’t require the rider to get into the aggressive ‘long and low’ position favoured by the pros.
Not only is this more forgiving for many riders, it also – counterintuitively – helps to make the bike look more pro.
Salomoni tells of his horror at seeing sleek race bikes ruined by having stacks of spacers beneath the stem because their owners can’t cope with the geometry, so the NDR is designed to ensure that this doesn’t happen.
The high front end means that, in most cases, the stem can be slammed. And where spacers are required, they are subtle aero spacers that maintain the bike’s elegant good looks.
Adding to the NDR’s aesthetics, not to mention its aerodynamics, the front end cabling has all been squirrelled away inside the bars, stem and head tube (when it’s in electronic groupset/disc brake mode, but we’ll come to that in a minute). It makes the bike look clean and uncluttered.
The main frame tubes share their shapes with the Cento10Air, being kamm-tailed aerofoil in profile, except for the seatpost, which is round and 27.2mm for comfort.
It means that the bike is exceptionally aerodynamic, although this might be offset somewhat by the more upright riding position, which will put the rider more in the wind.
Wilier is at pains to point out that the Cento10NDR is meant to be a true, high-end race bike. It’s not a compromise bike for non-racers. It uses the same carbon as the Cento10Air, and is only slightly heavier at a claimed frame weight of 1,080g.
Despite the changes to the NDR’s geometry, Salomoni claims that the bike’s tube angles are calculated to ensure agile handling. As he puts it: ‘The angles are racing angles. The handling must be Wilier handling – racing handling.’
To maintain the ride quality, each frame size in the range is designed with slightly different angles and lay-up to ensure that the stiffness and comfort remains the same whatever size of bike you choose.
Brake with tradition
Another of the NDR’s unique aspects is that the same frame can be set up with either calliper brakes or disc brakes.
To achieve this, Wilier has created special dropouts that can be swapped depending on the brake set-up required. In calliper brake mode, the rear dropouts accept standard quick-releases with 130mm hub spacing. Swap in the disc-ready dropouts, and the spacing increases to 142mm to accept a 12mm thru-axle.
The necessary bolt fixings are there on the stays for either standard callipers or discs, and the tyre clearance allows for 28mm with callipers and 32mm tyres with discs.
When running discs with a Di2 or eTap electronic groupset, all the cabling can be fed inside the handlebars and down through the head tube to keep it (almost) entirely out of sight.
The result is so clean and neat that it would be a shame to get a Cento10NDR and then fit calliper brakes, where the cables would need to be on display.
To hide the cabling, Wilier has introduced a new bar and stem system called Stemma & Barra. It’s based on the company’s Alabarda bars – a one-piece aero cockpit found on the Cento10Air – except it comes in two pieces to allow for more options of bar width and stem length.
The bars are fairly standard in shape, with a round cross-section, while the stem is designed to be aero, and is angled at 10.5° so that it lies parallel to the ground.
Colour of money
As mentioned, Wilier considers the Cento10NDR to be a genuinely premium bike, and as such it comes with a premium pricetag.
Specced with Dura-Ace Di2 hydraulic groupset and Mavic Ksyrium Pro Exalith wheels, it will retail at £7,300. Sram eTap and Mavic Cosmic Elites will add another £500, while the Ultegra Di2 version with Shimano WH6800 wheels will cost £5,600.
Disc brake versions will be available in both Ultegra and Dura-Ace guises, with or without Di2, with prices ranging from £5,100 to £9,300.
As for colours, it will come in a rather fetching blue and red shown here, or for those of a less adventurous disposition, black and red, all-red, or just plain black.
Artistic types can get creative with Wilier’s Infinitamente online system that allows you to choose whatever colour of frame you damned well choose. Pink and green with gold logos, anyone?
Wilier Cento10NDR first ride
I have to admit I wasn't fully convinced by Salomoni’s sales pitch when I first laid eyes on the Cento10NDR in person.
Fortunately, I was wrong. The NDR’s truly is designed as a road bike, and more than that, a top-end, race-ready road bike. But it’s one that can be ridden by people who don’t conform to the physical stereotype of a professional cyclist. Which is most of us.
The more forgiving geometry allows for a riding position that mere mortals – even fairly elderly ones, or ones with dodgy backs – can maintain for a long day in the saddle.
The Actiflex suspension aside, the ride quality and handling are all meant to be pure ‘road’. And it works. The greatest praise that I can give to the Actiflex is that I didn’t notice it was there for the majority of our test ride around the lanes of Italy’s Veneto region.
When the tarmac was smooth, the bike drifted along with an easy elegance, and when I stamped on the pedals, the bike leapt into action with no sense of sloppiness or bounce.
When the road surface turned nasty – our test ride took in sections of gravel and cobbles – the Actiflex proved to be far from a gimmick.
It did an excellent job of dampening vibrations, more even than I was expecting, while never undermining the handling of the bike or sapping power.
I found the Cento10NDR to be just about the right blend of comfy and sporty – but then I am probably bang in the centre of Wilier’s target market for the bike: a rider of advancing years, but who is not ready to join the Sunday bumblers just yet.
I want a road bike that looks pro, and makes me feel like a pro, but won’t leave me aching like a geriatric. I suspect there are many more like me out there, and our numbers are growing by the day.
It could be that Wilier is really onto something here.
