Wilier

Cento1HY Ultegra e-bike

What do you get when you add a powerful ebikemotion rear hub motor to Wilier's lightweight Cento1 chassis? Well, that would be its all-new Cento1HY Ultegra e-bike. Coming in at a claimed weight of 11.9kg or just over 26 pounds it's one of the lightest e-road bikes on the market and not far off traditional disc road bikes either. So whether you're just getting into the sport and want to keep up with your buddies, have a medical condition keeping you from exerting yourself too hard, or you love the feeling of speed, but don't quite have the time to put in all those hours of training, the Cento1HY is worth a look.

Turning the system on and off as well as accessing its 3 power-assist modes is an easy affair thanks to a control button that's built right into the top tube. The motor is powered by a 36-volt battery that's housed inside the downtube offering up to 250 watts of power and 40Nm of torque assist at speeds up to 26km/h. The electric motor has the ability to connect to your smartphone via the ebikemotion app, allowing you to track riding metrics such as speed, distance, time, and battery life. The app also provides route navigation, weather alerts, and Strava integration. Remarkably, the motor, battery, and controls only contribute 3.7kg to the bike’s total weight. Because the motor is housed in the hub and the battery inside the frame, it's very difficult to even distinguish the Cento1HY as an e-bike. The battery has a range of around 1000m of altitude gain and an additional external battery is available separately if you care to double that elevation.

Those that have found e-bikes due to health conditions please take note of one of our favorite features: you can pair your heart rate monitor to your smartphone and set a maximum heart rate in the app. When you reach the upper end of the limit, the motor kicks in with power, reducing the workload and thus your heart rate.

With all that excitement about the electronics, it might be easy to forget about the 46 Ton monocoque carbon frame and fork construction, the same material proven on its race machines and prized for its light weight and stiffness. Wilier uses an endurance geometry with a slightly taller head tube and shorter reach providing a more relaxed and less racy position, perfect for taking in those longer distances this machine allows for. Drivetrain components consist of Shimano's workhorse Ultegra mechanical group with powerful hydraulic disc brakes. It's also important to note that with the placement of the motor in the hub and not at the bottom bracket or crank allows Wilier to build the Cento1HY with a Q-factor the same as a traditional road bike.