Wilier Stella
When a bike has a woman’s name, it’s natural that I start imagining just what kind of a person she would be. For me, the name Stella conjures the kind of sassy woman who successfully juggles kids and career, has a ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude and a wardrobe full of heels. But let’s not judge the Stella on its name alone.
It’s worth being clear from the outset that the Stella is not a true women’s-specific bike. That’s not to say that it isn’t female focused – the finishing kit is certainly aimed at women, with smaller bars and a women’s saddle – but Wilier, like fellow Italian manufacturer Bianchi, does not produce frames with unique geometry for female riders, which is a brave stance in a market where many brands are talking up how much R&D they’re putting into women’s products.
What’s more, Wilier has a long heritage of producing racing bikes. Sportive set-ups are not really its priority, so whether you’re a man or a woman, if you invest in a Wilier what you’ll get is a racy ride. (One manager at the brand allegedly takes the attitude that if you want something made for comfort you should buy a sofa.)
It’s in the make-up
Previous models of the Stella have used the Izoard frame and fork as a base, but this model’s frame is from the Granturismo, Wilier’s endurance bike. The only real nod to women in the design of the frame is the paintjob, which features blocks of silver, black and duckegg blue and some twirly, whirly writing, because apparently women love that stuff.
The Stella also comes in the same sizes as the Granturismo, although with only three options for women – XS, S, M – compared to seven for the men. The XS comes with a virtual top tube length of 53.1cm, while the medium is 53.7cm, so taller women may need to look to the Granturismo for larger sizes. I also found I needed to make some fine adjustments to get the
The Italian brand doesn’t do women’s-specific geometry, so what has the Wilier Stella got to offer female riders?
right fit for me, as the stem supplied on my medium test bike was a mere 70mm long.
The Stella’s story is typical of mid-range women’s bikes – there’s a hotchpotch of pluses and minuses, pros and cons, which is hard to make sense of and which left me confused as to where this bike sits.
Judging by its geometry and the mass of carbon at the front, the Stella is a bike aching to be ridden aggressively. It certainly looks fast. It’s refreshing to see a women’s bike with a low front end, which not only makes it easy to get into a low-slung position but, when teamed with all that stiffness-enhancing carbon in the head tube and down tube, gives you confidence in corners and on descents. Yet among these great features I felt something was awry, and it was a frustrating experience.
For a race-oriented bike it felt heavy and was hard to get going, yet once up to speed it was a bit like a juggernaut that ploughed down the road, threatening to crush anything in its path.
On stop-go rides through city traffic, the Stella’s sluggishness was a bit wearisome, and the problem was, I felt, down to its weight. At 8.3kg it is more than 0.5kg heavier than the Cube Axial WLS I tested last month, and by today’s standards it’s something of a porker. (Note that a couple of issues ago, the boys got to test the Wilier Zero.7 that weighed a mere 6.7kg for a larger frame size than my Stella. Admittedly, the Zero.7’s kilo-and-ahalf weight advantage comes at an extra £6,000 on the pricetag, but I stand by my point).
It’s likely that much of that sensation of weightiness comes from the wheels. Supplying a £120 wheelset on a £1,600 bike is not unusual, but the Shimano RS10 wheels are definitely a limiting factor that could sway your opinion of the bike even on a short test ride. They
The Stella’s sluggishness was a bit wearisome, and I felt the problem was down to its weight
are fine as robust winter training wheels, but with a combined weight without tyres or tubes (but with quick release skewers) of 1,900g, they’re fairly chunky to lug around. The upside is that they should leave you with legs of steel come the summer.
It’s certainly a common theme when it comes to women’s bikes – cheap wheels spoiling an otherwise decent frame – and I would recommend factoring in a potential wheel upgrade when budgeting for your next bike purchase. That said, when I swapped the Shimano RS10S for some more sporty Mavic Ksyrium SLSS (alloy clinchers at around £790 for the pair and weighing just shy of 1,400g), I still felt that I was putting in more effort than should be necessary. It seems this bike is just not made for nippy uphill accelerations.
And something for the lady?
The frame may be identical in all but colour to the men’s Granturismo, but it’s the finishing kit that helps to make the Stella a women’s-specific bike. This includes a women’s Prologo Kappa Evo Dea saddle, plus smaller bars and stem from FSA.
According to Wilier, this compact set-up has proved so popular that it reports having had men asking for the Stella but in a more masculine paintjob.
The 11-speed Shimano 105 groupset is an obvious choice for a bike of this price and I have no criticisms here. The shifting is precise and consistent. The 11-25 cassette is a nod to the racing creed of this bike but some riders might find themselves searching for a 28 sprocket in the mountains, or even the UK’S longer hills.
To save a bit of cash, Wilier has opted for a crankset and brakes a step down from the full 105 5800 set-up. The difference is minimal, but I did find the brakes a bit slow to respond, which was occasionally disconcerting, especially on my favourite short-but-fast descent. Women with small hands will find that they have to reach and really pull hard to get a response.
One thing that I’d change without hesitation is the Prologo Kappa Dea saddle, which my posterior found uncomfortable from the outset, though I’m aware that saddles are a very personal thing and that one woman’s sofa is another’s rock-hard bench.
For the money, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I would alter to make the Stella better. The frame rides adequately and the handling is good in and out of corners, but the spec lets it down. It just takes a long time to get up to speed, reacts that split-second too slowly and lacks the va-va-voom that I’d expect from a race-oriented bike.
Wilier reports having had men asking for the Stella but in a more masculine paintjob