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A raclette oven or a sack full of potatoes pose no problems for the new Wilier. Yes, you read that right. The Adlar, which according to the traditional Italian manufacturer is aimed at "bikepackers, explorers and cycle travellers", had to prove itself as a cargo bike, among other things, in the practical test. Our "luggage" was certainly exotic and due to the fact that the table grill and ingredients had to be transported from A to B during the test period around New Year's Eve.
Most two-wheeled adventurers would probably prefer utensils such as a gas cooker or sleeping bag. But even with the unusual cargo, it was possible to find out to what extent the riding characteristics of the gravel bike change. A model that stands for bikepacking like hardly any other bike with racing handlebars and, due to its radical concept, can only be summarised to a limited extent with the TOUR test criteria.
Wilier Adlar: Proximity to the mountain bike
Even the geometry Wilier The long frame triangle is combined with a stub stem (85 millimetres), very slack steering angle (70 degrees), extra-long wheelbase (1085 millimetres) and extreme fork trail (83 millimetres). This brings the Bikepacker much closer to a hardtail mountain bike than a classic racing bike and it shines with outstanding smoothness - regardless of the surface. The controlled handling is supported by an extremely wide aluminium handlebar from Ritchey, which is 60 centimetres wide at the ends. Be careful in tight spots!
In addition, the pronounced bend in the handlebars promotes an exceptionally upright posture. The highlight of the carbon frame is the innovative loading concept. Two solid pannier racks and bags from Italian specialist Miss Grape can be attached to the front and rear in just a few simple steps. Massive seat stays and the support on the thru axles allow a payload of 35 kilograms, according to Wilier. The luggage rack and bag set is included in two equipment variants or is available as an optional extra. A total of six mounting points on the fork and frame as well as eyelets for mudguards and an integrated cable duct for a dynamo light round off the adventure-ready design.
The Wilier is an exciting concept and fulfils all the requirements of an off-road adventure bike. - Matthias Fischer, mechanic
Comfort
However, thanks to the solid construction of the frame set and robust aluminium add-on parts, the scales already tip upwards without the bikepacking kit and only stop at just under ten kilograms. With the pannier rack, the longer thru-axles required for mounting and (empty) panniers, the Wilier comes in at 12.8 kilograms. This does not make the Adlar a sprint rocket, but that is not the claim of this long-distance racer. Wilier has the Rave SLR in its range for fast gravel laps.
In terms of suspension comfort, the neon yellow novelty benefits not only from the comparatively long extension of the seat post but also from the high-quality mountain bike-sized tyres: the tubeless-mounted, nominally 50 millimetre wide Pirelli tyres stretch to 54 millimetres and smooth out obstacles such as large stones or roots with ease. The relatively low comfort on the handlebars is hardly noticeable due to the rear-heavy weight distribution, which is even more pronounced with luggage on board. Up to (nominally) 52 millimetre wide tyres can be fitted. There is also the option of retrofitting a suspension fork with a maximum of 40 millimetres of travel.
Or you can customise your bike, like Wiebke Lühmann, who is on her way from Freiburg im Breisgau to the Cape of Good Hope on her Wilier Adlar.
Disadvantages of the Wilier Adlar
The disadvantage of the huge tyre clearance: there's no room for a front derailleur on the curved and flattened seat tube, whose rumoured function as an "integrated mudguard" we can't confirm. With Shimano's mechanical twelve-speed GRX drivetrain in the Mullet version, there are sufficient and easy gears available for all riding situations, but the jumps between gears are large on steep climbs. The fact that the Adlar does not score better than TOUR's 2.6 despite its well thought-out concept is due to the very high weight and weaknesses in the frame set's system rigidity.
With a measured 5.72 N/mm, it is at the lower end the new rating scale. The good news: our test rider didn't notice any of this with or without a load, which is also due to the comparatively low off-road speeds. However, on fast descents, especially on tarmac, which die-hard adventurers with plenty of luggage on board probably avoid anyway, you have to be prepared for spongy handling and rather poor steering precision in bends.
Wilier offers its most extreme interpretation of a gravel bike in five equipment variants from 3700 euros. The test bike costs 4000 euros, but the Italians list the bike with slightly narrower and cheaper Vittoria tyres. The top version shifts electronically with SRAM Rival XPLR and comes with a bikepacking kit, which costs an impressive 600 euros extra.
The Wilier Adlar in detail
- Price: 4000 Euro (RRP) >> e.g. available here
- Weight of complete wheel: 9.8 kilos
- Frame sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL
- TOUR overall grade: 2,6
Geometry
- Seat/top/head tube: 530/595/157 millimetres
- Stack/Reach/STR: 633/410 millimetres/1.54
- Stack+/Reach+/STR+: 698/556 millimetres/1.26
- Wheelbase/caster: 1085/83 millimetres
Equipment
- Drive/Circuit (3.0): Shimano GRX 822 (1x12; 40, 10-51 t.)
- Brakes (1.5): Shimano GRX (160/160 mm)
- Tyres (1.5): Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H 50 mm (eff.: 54 mm)
- Impellers: Miche Graff XL
- Impeller weights: 1736/2443 grams (front/rear)
Measured values
- Driving stability (3.3): 5.72 N/mm
- Rear comfort (2.0): 127 N/mm
- Comfort front (3.3): 112 N/mm
- Ride/ bottom bracket stiffness (2.0): 54 N/mm
In an initial version, the Wilier Adlar received an overall TOUR score of 2.9, which was incorrectly based on the rating of a marathon bike, resulting in a lower individual score for weight. With the evaluation as a gravel bike, the Adlar achieves an individual score of 3.7 for weight and thus improves to a TOUR score of 2.6. We apologise for the error.
Julian Schultz
Editor
