Willier
bikes are available in road / mtb/ family...
Wilier was born in 1906 thanks to the brilliant idea
of a trader from Bassano, Pietro Dal Molin,
of building bicycles on his own account. His forge
or "Steel horses" rose as a small workshop
along the banks of the river Brenta, at Bassano del
Grappa, and it became more and more successful by
keeping up with the increasing demand for bicycles.
In the first post-war period, Mario, one of
Dal Molin's sons, gained the leadership of Wilier
and he began a constant perfectioning of the bicycles
through chromium and nickel-plating. Under his leadership,
the production increased considerably and the firm,
which came unsmirched out of the II World War, after
the Armistice, started again its activity.
Those were the years of the Reconstruction,
when the bicycle was the most important means of transportation
as well as cycling, together with football, became
the most popular sport. For this reason, Dal Molin
determined to set up a professional team captained
by the triestin Giordano Cottur, well-know for succeding
no less than Gino Bartali during the Bassano-Monte
Grappa lap for amateurs.
In the same time, according to the common feeling
of uneasiness about the fate of Trieste,
Dal Molin decided to associate the name of this julian
town to that of his own firm. In this way, in Autumn
1945 the Wilier Triestina was born, distinguished
by its red copper-coloured bicycles, which later became
an authentic trade-mark. The following year the team
took to the first Tour of Italy of the post-war period,
cutting in the duel between two great champions, Coppi
and Bartali, and gaining flattering victories in several
laps. After all those successful races, Wilier became
part of the most important Italian cycling: this big
industrial boom involved an enlargement both of the
plant and of the staff, in the order to meet the increasing
demand; so, the production reached 200 bicycles a
day, employing 300 workers.
Strong in its success and thanks to the prestige
it had gained, in 1947 Wilier bought up a promising
young cyclist: Fiorenzo Magni, this one,
instead of being crushed in the challenge between
Coppi and Bartali, found out the right system to become
the third great protagonist of Italian cycling, by
winning the Tour of Italy in 1948. This is the same
year Wilier spread its intense activity in South America
too, where a small team of local professional cyclist
collected dozens of wins.
In the following season, the team, reconfirmed
for its great performances, won several national
races, until it became successful in 1949 and in 1950
in the Tour of Flanders and the Tour de France.
Unfortunately, after the first enrapturing phase of
national reconstruction, in the early '50s, came the
period of the economic miracle: people gave up bicycles
to discover scooters and motorbike. Cycle firms suffered
the damage of progress, and in 1952 Wilier Triestina
had to shut down and leave its agonistic activity.
Nowadays, the glorious story of this firm
and of its "copper-coloured jewel"
lives again thanks to the Gastaldello brothers from
Rossano Veneto, who bought the Wilier Triestina mark
in 1969, proud to bring again great favour to one
of the best known Italian cycle houses and providing
dozens of professional and dilettantish Italian and
foreign teams with their bicycles.
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Click here to find out more about Wilier Bicycles
and view their complete range
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Contact Coolum Cycles for further information about
Wilier
How to find Coolum Cycles
Coolum Cycles is located on the Yandina Coolum Rd
in Coolum, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia.
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Click here to find out more information
