New Italian Superbike – Wilier Filante SLR
Italy to many is the spiritual home of cycling. There’s an incredible appreciation for Italian road bikes among the cycling community, and for some people, nothing says cycling more than an Italian bike, preferably equipped with Italian components (although in this case the most affordable factory build version has wheels and group-set of Japanese brands).
The new Filante SLR is the latest aero bike from storied Italian bike maker Wilier and is available in a number of Shimano and Campagnolo builds. Destined for the pro peloton it’s the natural evolution of Cento10PRO, high-end aerodynamic bike used by pros rather than a radical redesign. They have redefined the shape and the structure with a focus on improving frame lightness and stiffness and offering disc brakes for electronic groupsets. The claimed outcome is that every element of this all-new bike is carefully designed to be the fastest and the lightest yet. With no compromises about weight the Filante SLR is constructed to maximise performances in real environmental conditions.
If summary what you’re getting for your buck is an:
• Aero road bike with disc brakes, designed for electronic shifting only
• Truncated NACA airfoil tube profiles with a more rounded cut-off than usual
• Claimed frame weight is 870g, claimed fork weight is 360g
• Fully internal cable routing
• HUS-Mod carbon and liquid crystal polymer construction designed to reduce vibration
For the sake of avoiding the same old platitudes that all top brand areo-bikes are described with, let’s just say the latest Wilier flagship Filante SLR bike is a pure performance machine built for racing and pure speed, with a frame shaped to be extremely aerodynamic to maximise your pace when pushing serious watts and just also happens have Italian panache. Wilier claim ‘significant’ aero improvements in real world situations, although it doesn’t offer any figures comparing the new bike with the Cento10Pro or rivals from other brands. To allow the same performance on both very large and very small frames Wilier offer six frame sizes, five handlebar options and eight spacer heights. Multiply that lot and you need a degree to work out your choice of 240 different fit combinations.
A few points of interest are the Filante’s forks are wider than the Cento10 Pro’s, to the sum of 7mm on either side of the wheel to reduce air turbulence and hide the rear triangle of the bike, again reducing drag. This Wilier, unabashedly admit derives from the HopeTech bike that the GB track team were due to ride at the 2020 Olympics with the goal of channelling air more efficiently around the rider’s legs. According to the Italians, the same principle applies on the Filante SLR. Neat final details include capacity for 30mm tyres, with Vittoria Corsa 28mm fitted as standard which offers an impressively plush ride quality, as well as the use of Mavic’s Speed Release thru-axle system, which is easy to use.
All in all, this is an engineering exercise that seems to bring passion to the mix, so if you want a frameset you can thrash about on and your pockets are deep enough, then the Filante SLR is worth considering. With the ten grand psychological barriers well and truly smashed in the last couple of years, areo-bike brands of this calibre are taking off into the financial stratosphere with ultra-high-tech frames and the latest electronic shifting.
The most affordable Filante SLR factory build is equipped with Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 8070 group-set and rolls RS170 specification wheels, also from the Japanese brand, at £6,480. Upgrade to Dura-Ace Di2 9170 and Wilier ULT38KT wheels, with Ceramic Speed bearings, and you’ll pay £10,170. Want the frame and that wheelset, with SRAM’s eTap AXS? That will be £10,260.
Those riders who believe that an Italian road bike should always be finished in Campagnolo, there are two Super Record EPS builds, at £11,160(Bora WTO 33 wheels) and £10,080 (rolling Shamal C21s).
