A version of this article ran in the June issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. It has been updated with more details.
MONTEREY, Calif. (BRAIN) — Wilier, the 120-year-old Italian bike brand, announced its new plan for the U.S. market with an Airstream hospitality camper at the Sea Otter Classic in April.
The legacy brand has now tapped distributor Unofficial Worldwide as its exclusive partner in the U.S., transitioning away from Velo Star, which had been its distributor. Unofficial Worldwide said Velo Star will remain a Wilier retailer in the Oklahoma City area.
Unofficial Worldwide has previously worked with a number of companies as a brand agency, said Kevin Franks. The company has lined up eight independent sales reps for North America and began meeting with dealers at the start of April, Franks said. Retired racer Tim Johnson, most recently with Life Time, is joining as VP of Customer Experience.
“Tim and I just got back from Italy, and we're still buzzing," Franks told BRAIN in July. "We spent time at Wilier's headquarter near Bassano del Grappa and were blown away by the facility and the level of detail and craftsmanship that goes into every single bike. This is a company that's been building bikes in the Veneto since 1906, and you feel it everywhere, it’s ethereal.“ Franks told BRAIN.
Despite its age (Wilier is one of the oldest continually operated bike brands in the world), the company has been prolific in recent years, launching a variety of new models for the road and gravel.
At the Sea Otter the brand showed its new aero road model, the Filante SLR ID2, which was launched in October, and the Rave SLR ID2 aero gravel racing model. In May it launched the Rapida model, which is intended as a “fast, stable and accessible bike,” with a stack height in between Wilier's pure road racing models and its endurance models.
The brand continues to sponsor the Groupama-FDJ WorldTour team, the Wilier-Vittoria MTB Factory Team and the brand’s own elite gravel team, called "The Grip.”
For the North American market, Wilier is initially focusing in a small handful of models, although dealers will be able to special order other models if they wish. Complete bikes will be dropshipped from Italy, with framesets available with a variety of Shimano and SRAM parts kits. Custom colors and specs are available and shipment takes about two weeks.
“We are launching with high-end road and gravel to build the brand as a premium offering. … We are being realistic about our ability to service the market so instead of casting a superwide net and loading dealers up, we are taking a boutique approach. Ideally, each dealer will bring in one of each model,” Franks said. The Urta Max and Usma mountain bike models also are available in the U.S.
Wilier will not offer consumer-direct sales in the U.S., but will reach out to regional dealers for fulfillment if approached by a customer in an area with no Wilier dealers.
Franks said the brand now has about 22 U.S. dealers and another dozen in the works. Interested U.S. dealers can reach out to partners@wilierusa.com.
In 2020 Pamoja Capital took a minority stake in Wilier, with the founding Gastadello family maintaining control. Pamoja Capital manages the funds of the McCall MacBain Family and the McCall MacBain Foundation. Investment returns are donated to the McCall MacBain Foundation, which provides financial and working support for educational scholarships. The Foundation also funds climate change projects.
