Wilier Zero.9 Chorus for well under $3K...?
I was looking for a carbon endurance bike with SRAM levers (because that's what fits my hands best) and thought that Campagnolo levers might work as well (similar shape), but wasn't really expecting to find a bike with Campy on it in my quest. As it turns out, one of the local LBS had this Wilier from last year at a clearance price that was in the same ballpark as the SRAM carbon Synapse that I ended up getting.
I took it out for a test ride, and the levers fit my hands just as well as the SRAM levers that I settled on, and the Chorus hardware worked really well, but I didn't get it for a few potentially "kick myself later" reasons:
- the hoods had my hands aching fairly quickly, but I'm not used to drop bars in general and the same thing can happen with the SRAM hoods, just not as quickly
(and perhaps I would get over this in time as my palms got used to the position and the harder materials in the Chorus hoods?)
- they didn't bill it as a true endurance geometry, and at least one review labeled it as a "race geometry"
(but it didn't feel that bent over to me and the head tube comes with a number of spacers you can rearrange for varying heights)
(and the ride was actually reasonably compliant, even if it wasn't as "plush" as the Specialized Roubaix or the carbon Synapse)
- rim brakes that stopped me pretty well, but I feel the SRAM discs I got are just a little stronger
(and my gadget nature is drawn to the new technology of disc, but hey, carbon fiber levers? drool)
- exposed routing of the rear brake cable across the lower quadrant of the top tube
(I have a thing about not crunching cables when I put it on my top tube car rack, but everyone tells me that isn't a real concern)
(and the pure internal routing on the Cannondale frame looks high tech and gadgety, no?)
- they said it was discounted down from nearly $5k to wow me, but a review talked about 2999 MSRP so I ignored their claims as a sales tactic. I later realized I was reading a British review and it was 2999 pounds which is close to $5k, so this really was an incredible deal.
(and the most important thing is to get as big a discount as you can, right? right? like, totally?
)
I should be happy that, in the end, I had a really fun test ride on something that seemed to stand out from the pack of big-name-brands that I was test riding. I went and ended up getting the Cannondale I had been researching for some time and I'll likely be very happy with it, but there's a voice in the back of my head kicking me for possibly passing up on a really unique and fun bike based on mostly predetermined notions.
So, go ahead, tell me I was crazy (which I won't dispute). Tell me how much I'll regret this "one that got away". Or point out the big "Wilier controversy of 2014" that I narrowly missed out getting sucked into...? I'm not finding too many reviews out there and they mostly seem oriented towards a more aggressive rider than me so I take them with a grain of salt.
And if anyone is, like, "Dude! Where is that? I'd totally be on that!", I'll be all, like, "Whoah, dude, not cool, I'm still in the breakup phase!"...(besides a little research on this forum and you'll likely see where it is...)