Wilier’s Zero SLR Is a Superb Road Bike

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

The Takeaway: Wilier’s new Zero SLR is a modern race bike in every way, with the performance you expect from a top-of-the-line bike.

  • Frame designed for disc brakes and electronic drivetrains only.

  • Designed for use with proprietary one-piece bar/stem.

  • Mavic SpeedRelease axles are fast and ensure proper tightening torque.

Price: €11,200 as tested (U.S. dollar prices not yet available)
Weight: 14.8 lb. (54cm)

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Gravel, smravel—a good road racing bike remains an instrument of pure speed and precision beyond compare. Wilier’s newest racing bike, the Zero SLR, is one of those instruments.

In the black finish shown here, the simple profile and minimalist graphics make this one of the most subtle Italian bikes I’ve ever seen (a brilliant red or bright blue are also offered). That subtleness hides performance that’s in line with the best in the category. It better perform well—as shown, this is an €11,200 bike (U.S. prices were not available at publication).

At a shade under 15 pounds on my scale, this disc-only, electronic-drivetrain-only bike is very light. But I was expecting lighter given the 780-gram claimed frame weight, one-piece carbon bar/stem, and tubular wheelset.



Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

This bike climbs beautifully, with crispness and efficiency creating an urgency to the bike’s forward motion. It’s also planted at high speeds, and is composed when being thrown around corners. The handling is excellent: a quicker-handling bike as you’d expect, but predictable and accurate in its motions so it doesn’t catch a rider out.

Frame stiffness is good but doesn’t seem to be as stiff as the best of its peers—the Specialized Tarmac, for example.

The ride is smooth and compliant, even with the stock 25mm tires (max width 28mm), and almost too silky for my liking—I prefer a bit more feedback.

The Zero SLR is a brilliant, high-performance bike for a rider who’s looking for something more unique than the Tarmondasix-es that seem to be everywhere.


Wilier Zero SLR Details

Frame: Carbon
Fork:
Carbon
Wheels: Wilier ULT38 Tubular
Tires: Vittoria Corsa Tubular 25mm
Drivetrain:
Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
Chainring: 50/34
Cassette: 10-30
Brakes and Rotors: Shimano Dura-Ace, 160mm (F), 140mm (R) rotors
Handlebar:
Wilier Zero Integrated Handlebar

Tech and Features

The Zero SLR is the brand’s newest all-arounder road racing frame. It’s offered only for (flat-mount) disc brakes and only for electronic drivetrains. It’s a clean and spare-looking frame with smaller-diameter and lightly shaped tubes.

This minimalistic approach is also shared by the frame graphics. Previous Wilier frames were notorious for a gaudy list of features and technologies covering the top tube; this frame has little more than the brand’s name.


5 Things We Love About the Zero SLR

According to Wilier, the Zero SLR’s frame weighs about 780 grams (340-gram fork). Though that’s about 100 grams heavier than the company’s rim-brake-only Zero 6 frame, the Zero SLR is stiffer, boasting a 24 percent improvement in the frame’s stiffness-to-weight ratio.

Underneath the frame’s exterior skin, Wilier employs what it calls a “liquid crystal polymer,” claimed to toughen the frame against impacts and improve vibration damping.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

Though this isn’t an aerodynamically optimized frame like a Cannondale SystemSix, there are a few slippery touches. Hiding the brake and drivetrain lines is one touch. The other: The fork’s legs are spaced as wide as possible to create more room between them and the front wheel. This improves aerodynamics, Wilier claims, though no time savings were available.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

The Zero SLR gets a proprietary one-piece carbon bar and stem with internal routing through the bar and stem that feeds the brake and drivetrain lines directly into the frame through the head tube. The unit boasts an impressive claimed weight of just 330 grams and comes in five sizes (90x40, 100x40, 110x42, 120x43, 130x40). Wilier uses interlocking split spacers, which may be added or subtracted without pulling drivetrain or brake lines from the frame.

The Zero SLR’s team chose Mavic’s SpeedRelease thru-axle system for the Zero SLR. This system uses one open dropout opposite the threaded dropout, allowing the axle to remain with the hub when the axle is unthreaded for the wheel to be removed.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

This, in theory, makes wheel installation and removal easier and faster, and it might. But the best part of the SpeedRelease system is that it essentially has a built-in torque wrench that prevents improperly tightened axles— when the handle clicks, the axle is properly snug.

The D-shaped seatpost is proprietary to the Zero SLR. It comes in 15mm or 0mm setback and uses Ritchey saddle clamping hardware. A hidden seatpost clamp is tucked into the frame.

