At the Tour de Suisse over the weekend, FDJ and their Swiss TT specialist Stefan Küng debuted a new carbon WiIier Supersonica SLR bike in the opening time trial. Developed from scratch in a claimed 9 months, the new time trail bike was created to support the French pro team and cut drag by at least 10% over WiIier’s existing TT bike. Taking advantage of the much deeper tube sections now permitted by the UCI, wide fork spacing for smoother airflow, and user-customizable aero extensions for the perfect position on the bike, Wilier claims it’s actually 16% faster…
WiIier Supersonica SLR aero carbon time trial bike
With the new WiIier Supersonica SLR time trial bike, details are pretty good for a bike only ready in one size, so far. But it looks like FDJ, and specifically Stefan Küng, were anxious to get racing the new bike, ASAP. It’s pretty common to see bike companies rush to get a bike out racing as soon as they can, so their riders have the fastest tech at their disposal for the most important races. And in an Olympics year, it seems that these types of releases are more frenzied than ever.
What we do know, is that Wilier claims that their new aero carbon WiIier Supersonica SLR time trial bike is said to be 16% faster than the existing Turbine SLR. That is backed up by wind tunnel tests at 50km/hr.
And supported by real riding trials on the velodrome.
And it’s a complete redesign from the ground up, really only sharing the concept of extending the fork in front of the headtube to meet the integrated stem and basebar cockpit…
How did it develop?
As the new bike sponsor of Groupama – FDJ, Wilier knew they needed to update their Turbine TT bike, having not seen a major update since 2018. With the more recent obsolescence of the old UCI 3:1 rule, Wilier had to go deep to stay up to date with the competition. So with FDJ and their experienced TT specialist Stefan Küng on board, they set out to fine-tune every aero detail.
“I am very happy and also very impressed by the work done by Wilier. It was a very tough challenge… When the contract between Wilier and the team was signed in August 2023, they immediately focused 100% on the Supersonica project. Developing a bike from scratch in 9 months is already a difficult task, but developing the best time trial bike in 9 months is even more so. Seeing all the people who have been involved, who have worked on it for such a long time, who have followed and listened to me, is a strong motivation for me to give it my all on the day of the race. The bike is designed for speed, you can feel it as soon as you get on. After riding the first prototype in early 2024, we made some changes. The second prototype arrived soon after and it responded perfectly to the requests I made. I can’t wait to ride it and, above all, to win!”
– Stefan Küng, Groupama – FDJ pro cyclist
What’s new?
There’s tons new on the Supersonica. Let’s start with the deep aerofoil tube shapes. Almost every tube features a deeper profile than before. The fork blades look to be more than 3x deeper, plus sleek new flat mount brake integration and a little lip smoothed into the downtube. The seattube gets a kinked design that tucks in closer to the rear wheel. A new deep aero seatmast eliminates the need for a conventional seatpost to move up & down inside the frame.
Plus, the aero downtube now transitions into an integrated 550ml aero water bottle for even smoother airflow.
A closer look at the shapes of these new tubes from the front where they cut into the wind, the tubes are all narrow, but set wide away from the spinning wheels. We’ve seen this most dramatically exhibited on recent track bikes. But even though this TT bike is still designed around 26mm tires and to max out at a 28mm tire, the large clear space around the wheels is said to smooth airflow to reduce drag where there is typically turbulent air coming off the spinning wheels.
Tech details
The new WiIier Supersonica SLR was developed as a dedicated time trial race bike. But it also is able to transition to triathlon, as well.
The FDJ race bikes are set up with a 1x drivetrain. But there is also a removable front derailleur mount for 2x setups you can see from the earlier indoor testing. Küng also raced with the saddle in a fairly middle position to meet UCI rules. But the new bike has a really long saddle rail. It looks like up to 13cm of adjustment to slide the saddle forward or back, plenty for most TT or Tri bike fits.
The new bike features fully-internal, electronic-only cable routing through the integrated cockpit and a straight 1 1/8″ headset with an internal steering top. It gets standard 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes, a pressfit bottom bracket, and clearance for up to 28mm tires. Claimed frame weight is 1450g, plus another 550g for the fork.
WiIier Supersonica SLR – Pricing, options & availability
The new WiIier Supersonica SLR is available now. But it’s available only if you fit the same size bike as FDJ’s Stefan Küng. Wilier just the one L/XL frameset ready now. Two more sizes XS/S & M will come in 2025.
Frame kits alone sell for 9000€, including frame, fork, headset, basebar & seatmast topper.
Complete bikes are available from 20,500€. But that’s only with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset & Miche carbon wheels – a KleosRD Crono lenticular disc rear and SPX3 tri-spoke front – at a claimed 9.4kg. Profile Design ACS PRO aero extensions come standard. But for another 6900€, WiIier will also make you a set of fully custom extensions in either carbon or titanium. You get the full professional fitting experience, just like Küng.
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