MTB-inspired geometry and room for 2in tyres gear Adlar towards technical off-road riding and bikepacking
The new Wilier Adlar is a carbon bike designed for adventure and bikepacking, which has a greater off-road focus than the brand’s existing gravel bike portfolio.
The bike is offered with the latest 12-speed Shimano GRX gravel groupset and in a SRAM Rival XPLR AXS spec. Wilier has its own racks and bags purpose-designed for the bike.
Wilier already has quite a range of gravel bikes in its quiver. The Adlar sits alongside the Rave SLR, designed for fast gravel racing or all-road use, and the more off-road focussed Jena.
The Adlar goes further than the Jena, though, with clearance for 52mm gravel tyres or 2in mountain bike tyres, while the Jena stops at 44mm.
Designed for a suspension fork
The Adlar frameset weighs a claimed 1,100g and is available in five sizes. It comes with its own widely flared handlebars and has integrated cable/hose routing through the stem to keep things clean and tidy.
The Adlar frame has also been designed around a rigid fork with longer blades. This opens up the option to add a 40mm travel suspension fork without affecting the bike’s geometry.
The option to incorporate gravel bike suspension is a feature that we’ve also seen on the recently updated Santa Cruz Stigmata and looks as if it might be the latest trend in gravel bike design.
The supplied rigid fork has dynamo cable routing in its right leg.
Borrowing from mountain bike geometry
Also new to the Adlar is a slacker 70-degree head tube angle across the size range, down a degree or so from the Jena’s, which varies across the size range. Again, it’s a trend in gravel bike design, which is aimed at providing more stable handling on tougher off-road terrain.
In fact, the Adlar frame borrows heavily from MTB geometry, with a longer reach and shorter stem, also designed to provide better handling and control.
The Adlar frame is designed for a 1x drivetrain, only. Wilier says this has allowed it to broaden the seat tube laterally so that it acts as a mini-mudguard to help protect you, your bottles and the bottom bracket area from spray.
Wilier Adlar geometry chart
| XS | S | M | L | XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat tube length (mm) | 440 | 470 | 500 | 530 | 570 |
| Top tube length (mm) | 542 | 562 | 583 | 599 | 621 |
| Head tube length (mm) | 79 | 104 | 130 | 155 | 181 |
| Head tube angle (degrees) | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Seat tube angle (degrees) | 75 | 74.5 | 74 | 74 | 73.5 |
| Chainstay length (mm) | 423 | 423 | 423 | 423 | 423 |
| Wheelbase (mm) | 1,030 | 1,048 | 1,065 | 1,083 | 1,101 |
| Stack (mm) | 538 | 562 | 586 | 610 | 634 |
| Reach (mm) | 395 | 404 | 413 | 422 | 431 |
Purpose-designed racks
A bike designed for bikepacking wouldn’t be complete without mounts for bags and the Adlar frameset duly delivers, with the option to spec front and rear racks.
The racks mount to special thru-axles rather than needing separate bolts on the frame for their lower mounts, helping to support the load better.
You can buy a set of bikepacking bags from Italian brand Miss Grape purpose-designed for the Adlar’s racks.
There are bosses on the fork legs as well as those for a third bottle cage, a top tube bag and mudguards. Wilier says the frame has been beefed up to allow you to carry as much as 35kg of extra load.
Wilier Adlar range and prices
At launch, Wilier will sell the Adlar with five specs, including the latest 12-speed Shimano GRX:
- SRAM Rival XPLR AXS, including bikepacking kit: €5,400
- SRAM Rival XPLR AXS, without bikepacking kit: €4,800
- Shimano GRX 12-speed, including bikepacking kit: €4,600
- Shimano GRX 12-speed, without bikepacking kit: €4,000
- Shimano GRX 11-speed, without bikepacking kit: €3,700
All bikes are fitted with Miche Graff XL alloy wheels, except the Shimano GRX 11-speed build which has Miche Contact wheels.
The bikepacking kit includes the front and rear racks and the special thru-axles to support them, as well as standard thru-axles should you want to remove the racks, plus a full set of four Miss Grape bags. It’s also available to buy separately, priced at €600.
Black alloy mudguards will be available as an extra from October.