Bespoke Blog

I need to make a disclaimer before I start. I am not the natural audience for a pure aero road bike. Give me an Emonda over a Madone, or a Tarmac over a Venge any day of the week. And the big news with Cervelo for the 2018 Model year is the sublime new R5. So why test the S5?

Well its quite simple; Cervelo has dominated the aero scene in road bikes, Tri, Track and TT bikes for the last decade. The S5 is their flagship road frame in that regard and as we have just started working with Cervelo (after a number of years courting each other), I felt that this was the best bike to 'get' the Cervelo DNA

Its not as young as its rivals

The S5 has been around for a few years now. Cervelo have constantly updated it; but compared to a truly groundbreaking design like a Trek Madone it does seems slightly old hat. The cable routing around the handlebar (for instance) is not that clean at all.

However its still very quick - it remains me of the Specialised Shiv TT - you think there will be a new one coming; but until they can make it quicker Pros ride this one (and win on it !).

One of the benefits of it not being as integrated as modern super bikes such as Madone or Shiv Disc is that its much easier to travel with. Taking this in a bike box is a doddle (the others are much less so). And adjusting your bar height is no different than a 'normal' road bike. Adjusting your bars on a Madone will require a good relationship with your friendly mechanic !

Its still very quick

I have done 1500km on the bike now; no mountain epics on it yet but plenty of 120km rides with 1000m of climbing in it. There are a number of things that feel very apparent:

Its not heavy - you don't feel penalised for the aero benefits it brings

Its amazingly compliant; I know aero road bikes get a terrible rap for being super harsh. But this bike is not guilty of that.

Its astonishingly easy to make fast progress on the bike - it absolutely devours flat and rolling roads.

Good value

I know Bespoke lives in a strange world where £6499 is considered good value; but on a relative basis it really is. The frame alone is £3799 and the extra £2700 gets you the fantastic new Dura Ace 9000 groupset a smart looking Cervelo carbon handlebar and Enve 3.4 wheels.

One thing I was surprised at was the specs'ing of Continental Grand Prix tires. That seems very miserly, when the much better GP4000SII would be very little more for Cervelo to buy with their buying power. Instead it would the first thing I would change on the bike - for an out and out speed machine you really need low rolling resistance tyres…

Owner bias

This is clearly not that objective a review; I wanted to really like the S5 and I did….

A £6499 its a cracking buy; a top notch aero frame; sublime groups and class leading Enve 3.4s.

Given the mountainous sportives (such as Haute Route) I like to do I would still choose an R5 over this if I could have one bike only. But the fast and furious group rides, or racing this would be an absolute weapon.

Buy the S5 from Bespoke Cycling