Was this a missed opportunity?
 

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...)

in the end, it doesn't really matter.

You're overthinking this. Water under the bridge.

Nothing is thunk until it is overthunk... ;)

Just in case it wasn't clear - the description in the OP of my hemming and hawing was a humorously intentioned melo-dramatization of thoughts that went through my head as I walked away from that LBS to go actually buy the bike I finally decided on and not a quandary that I'm seriously concerned with. But, there is a part of me that is still curious if this was one of those cases of "if he only knew" that I had a brush with.

Sounds like your current ride fits you better and is a more enjoyable ride for it. I would say you got the bargain of the century by walking away from it.

it's a bicycle, you adjust it to fit, you pedal it, it takes you places.

enjoy what ya got and remember those thoughts of coulda woulda shoulda are just that,

thoughts.

My general thought is to ignore alternate history. Looking at your list of issues, none strike me as a deal-breaker. the main thing is the hood fit issue because things like that usually don't get better. And SRAM is at least marginally easier to service, although you might have to do it more often than Campagnolo

Wilier Zero9 is a nice race bike. The US road race national champ won on a Zero9. I saw one up close this week as a visiting racer rode one out on our group ride, very nice looking bike.

But so what, are you going to go back and buy the Wilier in addition to the Synapse? If not, then who cares? There's always a good deal out there somewhere, doesn't mean you need to take advantage of it, otherwise you'd have hundreds of bikes in no time.

i had to fall, to lose it all.

No, I'm not going to go back and buy it. I'm not looking for support for my decision. I may be ripe for a mid-life crisis, but I think I've narrowed that down to a Model X purchase that I'm going to have to figure out how to pay for later this year.

I'm just curious if I'm "that guy who brought home a Miata and mentioned that the dealer had some-such Furrarry thing that seemed nice, but it didn't have cup holders so he thought hell-no give me the Meeyatta". Go ahead and rib me. Feel free to call me Fred even... ;)

The Zero.9 did have a "beautiful" frame in that Italian style sense. I appreciated the artistic aesthetic style of that slightly curved top tube that blends into the slightly curved seat stays. But, in the end, personally I'm more pumped up by the internal cable routing and the subtle, but complex curves on the stays and bottom bracket in the Synapse frame even if it comes across as a very standard "two triangles" basic overall shape on first glance. And its shiny white paint job was no more or less impressive than the shiny black and white paint job on my Synapse (if only I could have found one of the many matte black frames that came with the equipment I wanted - that would have created a quandary).

The area where the Zero.9 had a more noticeable impact for me was the nice mechanical feel of the Chorus shifters and the frame felt a bit more "serious", but not really uncomfortably racy.