Among a sea of expected bikes at the Canada Cup season opener, Ella Macphee’s stood out. Not just as a team-issue pro-level build, or a bike that kept finishing on the podium all weekend. But as, quite likely, the only Wilier Triestina among a sea of more familiar North American brands on the start line in Langford.
Macphee races for the Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team, a European-based cross country team with a very solid history in the sport. That gives Macphee’s Urta Max a different look and different influences than many of the bikes with more local influences.
Ella Macphee’s Wilier Urta Max SLR
The Urta Max SLR is the cross country race machine from Italian brand, Wilier Triestina. The latest version has 120mm travel, out back and via a Fox 34SL fork. That comes from a flex pivot rear triangle and, like several other XC bikes, top-tube mounted shock. Though Wilier adds some extra shaping to keep the Urta light and stiff.
The Urta uses headset-routing cables and hoses, for the shock lockout and rear brake. This is the frame Macphee raced in 2025 and will start the 2026 World Cup season on. Compared to some North American brands, like Rocky and Norco, the Urta is somewhat more race-focused in geo. That mean’s a steeper – by modern standards – 67.5-degree HTA and 75-degree STA. It’s more aggressive than what Wilier’s put out in the past, but still very race focused.
With Vittoria being a title sponsor, the team’s obviously running rubber from the Italian brand. Macphee was running a Mezcal up front and Peyote out back for the weekend’s mix of fast conditions and, on Friday, heavy rain.
The Peyote is a very fast looking tire, with low-profile centre treads gradually growing towards the side lugs.
But, with Vittoria being a team sponsor, Macphee was also running team-only versions of those tires. The markings, V(M) don’t say what’s different than a standard Peyote.
Miche K1 RD wheels are also not a regular sight around Victoria trails. The RD, which stands for Race Division, in team colours, have 30-mm internal width, keeping these Italian carbon fibre hoops up to current trends for wider rims and higher-volume tires.
Macphee is on the latest Shimano wireless group, XTR Di2, with the wider-range 10-51 cassette option.
Since Shimano doesn’t offer a power meter of its own, the Wilier-Vittoria team turns to yet another Italian brand, Favero, for the Assioma Pro MX pedal-based power meters. We’ve used the Pro MX in the past and came away impressed.
Bryton head unit and carbon fibre top cap and stem spacers, since every gram counts. That’s Vittoria’s Urta bar-stem combo hiding under the race plate.
Keeping remotes for the fork/shock lockout and Fox’s Transfer SL dropper post straight requires some strategy. Macphee has a very non-stock integrated lever set up just inside those foam grips.
Shimano’s XTR shifter and new XTR trail levers on the right side are a bit more straight forward.