The revamped Cervelo S5 is, in my view, one of the most exciting bikes inside the peloton right now and a mighty stunning piece of engineering. The new V-shaped stem solves the difficulty of getting no adjustability on the integrated front ends. However, it appears smooth as any individual-piece bar and stems machine accessible. You do pay a little greater for the S5 than a few fantastic high-quit aero options from other huge brands. However, I cannot see absolutely everyone who wants to pass quicker being disenchanted with this motorcycle if they could come up with the money for it.
Pros: Very rapid, adjustable, fantastically stiff, and stable
Cons: Expensive, 35mm-deep wheels don’t get the first-class out of the frame
The third new release of Cervelo’s S5, its flagship aero avenue racing motorbike, eventually launched in late September 2018 after a 4-year wait. A couple of months before that, its maximum high-profile sponsored crew, Dimension Data, had switched allegiances to BMC. However, I reckon Dimension Data can be wishing they had remained devoted to their antique sponsor (now sponsoring Team Sunweb) because the S5 might be the cream of the crop whilst it comes all the way down to pure pace and clever integration.
Cervelo admits it turned into forced to go again to the drafting board and be higher to satisfy the quickest riders’ needs within the global, and the S5 mission started by aiming to create an entire aerodynamic ‘machine’ instead of trying to improve man or woman additives. Cervelo set itself an intention of making a motorcycle that would have absolutely integrated cable routing. It could be constructed around flat-mount disc brakes (sorry, rim brake enthusiasts) with tire clearance as much as possible 30mm, have easy positional adjustment, and a boom in stiffness. It would additionally need to be substantially quicker, of course, and Cervelo says through the usage of computational fluid dynamics and good-sized wind tunnel checking out, it carried out this to the music of five.5 watts (42g of drag) compared to the 2014 S5 driving at 40km/h.
The body is also 100g lighter than the old version, with my test motorbike coming in at 7.8kg. While it is now not featherlight, the wind tunnel would endorse lighter doesn’t necessarily suggest quicker, so Cervelo would not be too involved with hard the UCI’s weight restrict – its preliminary goal changed into the equal weight or lower than the Gen II S5. Cervelo has named the specific tube shapes selected to improve aerodynamic flow ‘TrueAero,’ with examples being the outsized backside bracket place, seat tube and down tube, and a larger sized uneven left chainstay.
Despite its wildly exceptional seems, the (competitive) geometry of the brand new S5 is essentially unchanged. On my 54cm look at the motorbike, you get a brief head tube at 13.4cm, 54.2cm of the stack, 38.4cm of reach, and a short ninety-seven—5 cm wheelbase. The seat perspective and head perspective are both 73°. Compared to other reducing part aero motorcycles, this is quite an awful lot no more, or no less competitive – the Specialized Venge has a slightly lower head tube at 13.3cm and slightly longer reach at 38.7cm in comparison with the S5’s 38.4cm on a 54cm body. However, the numbers and angles are in large part identical someplace else.
What approximately Cervelo’s aero, however less aggressive cousin, the S3? On a 54cm body, the seat and head angles are the same. However, the reach is barely shorter at 37.8cm with a taller head tube (14.8cm) and stack (55.5cm) – so the S5 is clearly designed to get you lower.
Cervelo also claims the new S5 is greater comfy and strong than before, even though the stiffness is claimed to had been improved to the track of thirteen% within the head tube and 25% inside the massive bottom bracket region.
Cervelo’s definition of comfort does not always mean cozy within the conventional experience, with Cervelo as a substitute selecting to recognition on the ‘rider revel in’; essentially, the motorbike is meant to be ridden fast, and the cyclists within the market for an S5 will assume a bike that rides as such, because of this characteristics together with a low the front cease and high ranges of stiffness. Cervelo has aimed to make the motorbike as comfy as feasible within those parameters.
The S5 is very an awful lot constructed with aerodynamics in thought first, with Cervelo then working out a way to build vertical compliance and luxury afterward. On its bikes constructed extra for day-length using, along with the R5, Cervelo begins with tube shapes that prioritize vertical compliance and lightness with a shorter, extra upright geometry and forgo the usage of extremely-high modulus carbon to create a more damped trip.
In phrases of usability and allowing for modifications, the birthday party piece is the new V-Shaped stem. Even even though it is technically no longer included. It may be offered separately in diverse sizes; it cleverly bolts directly into the underside of the new AB08 handlebar, developing a look as clean as any incorporated bar and stem gadget accessible – with rubber caps overlaying the bolts to finish the tidy aesthetics. The bar/stem combination also allows for digital and mechanical gears to be routed straight via; this means that the cables are absolutely hidden on any spec of S5 you pick out.
The stack range goes up to 30mm in 5mm increments, and you could make handlebar pitch changes in steps of two.Five° or five°. If it really is still now not adjustable enough for you, a popular bar and stem may be fitted instead.
There’s no complex trickery taking place with the Seatpost; you simply want to loosen one bolt to transport it up or down.
The shaping of the seat tube around the tired approach wasn’t everywhere for my extra Seatpost to go, so I had to get it cut down to length to account for my annoyingly short legs.
I should cross on all day choosing apart Cervelo’s S5 white paper; however, pick different differences inside the new version to consist of a cutout within the down tube across the front wheel in addition to the sizeable cutout inside the seat tube, a twisted form within the handlebar that creates an aerofoil to reduce drag, and an increase in steerage stiffness to improve coping with.
