no Cervelo until 2019 2019 will be Sunweb/Cervelo and Tom Dumoulin - and Cervelo will not be affixed to the cursed Roger Hammond and Cavendish (2017 TdF curse + false Sagan DQ)
4:05 you can use a bar fly garmin mount in the front plate of the stem, also it comes with two top caps for the stem so you can use spacers above the stem.
What I find laughable about cervelo (and this is coming from someone who owns both current s5 and the previous gen r5) is their pricing of frame vs whole bike. I can EASILY build the whole bike they sell for $9000 well below that price if I just buy a frame and seatpost from them. I could even spec it out with extralite stem and an exotic level full carbon saddle and still end up way below the $9000 they charge for the full bike. I guess they bank on the fact that most people don't build their own bikes? Anyway. This is why I never pay cervelo. I just find a MINT used frame a year later and build my own bike to my spec and end up with "super bike" that costs $3000+ less than what Cervelo asks. I love the brand and the bikes but their prices are shameful and not worth it.
Guys, great review! The bike is a joy to ride and handles insanely well. Agree with all your comments regarding the frame. Have a few issues though: The RAT system is fast! You have you push it right in and then turn it. Why would anyone want to put spacers above the stem? If you need spacers you can put them below. The stem looks really nice, especially when slammed. Most manufacturers skimp out on tyres, no biggie, but it should have come with 28s. The bottom bracket is the real problem, you didn’t mention this. It’s a cheap BBB one and has to be swapped out immediately to a high end bottom bracket like C Bear or Ceramic Speed. I can understand why Cervelo would put a cheap saddle on the bike because most people would swap it anyway. The stem is designed for a Barfly mount so use it. They look really good, no need for an ugly one that clamps to the bars. The wheels on this model are good but the Dura Ace version comes with old Enve rims paired with cheap Formula hubs that are just awful.
Matthew Holberton there are many very real reasons you would want to have spacers above your stem. A) so you can sell the bike later to someone who needs the stem to be higher. B) so you can experiment with lowering your stem and raise it back up if it starts hurting your back. also pt A was literally covered in the video. Watch. The. Video.
Saurabh Kulkarni buy a bike to fit you not someone else. Slamming the stem is the only way to go. Bike fitting is driven by the saddle position and most people can have a slammed stem if the frame is the right size and with a zero-offset seatpost. Why spend thousands of dollars on a bike and not spend a few hundred on a proper bike fit...
Personally I think bikes should just stop coming with saddles, just as they don't come with pedals. Your saddle is something even more personal to you than pedals, so why on earth do bikes come with some random "one size fits all" saddle anyway? I'd much rather have that money go towards something else like the tires. Tires should always be top spec on something like this tho
Absolutely. They can photograph them with a saddle, and bike shops can outfit them with one for display/demos but when it comes to actually buying, 90% of riders are going to swap them out anyway.
Scott Addict Premium Di2 Disc review would be great to see, comes with everything the Cervelo doesn't and is an absolute ripper of a bike. Grin from ear to ear every pedal stroke. If you get a chance ride one then you will be wanting to purchase one.
I believe this is a serious contender aside from the saddle and tires (and stem) because chances are going to change...maybe tires not so much, but if you're going to get fitted, you're going to have already sorted out your saddle and the fit will decide the stem, and its not likely to be the one that came with the bike. Tires, the average person is like going to fine tune their tire choice around what they ride. All-in-all 4000s are better all around though. If I were buying this, I would look at if I could convert those Zipps to tubeless and minimally 28s. If not, I would build from the frameset up in an "all-road" setup with 28s or 30s with tubeless, and diversify the my riding in this light confident geometry. The problem for me would start with the fact that the Specialized Tarmac Disc frameset comes in less expensive, and the complete bike has tubeless ready wheels along with similar or slightly more clearance. In the end, I still prefer the design and engineering of Cervelo bikes and I also believe they use better carbon with a better dampening characteristic which in the long term isn't a value on paper, but a value in ownership. Then again, most of this might not be at all important to the road racer this bike was aimed for, and in all reality something like the C Series or Open UPPER or 3T Strata would be a better option for my focus, but there are drawback to those setups especially if you're going to do competitive racing or fast group rides on the same bike.
