Check out Mark Cavendish’s Wilier Filante SLR

Britain’s Mark Cavendish switched from Deceuninck-Quick-Step to Astana Qazaqstan at the start of the year and here’s the Wilier Filante SLR that he’s riding. Could this be the bike upon which Cav takes the record for Tour de France stage wins outright? He’s currently tying with Eddy Merckx on 34.

Pic: Mark Cavendish at Tirreno Adriatico © Zac Williams-SWpix.com

“This bike is designed for flat and sprint stages, perfect to support the Manx Missile’s seasonal (and career) goals,” says Wilier.

The aero Filante was unveiled towards the end of 2020 and introduced in Wilier’s 2021 range. It’s a disc brake bike for electronic groupsets only, and Wilier claims a frame weight of just 870g and 360g for the fork.

Wilier uses truncated NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoils as the basis for Filante SLR’s tube profiles, as it did for its Cento10Pro previously. The difference, though, is in the cutoff at the rear of the tube. Whereas the rear of the Cento10Pro’s tube was cut off square, Wilier designed a more rounded cut on the Filante with the aim of making the boundary layer – the air particles closest to the frame – stick more to the profile in real-world conditions in order to reduce drag.

Wilier also widened the fork legs on the Filante to reduce turbulence and to hide the rear triangle when viewed from the front. Again, the idea was to minimise drag.

Astana Qazaqstan has given its Filante SLR aero road bike – along with its Zero SLR lightweight bike – a ‘chrome-plated graphite’ makeover for 2023. Astana Qazaqstan says that the new finish “is obtained with a sophisticated hand-painting process”.

The Filante puts in a superb performance out on the road. In fact, it’s just gorgeous. In our review, we praised it as a “lightweight aero road bike that offers a reactive performance, quick handling, and a surprisingly comfortable ride.”

Weight is far from everything, especially when it comes to an aero road bike, but our XL test model tipped the scales at just north of 7kg. There’s no getting around the fact that it’s expensive but the Filante is simply a fabulous face bike.

> Check out our Wilier Filante SLR review here 

Like the majority of the pro peloton, Astana-Qasaqstan riders use Shimano Dura-Ace R9270 groupsets.

However, Astana bikes are fitted with SLF Motion Speed System pulleys on the rear derailleur which are designed to reduce drivetrain friction. They use carbon fibre cages and a combination of 14-tooth and 18-tooth pulley wheels. SLF also provides the bottom bracket.

> Read our Shimano Dura-Ace groupset review 

The wheels come from French brand Corima, the model depending on the terrain and conditions.

Here’s the complete spec list for Mark Cavendish’s Wilier Filante SLR:

Frame Filante SLR - Carbon monocoque HUS Mod + Crystal Liquid Polymer
Fork Filante SLR - Carbon monocoque HUS Mod + Crystal Liquid Polymer
Handlebar Filante Bar Integrated Carbon
Seatpost Filante SLR Carbon, Wilier Custom Made
Groupset Shimano Dura Ace Di2 9270 12S
Wheels Corima 47WS Black
Headset FSA
Shifters Shimano Dura Ace Di2 ST-R9270
Brakes Shimano Dura Ace BR-R9270
Rotors Shimano Dura Ace RT-MT900 CENTER LOCK 160 / 140
Front derailleur Shimano Dura Ace Di2 FD-R9250
Rear derailleur Shimano Dura Ace Di2 RD-R9250
Pulley SLF Motion Speed System
Chainset Shimano Dura Ace FC-R9200 + Shimano Powermeter
Bottom bracket SLF Motion BB86
Cassette Shimano Dura Ace CS-R9200 12S
Chain Shimano Dura Ace CN-M9100 12S
Tyres Vittoria Corsa Speed 700x28
Saddle Prologo Scratch 2
Bar tape Prologo
Bottle cage Tacx
Pedals Look KEO Blade carbon

Wilier doesn’t offer the Filante in this precise build but a Shimano Dura-Ace equipped model (with Wilier’s own SLR42KC wheels and a standard Dura-Ace chainset) is €11,300 (about £9,940).

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