Premium bike brand Wilier Triestina is seeing red in 2023 as the Italian manufacturer launches its aero all-rounder, the Filante SLR, in Wilier’s signature Ramato colourway.
Mark Cavendish, who moved to the Wilier-supported Astana Pro Team this season, is also aboard the Filante SLR for this year.
The SLR is, says Wilier, “perfect to support the Manx Missile’s seasonal (and career) goals”.
Here, we look at the history behind Wilier’s iconic Ramato colourway as well as the brand’s other eye-catching paintjobs.
The history of a legend
One of the oldest bike brands in the world, Wilier has earned an outstanding reputation for producing a range of premium paintjobs. Ramato is its unique copper colourway and a trademark feature.
Wilier’s history dates to 1906 when its founder Pietro Dal Molin started building bikes in Bassano del Grappa, northern Italy. Commercial success soon followed and, after World War Two, he formed his own professional cycling team.
In 1948, Italian cycling legend Fiorenzo Magni took the Tour of Flanders and Giro d’Italia on Wilier bikes. It was the start of an illustrious association with numerous cycling heroes, such as Marco Pantani and Alessandro Ballan, who rode to victory in the 2008 UCI Road World Championships.
Continuing its racing heritage, since 2020 Wilier has supported the Astana Pro Team, which recently welcomed Mark Cavendish into the fold. Cavendish is riding the Filante SLR for his final season of racing.
The colour of success
Ramato was used widely between the 1940s and the 1980s, when steel bikes still ruled. The company even made Ramato a trademark in 1945 after it had become Wilier’s signature colour.
In celebration of Wilier’s 110th birthday – and as a tip of the hat to its iconic race bikes – Wilier launched the Superleggera in Ramato in 2016.
The following year, it brought the copper finish to the Cento10Pro, saying the bike provided a “direct connection between modern racing bicycles and the skilled craftsmen who brought the original Ramato bicycle to life”.
The Filante SLR in Ramato is the latest in a first-class lineage of Wilier bikes that have sported this unique shade and is a fitting finish to this World Tour-level ride.
What’s your hue?
Wilier is proud of its broad colour palette and there are various vibrant colourway options. Wilier’s Infinitamente configurator offers the choice of hundreds of combinations to create a unique ride, like Italian Road Cycling National Team Coach and ambassador Daniele Bennati’s Wilier 0 SLR.
A partnership between Wilier and clothing brand Maap sees its Rave SLR offering several sparky paintjobs, including one designed to support gravel racer Ivar Slik.
An exciting collaboration with Japanese artist Jun Inoue sees the Filante Unico sporting a unique abstract-style design.
The concept behind the colourway was to celebrate Shimano’s 100th anniversary and the result is a striking explosion of black and red in Inoue’s trademark street-art style.