What happend at 3:42? Talking thru axles one minute and stems the next... btw. have the RAT axle on my focus mtbs, the old one was really really good and fast, the new one on the Focus O1E jams and is super slow to use
I have RAT axle on my 2106 Focus Cayo and works well most of the time as long as it is kept clean...not always my strong point, personally I am very happy with the simplicity of it...loosen turn and pull out :)
The through axles are a bit of a pain in the ass until you figure them out, then, not an issue, overall, I love my R5, fast, nimble, light, great bike that looks good, get lots of compliments on it, even from non riders..
I have to say that the taller head tube was one of the things I liked about the Cervelo frames. I'd really like an R5, but I'd have to try the new frame before committing. A shame.
I agree about the rapid axle (specially if you try to set it onto your Kickr) IMPOSSIBLE!, stem and the cockpit (Garmin). those are the "cons" of this bike despite it's superb. I had a Canyon Ultimate and I found this one more rigid, specially on bad terrains which makes less smooth the ride (I'll try grand-prix tires). Another difference I've notice is in my cycling dynamics (TE & PS) my actual numbers are lower than my previews ones. (73%-21% Vs 85%-25%). *Could be due to a lower endurance?
How about a direct comparison of the R5 and R3 with similar equipment and wheels. Nobody does these and it's the most obvious choice readers face when shopping.
I was enquiring about this exact bike they are like gold dust.. Evans cannot source them at all, wheelbase said they "might" be able to get hold of o e sometime in 2019!!! A BIKE shop in Hull said they might be able to get hold of a frame in a month.. I can't find anyone that has actually got any of these in stock. No one will tell me but have these been secretly recalled for some reason? I do not believe that Cervelo have sold all their stock and that is it.
“The lengthen it for more stability at speed” did they actually for that reason though? Did they make the front longer or did they make the chain stays longer because they had to for disc brakes?
Matthew Holberton yes they are the same on the new one. The last model had shorter chainstays 40.5 vs 41.0. I can find the wheelbase for the old one but not the new one. I can see the front center for the new one but not the old one. It’s possible the put another 5mm or so in the front center but I can’t really find that info
I have managed the impossible, I have sourced one of these Sram red etap disk. Tomorrow is going to be happy New bike day! So so so excited but the seat tyres and the chainset will be swapped out as soon as I get home😊
Look at 3:45 again. The stem that came with the bike doesn't allow you to put spacers on top without cutting the steerer. The testers wanted to slam the stem without cutting the steerer on the review bike, so they probably put on their own stem.
i'm shocked about your opinions about RAT axle. I'm proud user of Focus Mares CX bike and in 3 year of usage RAT axles I have only very little to complain about them and I believe they are best on market. Jeremy Powers - 4 times US CX champ and world cup racer loves them too. You maybe had some new shitty version because I remove and switch my wheels instantly in seconds on my bike and definitely much faster then on my road bike or other cx bike with threaded through axle . At the beginning I was little struggling until I fully understood how they work. I would love to hear more details about what bothered you a why it failed, because RAT axles are hot candidate to become industry standard.
I think the unfortunate thing is that it is now almost standard fare for mainstream manufacturers' top bikes to cost the price of a small car, whereas just a couple of years ago, this was reserved for halo models. And even at that outrageous price, you get crappy tires and entry level componentry (3rd tier Zipps, base Fizik saddle, really?)... I think the public will have to make a concerted effort to vote with their wallets and oppose this.
It’s so annoying that every aero handlebar on the market has zero room for a Garmin mount. Why they can have a slightly wider area near the stem clamp to accommodate a GPS mount
isipang magaslaw the bottom bracket can creak especially if it’s a cheap crap one like the BBB branded one that comes with the bike. Apart from the cheap short cuts Cervelo makes on some of the components they are the best bikes. Just be prepared to upgrade a few things.
