Wilier GTR Team Disc endurance road bike

The Wilier GTR Team Disc Ultegra is a quick and smooth endurance bike that offers the assured performance of Shimano's hydraulic disc brakes.

How does it ride?

The Wilier feels a lot more performance orientated than many other endurance bikes out there. Some manufacturers sacrifice frame stiffness in their quest for comfort, but the GTR Team Disc Ultegra has the feel of a race bike when you turn the power up a few notches; the whole central area of the frame holds firm against your best efforts. You're probably not going to spend much of your time flat-out sprinting on a bike like this, but you're likely to lay it all on the line occasionally, even if you're just racing your mates to the cafe stop, and it's good to know the frame isn't going to twist and bend when you want to whip your muscles into life.

You pay a slight weight penalty for the disc brakes but the GTR Team Disc Ultegra still comes in at a reasonable 8.34kg (18.4lb). You can get a bike that's considerably lighter for this kind of money but weight isn't everything – far from it, it's just a small part of the overall package.

The Wilier climbs well, the compact (50/34-tooth) Shimano Ultegra chainset matched up to an 11-28-tooth cassette providing a wide range of gears to keep you moving swiftly upward. Some endurance bikes offer a 32-tooth sprocket for an even smaller low gear but chances are that you'll be fine with what's on offer here, even on the day's last hard effort.

Shimano's BR-RS805 hydraulic brakes offer very impressive performance. You'll doubtless already have thoughts on whether disc brakes are right for you and I'm not going to try to convince you one way or another. I will say that these brakes allow you to govern your braking power very easily and their abilities aren't compromised in wet conditions. It's reassuring to know that you have strong, predictable control at your fingertips even on the rainiest, grittiest, can't-see-around-the-next-corner descent, so there's no need for that just-in-case early braking that you sometimes need in order to dry the rims before the pads bite.

Tell us about the comfort

The Wilier GTR Team Disc Ultegra offers a comfortable ride, and that's partly down to its endurance geometry.

Some brands sling masses of extra height on the head tube and chop the top tube right back to get a much more upright riding position on their sportive/endurance bikes. Wilier has taken a much more restrained approach. Yes, the GTR Team Disc Ultegra has a more relaxed riding position than a full-blown race bike, but the differences are relatively small.

Wilier's GTR Team and SL Team bikes have geometries based on the top-end Cento1 race bike, but with about a centimetre's extra height on the head tube (depending on frame size). Wilier reckons that it's better to add extra height via the frame than to have most riders putting headset spacers underneath the stem to move the handlebar up, and we'd certainly agree that it's a stiffer and tidier way of doing things.

Wilier offers the GTR Team and SL models in two different geometries: race and endurance. As mentioned, this GTR Team Disc comes in the endurance geometry.

It's the fork that makes the difference, not the frame. Wilier adds an extra 10mm of height into the crown of the fork fitted to the endurance bikes. The result is a position that's just a little more upright.

I felt that my position on the Wilier GTR Team Disc Ultegra was relaxed enough to ride for hours without troubling my back or neck much, but still reasonably low and efficient. Some endurance bikes are very high at the front to the point that I feel that my progress is suffering with the wind hitting me smack in the chest, but the Wilier's position strikes a good balance between comfort and efficiency. Know what I mean? If you're looking for something that's more relaxed than a typical race bike but still leaning in that direction, this is certainly worth checking out.

Putting geometry to one side, the frame offers more comfort by sieving out a lot of unwanted buzz from the road, and the 27.2mm seatpost does more to improve the ride quality. A skinny seatpost that can deflect just a little when you hit the inevitable bumps and holes is definitely the way forward when it comes to comfort.

If you want more cushioning you can swap Vittoria's 25mm wide tyres for 28s – there's enough frame and fork clearance – although I didn't feel the need; this is a reasonably forgiving setup already. The Wilier doesn't offer a soft, fur-lined ride, but there's a distinct lack of vibration here.

I can't say I was too enamoured with the Selle Italia X1 saddle, though, which is unusual because I'm usually a big fan of the Italian brand. I prefer a flatter profile across the nose. Here, I just felt like I was sitting on a central spine. Other people who rode the bike got on just fine it so, as ever, it's a matter of taste.

What components does it have?

The GTR Team Disc is available in two versions, both built around the same 46 ton and 30 ton carbon-fibre frame. The model specced with Shimano's mid-level 105 components costs £2,399 while the one we have here comes with next-level-up Ultegra and is priced at £2,699.

I won't go into much detail on Ultegra here – go to our complete Shimano Ultegra review for that. Suffice to say that the shifting is almost faultless and the chainset is right up there among the best – stiff and lightweight although some people are bothered by the appearance of the unevenly spaced spider. I don't have a problem with it myself.

If you're coming from a rim brake bike, the RS685 shifters might look and feel bulbous to start with because they contain the disc brake reservoir, but you adjust to that in, oooh, about 10 minutes.

Wilier specs Ultegra throughout, by the way. There are no cost-saving downgrades hidden away. As well as the chainset, shifters and derailleurs, the cassette and chain are both Ultegra,

The wheels are DT Swiss R24 Spline DBs, the DB denoting that they're built for disc brakes. These have a disc-specific aluminium rim – there's no brake track – and they're fixed to the bike using thru axles rather than standard quick releases, both at the front and the rear. These aren't especially light wheels (the claimed wheelset weight is 1,775g) but they're well built with bladed spokes, and they're tubeless ready if you want to go down that route in future.

Most of the remaining components are made for Wilier by FSA, the aluminium seatpost, stem and handlebar all finished to match the frame.

Conclusion

The Wilier GTR Team Disc Ultegra is an endurance bike with a race bias. It’s a little more relaxed than a full-on race machine but it retains a focus on speed and efficiency, and offers enough comfort to keep you feeling good in the saddle throughout a long sportive or fast-paced weekend ride. If you want your next bike to be disc-equipped, this is an attractive package.

Verdict

Comfortable race-leaning endurance bike with the all-weather performance of Shimano's hydraulic discs