Cervélo Áspero

We were intrigued to see how Cervélo would respond to the boom in gravel/adventure riding. There's already a huge range of bikes available - how would they differentiate themselves?

Well, the Áspero is the answer, and you may not be too surprised to learn that the emphasis is on speed.

Rather than building yet another "all-purpose" rig for bikepacking and beyond they've chosen to concentrate on riders who want to go fast both on and off road. It isn't bristling with mounting points for bags, racks, etc (although there is a set of bento box mounts on the top tube, along with 2x bottle cage mounts).

It'll happily take up to a 700x42mm tyre (or 650x49), and the fork has a nifty flip-chip to allow for the difference in offset between the different wheel sizes - ensuring that pin-sharp handling is always dialled in correctly.

So, this is a true off-road performer, happy being run with a 1x or 2x drivetrain, and the protective panel under the downtube reflects the fact that this is a bike designed to be ridden hard. It's an interesting fit for what is actually quite a large niche, and we're already seeing a ton of interest in the Áspero - Cervélo chose well.

photos by Bence Bujaki