Furbz Posted October 27 Posted October 27 Hello Kids! Its been a while since i've done a build thread and what better time to do a Gravel Bike build with Gravel Burn in full swing Its a tough one this one for me - this rig was meant to carry me through Grave Burn. A poorly timed grade 2 tear in my calf sadly left me on the sidelines. so i've had a superbike of a gravel bike, sitting unbuilt in its box in my garage, while i focused on recovering. now that i am able to move around better i can finally enjoy putting this beautiful bike together! Dexter-morgan, Prince Albert Cycles, Rowl and 8 others 8 3
DJuice Posted October 28 Posted October 28 Looking forward to the build update. What bike is your dad using for Burn? Saw the picture in the Burn thread, there were a great looking green Willier.
Furbz Posted October 28 Author Posted October 28 Right some details! First a big thank you to Mitch at Protouch for getting this bike for me on such short notice - Legend! I have the top tier RED XPLR Build. As above i went for the awesome green colour scheme! - pictures do not do this bike justice, its really a rocking colour! So main the details: FRAMESET: Wilier Rave ID2 SLR - chosen as it has a whopping 52mm tire clearance, and with that there is an extra 6mm of buffer! can anyone say 2.2 MTB tires - yes please GROUPSET: Sram Red XPLR WHEELS: Miche Graff Aero 48 gravel wheels - 27mm internal diameter = ooodles of comfort! i am a little nervous how these will behave in the Western Cape Winds, so these will be tested, and if its a problem i will swap out for something with a little less depth. I will be making some small changes to the bike build - these will be detailed later on in this thread. Time for some pics! HOW GORGEOUS ARE THESE WHEEL GRAPHICS! gerriemtb, Wannabe, splat and 5 others 8
DJuice Posted October 28 Posted October 28 This Willier Filante review also made mention of the classy decals on the Miche wheels. https://escapecollective.com/review-the-new-wilier-filante-id2-muddies-the-whos-an-aero-bike-for-waters/ Cool that Willier and Miche is family owned and operational.
BuffsVintageBikes Posted October 28 Posted October 28 It would break my heart to get that bike dirty 🤩 betaboy and Dexter-morgan 1 1
Zebra Posted October 28 Posted October 28 @Furbz very nice, indeed; can you find a reason to momentarily show us a better pic of the bike with the amazing LUG WORK, in the background, without derailing (derailleur-ing!) this thread? Tx! dewaldsss 1
DJuice Posted October 28 Posted October 28 1 hour ago, Zebra said: @Furbz very nice, indeed; can you find a reason to momentarily show us a better pic of the bike with the amazing LUG WORK, in the background, without derailing (derailleur-ing!) this thread? Tx! Zebra 1
Furbz Posted October 29 Author Posted October 29 15 hours ago, Zebra said: @Furbz very nice, indeed; can you find a reason to momentarily show us a better pic of the bike with the amazing LUG WORK, in the background, without derailing (derailleur-ing!) this thread? Tx! its a stunning bike, that might be up for sale soon. one of a kind, size 52. new starting price on those are a whopping 48000AUD! and thats ex shipping, import fees, customs etc. so would be a real once in a lifetime opportunity to pick up on hell of a special bike Zebra and DJuice 2
dewaldsss Posted October 29 Posted October 29 On 10/27/2025 at 5:03 PM, Furbz said: Hello Kids! Its been a while since i've done a build thread and what better time to do a Gravel Bike build with Gravel Burn in full swing Its a tough one this one for me - this rig was meant to carry me through Grave Burn. A poorly timed grade 2 tear in my calf sadly left me on the sidelines. so i've had a superbike of a gravel bike, sitting unbuilt in its box in my garage, while i focused on recovering. now that i am able to move around better i can finally enjoy putting this beautiful bike together! that Bastion Archetype in the back's got me drooling.... should be illegal on this site lol
DJuice Posted October 29 Posted October 29 3 hours ago, dewaldsss said: that Bastion Archetype in the back's got me drooling.... should be illegal on this site lol That size 52 should fit!
Furbz Posted October 29 Author Posted October 29 (edited) So the last few days got busy and i have not made any progress on the build. So i will instead detail the changes i will be making. 1. The bike ships standard with a 170mm crank - i am a short crank convert so this has been replaced with a 165mm power meter crank. 2. believe it or not, it actually ships with tubes. Clearly tubeless has not made much impact in Italy. so a couple tubeless valves is all that is needed as the rims come taped and ready for tubeless. a little odd, but its Italian after all! 3. The saddle. i'm sure its lovely, but i know my butt. i have found my forever saddle so this one will be removed and replaced with the stunning 3D printed Trek Aeolus RSL AirLoom. i'll keep you posted on if the 3D saddle is any better than the standard Aeolus RSL. So far my experimentation with 3D Printed saddles has not impressed me in the slightest. expensive, less comfortable, yes i'm looking at you Selle Italia! here i ran into a snag, the bike ships only with round rail clamps, so you will need to buy the oval Ritchey version in order to make this move work. Thankfully the new Ritchey agents have stock so again not to much on a problem. managed to save a fair chunk of weight changing out the saddle. 81grams - this is pretty much standard practice with all stock bikes, they expect you to change it out to your preference. The Stock Prologo saddle is a cracking good looking thing - i'm sure its plenty comfortable, i am however married to my Aeolus. Stock Weight: 248g New Weight: 167g Edited October 29 by Furbz Hilton., DJuice and Spinnaroonie 3
Furbz Posted October 30 Author Posted October 30 I forgot about the tires! these are also being swapped out i have a set 2.2 tires Race Kings i'd like to try out on this bike
Furbz Posted November 3 Author Posted November 3 This would not be an Italian bike build without something going slightly wrong. The build has come to a halt while we wait for a missing headset spacer - this should arrive in the next day or so. Great work by Mitch @ Pro Touch for sorting this out so quickly
Furbz Posted November 3 Author Posted November 3 I have found one other component i will be changing out. The bottle cages. While i was expecting Wilier branded cages, i got unbranded extremely lightweight carbon bottle cages instead. Odd. I checked in with Pro Touch and yes this is what Wilier will ship if you pay in for additional bottle cages for this bike. A tad disappointing not to get the sexy branded ones in all the online reviews. At 17grams they are extremely lightweight, and definitely not designed for gravel riding IMO. By comparison check out the Ritchey Carbon cages that will be taking their place - the Richey cages have a much better lip for holding a bottle in. The lip on the Wilier supplied cages is almost non-existent. At 27grams each the Ritchey adds a little weight, but also gives me comfort knowing i have a lot less chance loosing a bottle on a bumpy decent. splat 1
DJuice Posted November 4 Posted November 4 Cool article on your you dad. https://escapecollective.com/the-70-year-old-who-beat-75-of-the-gravel-burn-field/ Furbz, Rowl and gerriemtb 3
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