On the Tour de Suisse over the weekend, FDJ and their Swiss TT specialist Stefan Küng debuted a brand new carbon WiIier Supersonica SLR bike within the opening time trial. Developed from scratch in a claimed 9 months, the brand new time path bike was created to assist the French professional crew and reduce drag by at the very least 10% over WiIier’s present TT bike. Profiting from the a lot deeper tube sections now permitted by the UCI, huge fork spacing for smoother airflow, and user-customizable aero extensions for the proper place on the bike, Wilier claims it’s really 16% quicker…
WiIier Supersonica SLR aero carbon time trial bike
With the brand new WiIier Supersonica SLR time trial bike, particulars are fairly good for a motorbike solely prepared in a single measurement, to date. Nevertheless it seems to be like FDJ, and particularly Stefan Küng, have been anxious to get racing the brand new bike, ASAP. It’s fairly frequent to see bike firms rush to get a motorbike out racing as quickly as they will, so their riders have the quickest tech at their disposal for crucial races. And in an Olympics 12 months, evidently these sort of releases are extra frenzied than ever.
What we do know, is that Wilier claims that their new aero carbon WiIier Supersonica SLR time trial bike is alleged to be 16% quicker than the prevailing Turbine SLR. That’s backed up by wind tunnel assessments at 50km/hr.
And supported by actual driving trials on the velodrome.
And it’s a whole redesign from the bottom up, actually solely sharing the idea of extending the fork in entrance of the headtube to fulfill the built-in stem and basebar cockpit…
How did it develop?
As the brand new bike sponsor of Groupama – FDJ, Wilier knew they wanted to replace their Turbine TT bike, having not seen a serious replace since 2018. With the more moderen obsolescence of the outdated UCI 3:1 rule, Wilier needed to go deep to remain updated with the competitors. So with FDJ and their skilled TT specialist Stefan Küng on board, they got down to fine-tune each aero element.
“I’m very completely happy and in addition very impressed by the work finished by Wilier. It was a really powerful problem… When the contract between Wilier and the crew was signed in August 2023, they instantly targeted 100% on the Supersonica undertaking. Growing a motorbike from scratch in 9 months is already a troublesome job, however growing one of the best time trial bike in 9 months is much more so. Seeing all of the individuals who have been concerned, who’ve labored on it for such a very long time, who’ve adopted and listened to me, is a powerful motivation for me to offer it my all on the day of the race. The bike is designed for velocity, you possibly can really feel it as quickly as you get on. After driving the primary prototype in early 2024, we made some modifications. The second prototype arrived quickly after and it responded completely to the requests I made. I can’t wait to trip it and, above all, to win!”
– Stefan Küng, Groupama – FDJ professional bicycle owner
What’s new?
There’s tons new on the Supersonica. Let’s begin with the deep aerofoil tube shapes. Virtually each tube incorporates a deeper profile than earlier than. The fork blades look to be greater than 3x deeper, plus smooth new flat mount brake integration and a little bit lip smoothed into the downtube. The seattube will get a kinked design that tucks in nearer to the rear wheel. And a brand new deep aero seatmast eliminates the necessity for a standard seatpost to maneuver up & down contained in the body.
Plus, the aero downtube now transitions into an built-in 550ml aero water bottle for even smoother airflow.
A more in-depth have a look at the shapes of those new tubes from the entrance the place they reduce into the wind, the tubes are all slender, however set huge away from the spinning wheels. We’ve seen this most dramatically exhibited on latest observe bikes. However although this TT bike continues to be designed round 26mm tires and to max out at a 28mm tire, the big clear area across the wheels is alleged to easy airflow to cut back drag the place there’s sometimes turbulent air coming off the spinning wheels.
Tech particulars
The brand new WiIier Supersonica SLR was developed as a devoted time trial race bike. Nevertheless it additionally is ready to transition to triathlon, as nicely.
The FDJ race bikes are arrange with a 1x drivetrain. However there’s additionally a detachable entrance derailleur mount for 2x setups you possibly can see from the sooner indoor testing. Küng additionally raced with the saddle in a reasonably center place to fulfill UCI guidelines. However the brand new bike has a very lengthy saddle rail. It seems to be like as much as 13cm of adjustment to slip the saddle ahead or again, loads for many TT or Tri bike matches.
The brand new bike options fully-internal, electronic-only cable routing by means of the built-in cockpit and a straight 1 1/8″ headset with an inner steering high. It will get customary 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes, a pressfit backside bracket, and clearance for as much as 28mm tires. Claimed body weight is 1450g, plus one other 550g for the fork.
WiIier Supersonica SLR – Pricing, choices & availability
The brand new WiIier Supersonica SLR is offered now. Nevertheless it’s out there provided that you match the identical measurement bike as FDJ’s Stefan Küng. Wilier simply the one L/XL frameset prepared now. Two extra sizes XS/S & M will are available 2025.
Body package’s alone promote for 9000€, together with body, fork, headset, basebar & seatmast topper.
Full bikes can be found from 20,500€. However that’s solely with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset & Miche carbon wheels – a KleosRD Crono lenticular disc rear and SPX3 tri-spoke entrance – at a claimed 9.4kg. Profile Design ACS PRO aero extensions come customary. However for one more 6900€, WiIier may also make you a set of totally customized extensions in both carbon or titanium. You get the complete skilled becoming expertise, identical to Küng.
