Wilier Filante SLR
Price range: £9,710-£13,300 | Model tested: £9,710 | Weight: 7.38kg
“In contention for (almost) every category we have”
Wilier can sometimes end up flying a little under the radar, which is a keen loss for anyone who overlooks the Italian marque as, despite its 117-year heritage, Wilier still remains at the cutting edge
Released in 2021, the Filante SLR was actually among the first instances of this current wave of ‘lightweight aero’ bikes. In the last 12 months, Giant and Colnago have both followed suit with the Propel and V4RS respectively, with each boasting aero gains without butting up against the UCI’S 3:1 rule – and saving a handy amount of weight in the process.
It’s hard not to fall in love with the Filante SLR. It dances up the climbs, accelerating and propelling you indistinguishably from some wholly specific climbing bikes. But where those models then become a bit of a drag on the flat, twisting the screw a little when it’s your time on the front, the Filante SLR cuts through the air and holds its speed.
More so than almost any other bike on test, the Filante SLR finds itself in contention for (almost) every category we have: Best Climbers’ bike, Best Aero Bike, Dream Bike, Race Bike of the Year – the one exception is the ‘Best Value’ category, which the Filante heroically concedes.
Unfortunately for a jack of all trades, the Filante SLR remains a master of none. In the climbing and aero categories, it’s edged out in both by models with a bit more specificity.
The Filante’s balance between handling comfort, aero and weight – although excellent in its own peppy way – is nevertheless not quite up there with the more tech-heavy Cervélo S5.
Whether or not the Wilier Filante SLR should have taken the spot for ‘Dream Bike’ is harder to judge – no doubt there
will be those who wholly disagree with our verdict. But, hopefully, even if you reject our conclusion, there will be something in the argument you can appreciate – read on for that.
All that’s to say that the Filante SLR – as with all the models here – is an exceptionally good bike. Only the very best performers in all our reviews were put forward for consideration here. But, with nine bikes and only five categories, some will come away with nothing more.