What 2018 bike would you pick over the Cervélo R5 Disc? Let us know in the comment section!
no Cervelo until 2019
2019 will be Sunweb/Cervelo and Tom Dumoulin - and Cervelo will not be affixed to the cursed Roger Hammond and Cavendish (2017 TdF curse + false Sagan DQ)
\
I bought one last week and I friken love it! Slapped some zipp 404 tubulars on it. Came with durace di2! So nice and crispy when shifting.
4:05 you can use a bar fly garmin mount in the front plate of the stem, also it comes with two top caps for the stem so you can use spacers above the stem.
Digging that intro music. Basically my mental soundtrack whilst out riding lol. Great vid!
What I find laughable about cervelo (and this is coming from someone who owns both current s5 and the previous gen r5) is their pricing of frame vs whole bike. I can EASILY build the whole bike they sell for $9000 well below that price if I just buy a frame and seatpost from them. I could even spec it out with extralite stem and an exotic level full carbon saddle and still end up way below the $9000 they charge for the full bike. I guess they bank on the fact that most people don't build their own bikes? Anyway. This is why I never pay cervelo. I just find a MINT used frame a year later and build my own bike to my spec and end up with "super bike" that costs $3000+ less than what Cervelo asks. I love the brand and the bikes but their prices are shameful and not worth it.
Guys, great review! The bike is a joy to ride and handles insanely well. Agree with all your comments regarding the frame.
Have a few issues though:
The RAT system is fast! You have you push it right in and then turn it.
Why would anyone want to put spacers above the stem? If you need spacers you can put them below. The stem looks really nice, especially when slammed.
Most manufacturers skimp out on tyres, no biggie, but it should have come with 28s.
The bottom bracket is the real problem, you didn’t mention this. It’s a cheap BBB one and has to be swapped out immediately to a high end bottom bracket like C Bear or Ceramic Speed.
I can understand why Cervelo would put a cheap saddle on the bike because most people would swap it anyway.
The stem is designed for a Barfly mount so use it. They look really good, no need for an ugly one that clamps to the bars.
The wheels on this model are good but the Dura Ace version comes with old Enve rims paired with cheap Formula hubs that are just awful.
Matthew Holberton there are many very real reasons you would want to have spacers above your stem. A) so you can sell the bike later to someone who needs the stem to be higher. B) so you can experiment with lowering your stem and raise it back up if it starts hurting your back. also pt A was literally covered in the video. Watch. The. Video.
Saurabh Kulkarni buy a bike to fit you not someone else. Slamming the stem is the only way to go. Bike fitting is driven by the saddle position and most people can have a slammed stem if the frame is the right size and with a zero-offset seatpost. Why spend thousands of dollars on a bike and not spend a few hundred on a proper bike fit...
Personally I think bikes should just stop coming with saddles, just as they don't come with pedals. Your saddle is something even more personal to you than pedals, so why on earth do bikes come with some random "one size fits all" saddle anyway? I'd much rather have that money go towards something else like the tires. Tires should always be top spec on something like this tho
Saurabh Kulkarni totally agree with this.
Absolutely. They can photograph them with a saddle, and bike shops can outfit them with one for display/demos but when it comes to actually buying, 90% of riders are going to swap them out anyway.
Scott Addict Premium Di2 Disc review would be great to see, comes with everything the Cervelo doesn't and is an absolute ripper of a bike. Grin from ear to ear every pedal stroke. If you get a chance ride one then you will be wanting to purchase one.
I believe this is a serious contender aside from the saddle and tires (and stem) because chances are going to change...maybe tires not so much, but if you're going to get fitted, you're going to have already sorted out your saddle and the fit will decide the stem, and its not likely to be the one that came with the bike. Tires, the average person is like going to fine tune their tire choice around what they ride. All-in-all 4000s are better all around though.
If I were buying this, I would look at if I could convert those Zipps to tubeless and minimally 28s. If not, I would build from the frameset up in an "all-road" setup with 28s or 30s with tubeless, and diversify the my riding in this light confident geometry.
