By Stan Portus

Published: Tuesday, 12 October 2021 at 12:00 am

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The Wilier Rave SLR is an all-new carbon gravel bike that is available in either an all-road or gravel option. Heavily inspired by the brand’s performance road bikes, the Rave SLR ups tyre clearance to 42mm and blends racing with gravel geometries.

The Rave SLR will be available in a variety of complete builds with different groupsets, cockpits and wheels available to adapt it from a gravel machine to an all-road bike. Complete bikes are available in 1× or 2× builds with groupsets from Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo.

Wilier’s Rave SLR is unashamedly high end, with superbike pricing to match. The least expensive bike in the range from Wilier Triestina is built with Campagnolo Ekar, a carbon bar and Campagnolo Shamal wheels, and will set you back £8,680 / €8,300.

The priciest is the road-specific version of the bike, at £11,350 / €11,000, which is fitted with the new Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 12-speed groupset.

So far we know what wheels and groupsets will be specced on the new Rave SLR, but Wilier has said full specifications are subject to last-minute change due to continued supply chain issues.

One frame, two bikes?

Regardless of whether you opt for the gravel or all-road version of the Rave SLR, underneath the finishing kit and components is the same carbon fibre frameset.

Wilier says the Race frameset uses the same construction as the Filante SLR and the Wilier 0 SLR, which sees carbon fibre mixed with liquid crystal polymers in order to create what the brand claims is a lightweight and reactive frame.

The result is a claimed weight of 950g for the frame and 415g for the fork in an unspecified spec and size. This isn’t a great deal heavier than the Filante SLR, which has a claimed frame weight of 870g.

Wilier Rave SLR geometry

For the Rave SLR, Wilier says it started with its established road race bike geometry then introduced aspects of its gravel and endurance geometries.

The result is a 71-degree head tube and 74-degree seat tube for a size medium, which for a point of comparison, is slightly more relaxed and gravel-friendly than the new and similarly endurance-inspired BMC Roadmachine X.

Compared to its road race bikes, Wilier has also increased stack height and reduced reach on the Rave SLR to provide a more comfortable fit.

Chainstay length varies across the six sizes (XS to XXL) from 421mm to 427mm. The wheelbase figure also ranges from 997mm in an extra small to 1,051mm in an extra-large.

Size	XS	S	M	L	XL	XXL
Seat tube angle (degrees)	75	74.5	74	73.5	73	72.5
Head tube angle (degrees)	70	70	71	71	71.5	72
Chainstay (mm)	421	422	423	423	425	427
Seat tube (mm)	450	480	500	520	540	560
Top tube (mm)	510	527	545	561	579	597
Head tube (mm)	98	118	134	154	172	190
Wheelbase (mm)	997	1,012	1,017	1,031	1,041	1,051
Stack (mm)	513	532	551	570	589	608
Reach (mm)	370	377	384	391	398	405

Rave SLR details and differences

Wilier

At 42mm, the Rave SLR’s tyre clearance isn’t super generous, with 45mm+ becoming pretty standard for many gravel bikes.

However, 42mm doesn’t strike us as abnormal on a bike like this considering the emphasis is on the faster, racier end of the gravel spectrum. For riders looking for more tyre clearance, Wilier also has the Jena, which is a more adventurous gravel bike overall.

Beyond construction, the Rave SLR frame has other nods to Wilier’s top race bikes, including completely internal cable routing, a D-section seatpost and the same clamp design as the 0 SLR.

The bike is built around Mavic’s Speed Release thru-axle System, which also features on the Filante and 0 SLR. This system means the thru-axle does not have to be removed completely from the hub body for the wheel to be removed and is said to reduce wheel changing time by seven seconds.

This is a pretty negligible amount of time when you’re just out riding your bike for the fun of it, but speedy wheel changes and less hassle with thru-axles is not to be shrugged at.

Wilier

The main difference between the gravel and all-road versions of the Rave SLR is the cockpit. Both are monocoque carbon fibre and provide room for cable integration, but they differ in shape.

The gravel-specific Rave SLR has Wilier’s 390g J-Bar, which was first launched with the Jena, and has a distinctive split, V-shaped stem. The all-road version comes with Wilier’s 330g Zero Bar, which has a more traditional stem design and is specced on the 0 SLR.

Another difference between the road and gravel versions of the bike is the gearing. All the road models come with 2× groupsets whereas the gravel versions come with either 1× or 2×.

Wilier Rave SLR road

The Wiler Rave SLR road will be available in three builds all with the Zero Bar and Wilier’s own SLR 42 KC carbon wheels.

The bike will either come with the new Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 or Shimano Ultegra R8100 12-speed groupset or SRAM Force eTap AXS.

• Wilier Rave SLR road with Shimano Dura-Ace R9200: £11,350 / €11,000
• Wilier Rave SLR road with Shimano Ultegra R8100: £9,300 / €9,000
• Wilier Rave SLR road with SRAM Force eTap AXS: £9,300 / €9,000

Wilier Rave SLR gravel

The Race SLR builds are tailored towards gravel and come with a bigger mix of components than the road bike versions.

Wilier has specced the three builds with gravel-specific groupsets. Wilier has opted for 1× setups in the form of the new SRAM XPLR eTap AXS groupset or the 13-speed Campagnolo Ekar, and a 2× setup in the form of the Shimano GRX Di2.

The SRAM and Shimano equipped bikes come with Miche Graff carbon wheels whereas the Campagnolo Ekar build has Campagnolo Shamal Carbon wheels.

• Wilier Rave SLR gravel with SRAM XPLR eTap AXS: £9,300 / €8,400
• Wilier Rave SLR gravel with Shimano GRX Di2: £9,300 / €8,400
• Wilier Rave SLR gravel with Campagnolo Ekar: £8,680 / €8,300

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