Whereas the brand new Madone and poorly disguised Bolide grabbed all of the pre-tour consideration, Cervelo dropped the brand new S5 into the wild beneath our noses with out anybody noticing. Hiding in plain sight, stage-riding and an total triumph, the brand new S5 has lastly been launched.
The present crop of the most effective aero bikes take design inspiration from their TT cousins as a lot as what they consider as ‘customary’ highway bikes. Maybe greater than another mannequin, the Cervelo S5 is probably the most TT, with its inflexible rear wheel slot within the seattube, a split-stem paying homage to the TT aero extension assist and even a hinged headtube association.
With a number of stage wins for Van Aert, Wingegaard and Laporte, the most recent S5, which bears its title within the yellow and inexperienced jersey on the Tour de France, has little left to show and as a substitute has many small updates. Quite than the large overhaul we have seen on some new fashions this yr.
The principle tweaks are known as ‘simplify, refine, improve’, that are all principally synonyms. What it quantities to is a frameset that is visually equivalent to its predecessor, however with enhancements to the tubing profile, tire clearance and bits that make the entrance finish a bit tougher to dwell with.
New body dimension
A trademark visible for Cervelos has at all times been the rear wheel cutout within the seattube – which remains to be a function of the brand new S5. The tube profiles are all typically deeper, consistent with the most recent UCI allowances. The underside bracket can also be taller as we’ve got seen on different new bikes like the brand new Scott Foil.
The trailing edges have been formed to be extra aggressive in pursuit of extra invaluable watts. The fork form has additionally been redesigned, with an up to date nostril on the hinge (the entrance of your complete bike).
The body is now digital and disc solely, mirroring the likes of the brand new Trek Madone and lots of the greatest aero bikes, permitting the rear dropouts to remain tidy. The frameset itself was constructed along with the brand new reserve wheelset, and whereas it is optimized round a 28mm tire it will probably deal with as much as 34, which is on the massive aspect even by fashionable requirements (contemplating it is properly over the UCI restrict for cyclocross. Why would you want greater for a highway bike? is troublesome to see).
Simplified entrance finish
Of the ocean of proprietary bar-stem combos we see on fashionable aero bikes, the Cervelo S5 has maybe the oddest setup with a bi-stem system. It was criticized for being troublesome to work with and largely unadjustable, so the brand new model has been simplified.
There are now not any stack-height-specific bolt lengths to cope with, and a regular bolt size utilized in totally different stem lengths and totally different stack heights makes swapping comparatively simpler. The bars additionally connect to the stem extra simply and rotate 5 levels to raised dial in your match. All the system is now 53g lighter because of this simplification.
The form of the bar has additionally been subtly altered with the goal of reaching a superbly flat transition between the bar and the hood, in order that a lot of the aero of the UCI authorized positions could be positioned on the entrance on the bar behind the hoods.
On the rear, to maintain tempo with fashionable tendencies in bike becoming, the rear 25mm offset seatpost has been changed by 15mm. In the event you’re after a extra excessive place although, the previous 25mm offset put up forwards are suitable.
Vary and value
The brand new Cervelo S5 is offered in three colours; Black, Purple/White and Crimson/Black. Being digital solely, it is supplied with Dura-S, Ultegra, Crimson and Power, or as a frameset if you wish to run it with the brand new Shimano 105.
The Crimson eTap model will set you again £12,999, the Ultegra model at £9,199. The frameset will retail for £5,499. US pricing remains to be unclear, however we count on to see roughly $15,700 to $11,100 for the entire mannequin and roughly $6,650 for the frameset.