The problem for me would start with the fact that the Specialized Tarmac Disc frameset comes in less expensive, and the complete bike has tubeless ready wheels along with similar or slightly more clearance. In the end, I still prefer the design and engineering of Cervelo bikes and I also believe they use better carbon with a better dampening characteristic which in the long term isn't a value on paper, but a value in ownership. Then again, most of this might not be at all important to the road racer this bike was aimed for, and in all reality something like the C Series or Open UPPER or 3T Strata would be a better option for my focus, but there are drawback to those setups especially if you're going to do competitive racing or fast group rides on the same bike.
Excellent balanced and objective review. What is the weight w/o pedals?
What happend at 3:42? Talking thru axles one minute and stems the next... btw. have the RAT axle on my focus mtbs, the old one was really really good and fast, the new one on the Focus O1E jams and is super slow to use
I have RAT axle on my 2106 Focus Cayo and works well most of the time as long as it is kept clean...not always my strong point, personally I am very happy with the simplicity of it...loosen turn and pull out :)
The through axles are a bit of a pain in the ass until you figure them out, then, not an issue, overall, I love my R5, fast, nimble, light, great bike that looks good, get lots of compliments on it, even from non riders..
The correct response to this video is yes.
I have to say that the taller head tube was one of the things I liked about the Cervelo frames. I'd really like an R5, but I'd have to try the new frame before committing. A shame.
Nice review! This should be the standard!
More reviews like this. Good job
I agree about the rapid axle (specially if you try to set it onto your Kickr) IMPOSSIBLE!, stem and the cockpit (Garmin). those are the "cons" of this bike despite it's superb. I had a Canyon Ultimate and I found this one more rigid, specially on bad terrains which makes less smooth the ride (I'll try grand-prix tires). Another difference I've notice is in my cycling dynamics (TE & PS) my actual numbers are lower than my previews ones. (73%-21% Vs 85%-25%). *Could be due to a lower endurance?
The 2018 bike I’d pick above the R5 disc is the R5 rim brake...
What's the weight?
Great review guys.
How about a direct comparison of the R5 and R3 with similar equipment and wheels. Nobody does these and it's the most obvious choice readers face when shopping.
Mentioned it was awesome climbing and descending. What about long days in the saddle?
I was enquiring about this exact bike they are like gold dust.. Evans cannot source them at all, wheelbase said they "might" be able to get hold of o e sometime in 2019!!! A BIKE shop in Hull said they might be able to get hold of a frame in a month.. I can't find anyone that has actually got any of these in stock.
No one will tell me but have these been secretly recalled for some reason? I do not believe that Cervelo have sold all their stock and that is it.
We now know the reason for the white stem !!
It's the bike is would have if I had that kind of money.
Okay, I'll take a crack at describing it: Stealth frame and forks, lime graphics, white stem.
The seat rake is huge, what is the seat angle set at?
AUD$13,000....for that money I would expect any bike to be perfect, with no negatives, for the average rider.
“The lengthen it for more stability at speed” did they actually for that reason though? Did they make the front longer or did they make the chain stays longer because they had to for disc brakes?
Jonathan Zappala the rim brake frame is identical in its geometry I believe. Correct me if I’m mistaken.
Matthew Holberton yes they are the same on the new one. The last model had shorter chainstays 40.5 vs 41.0. I can find the wheelbase for the old one but not the new one. I can see the front center for the new one but not the old one. It’s possible the put another 5mm or so in the front center but I can’t really find that info
It might just be the matte black but it looks really similar to a Canyon ultimate slx.
Oliver Higbee yeah... But really all of the shapes are different
I'd change wheels/tyres for 28mms and probably the seat. Comparo with BMC Road machine disc.
What’s the elastomer on the seat post and what does it do?
@cyclingweekly So, new R5 frameset or New Tarmac frameset???
most comfortable ride I've ever had on a bike...
The first good looking disc brake bike I've ever seen shame about the price though
Steve Clyne go for a canyon ultimate, looks practically identical
Maybe the BMC SLR01 Disc deserves a review?
I have managed the impossible, I have sourced one of these Sram red etap disk. Tomorrow is going to be happy New bike day!