A few more subtle details: The chainstays feature an asymmetric design to offset drivetrain loads, while the fork leg on the brake-caliper side is larger to offset braking loads.

Geometry Details

Photo credit: Courtesy
Photo credit: Courtesy

The Zero SLR comes is six frame sizes—extra small through double-extra large. The geometry table is shown here for your amusement. Overall, it’s pretty standard road-racing geometry, though there are a couple items to note. One is the fairly even progression of reach and stack numbers; the other is the chainstay length, which grows as frame sizes increase.

The progressive chainstay length is a welcome detail in a world where many companies shove the same chainstays on every size of frame. It ties into the use of different tubing diameters in every size in an attempt to make all size frames handle the same for their riders.

Builds and Prices

The Zero SLR comes in 12 builds that start at €7,700 and go up to €12,200 (prices in U.S. dollars were not available at publication).

The Zero SLR’s available groups are: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Shimano Ultegra Di2, SRAM Red eTap AXS, and SRAM Force eTap AXS. All use the same frame, fork, seatpost, and one-piece bar/stem; all come with Vittoria Corsa tires, and all—save the top-of-the-line model, which comes with a Selle Italia SLR Boost saddle—come with a Prologo Dimension saddle.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

The primary difference between the builds is the drivetrain and the wheelset. The Dura-Ace and Red builds are offered with a choice of four wheelsets—Wilier’s new carbon wheels in clincher or tubular, or Fulcrum clincher wheels with carbon or aluminum rims. The Ultegra and Force builds are offered with a choice of two wheelsets—a Fulcrum wheelset with aluminum rims, or a Wilier wheelset with carbon clincher rims.

Pick a Dura-Ace or Red build and you also have the option to upgrade to power meter cranks for an additional €1,000.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

Ride Impressions and Evaluation

I put the Zero SLR through its paces on my favorite test loops and came away impressed. It is exactly what I expect a bike designed for professional racers to be today.

At under 15 pounds—with disc brakes, electronic shifting, and Wilier’s new tubular wheelset—the bike is feathery light. But I could not, on the road, uncover any downsides to its lightness. Tucked and sitting on the top tube at over 50mph, I found the SLR to be drama free, with nary a wiggle. Panicked jerks on the bar from a corner misjudged and the SLR was shudder-free, allowing me to hit a corrected line and find the exit with nothing but sweaty palms.

When power was thrown into the frame, the SLR jumped and accelerated well. Like many—most—of the high-end carbon race bikes I’ve ridden, the Zero SLR was very stiff, but it did not have the sensation of otherworldly stiffness like a Specialized Tarmac or BMC Teammachine. And because of this, the SLR felt to me more suited to the desires of a lightweight climber than a thick and powerful sprinter.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

The Zero SLR arrived with 25mm-wide tires. I can’t remember the last time I rode such a narrow tire (you’ll usually find me on 32s) and I was worried the skinny tires would make the SLR feel harsh. But the SLR’s frame and fork are nicely tuned; chip seal was hushed, expansion joints and frost heaves were well damped. However, feedback was slightly muted which made the SLR feel a little numb at times.

Overall, the Zero SLR is a very good road racing bike. It handles beautifully, it’s stiff, light, and glides over the road. But unfortunately it has a few downsides.

Tire clearance is limited to 28mm. That seems almost criminal in an era when aero road bikes like the Specialized Venge can fit 32mm tires.

Photo credit: Trevor Raab
Photo credit: Trevor Raab

It’s designed for a proprietary, non adjustable, one-piece bar/stem. That means limited sizes (five, and my preferred 110x400mm is not offered), and limited adjustment.

Proprietary bar/stem systems are a common feature on aero bikes, but in that arena they’re used to gain an aerodynamic advantage. That’s not the case with the traditionally shaped bar here. Hidden hoses/wires/housing do improve aerodynamics, and the SLR’s bar/stem does that. But other brands have shown it’s possible to hide the hoses/wires/housing and still use a two piece—more adjustable, more fit options—bar and stem.

The stem-clamp hardware also seems under-built. I broke both nuts before achieving the recommended clamping torque. And yes, I was using a high quality and properly-set torque wrench. The bolt and nut are replaceable, which is great… if you have Wilier dealer nearby stocking the parts. I do not, so I needed to kludge together some hardware to get back on the road.

The limited tire clearance and wonky integrated handlebar limits an otherwise great bike’s potential. But judged on performance alone, the Zero SLR can claim a place among the very best road racing bikes you can buy.


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