So so so excited but the seat tyres and the chainset will be swapped out as soon as I get home😊
That is a pretty d**n good-looking bike, no doubt. But.. the white headset? Is it a joke? I find this bike terrifyingly attractive
Sup Oscar. That's a stem mate, but I agree with you.
Look at 3:45 again. The stem that came with the bike doesn't allow you to put spacers on top without cutting the steerer. The testers wanted to slam the stem without cutting the steerer on the review bike, so they probably put on their own stem.
Very good catch
They did - If you watch "Ollie Weekly" from a few weeks back he talks about just that. And makes fun of himself as it looks awful.
The stock stem is black and looks good - that's Ollie's old stem. He addressed it in another video, you're right though it does look odd.
RAT question... How can you use it on a turbo trainer??
This works www.feedbacksports.com/shop/omnium-track/
R3 review please
chrisk730 th-cam.com/video/C84hJXQmyTA/w-d-xo.html
Best disc drake bike for sprinting mamil. 🤔
it took you couple of rides to swap the rubbish tyres? what does that tell us?
Time to review the Factor O2 disc !
When will we see tarmac disc???
Soon
Due for 2019 model.
the white stem:D
i'm shocked about your opinions about RAT axle. I'm proud user of Focus Mares CX bike and in 3 year of usage RAT axles I have only very little to complain about them and I believe they are best on market. Jeremy Powers - 4 times US CX champ and world cup racer loves them too. You maybe had some new shitty version because I remove and switch my wheels instantly in seconds on my bike and definitely much faster then on my road bike or other cx bike with threaded through axle . At the beginning I was little struggling until I fully understood how they work. I would love to hear more details about what bothered you a why it failed, because RAT axles are hot candidate to become industry standard.
Is it me or does the head tube look very tall?
jmkmckenny it still is quite tall but shorter than before.
White stem ???????? Please...
Cutting corners on a bike at 7000 sort it out cervelo
Back to the Future.
Also, perhaps less moaning about the components; the bare frame can be bought and built how you like.
I think the unfortunate thing is that it is now almost standard fare for mainstream manufacturers' top bikes to cost the price of a small car, whereas just a couple of years ago, this was reserved for halo models. And even at that outrageous price, you get crappy tires and entry level componentry (3rd tier Zipps, base Fizik saddle, really?)... I think the public will have to make a concerted effort to vote with their wallets and oppose this.
But this is exactly what we want...more performance.
Problem is that damn bottom bracket. I will never buy a BB that isn't threaded, or the T47 or the one designed by Colnago.
It’s so annoying that every aero handlebar on the market has zero room for a Garmin mount. Why they can have a slightly wider area near the stem clamp to accommodate a GPS mount
Rixter you can get a Barfly mount that connects directly to the stem face plate. Looks really neat.
2018 S5 review...... pretty please
Ian Batchelor-Williams is it actually new? They keep saying "new" but I haven't seen any actual info
S5 has been the same since 2016. Just a different color and thats all . I own the Qhubeka one :) love it :)
Is that guy's hair CGI?
So cervelo has saved a few bucks on components that they know people in this category will change out anyways. Big deal.
I can’t get past the white stem and budget tyres!
It doesn't come with the white stem. I had to change it in order for the bike to fit.
Oliver Bridgewood Sorry I meant my eyes were distracted by the white stem Lol, nice bike and as always a great review 👍
That yellowish greenish colour just not my type. Otherwise cool looking bike
James Dean it also comes in a greener green with a white Cervelo logo.
It's not the arrow, it's the Indian.
i lke cervelo but they use that stupid pos bb standard of theirs
JogBird are they still using BBRIGHT?
Yes BBright. They should make it with a BSA bottom bracket.
i am planning to buy a cervelo. may i ask what the issue does BBright have?
isipang magaslaw the bottom bracket can creak especially if it’s a cheap crap one like the BBB branded one that comes with the bike. Apart from the cheap short cuts Cervelo makes on some of the components they are the best bikes. Just be prepared to upgrade a few things.
China made with Beverly Hills Price!
are u ENVE!?
I have a Focus ........ RAT Rubbish Axle Technology
First!
What's the weight?