What goes up, must come down.
The new 2022 Cervelo R5
The Cervelo R5 has one job - get to the top, fast. But for all the glory and fanfare that comes with a summit finish, they’re rarely the only climb of the day. And while a race isn’t usually won on a descent, they can certainly be lost. A climbing bike that can’t carve a hairpin is a bit like a cup of decaf coffee. This is the fourth iteration of the R5 and, while weight and stiffness have varied over the years, the handling, poise and unmatched prowess on a descent have been consistent since day one.
Sep Kuss, Stage 15, 2021 Tour de France
The new Cervelo R5 frame is 130g lighter than the previous model - a 16% reduction from an already light frame. The new frame is 703g and the new fork is 329g, bringing the frameset to just a hair over the kilogram mark. Cervelo also pulled some weight out of the parts that are included with the bike - the handlebar and stem are each 12g lighter and the seat post is 20g lighter. You won’t have any trouble building a bike that meets the 6.8kg UCI minimum. And while aerodynamics weren’t a focus with this latest iteration of the frame, the way they would be on an S5 or P5, bringing the cables inside reduced drag by 25g.
It’s faster in every direction.
Cervelo R5 Frameset in Lime & Black
2022 Cervelo R5 Frameset Development
If the previous generation Cervelo R5 had one knock, it was the stiffness - its goat-like climbing abilities came at the expense of a bit of bone jarring. While this wasn’t much of a problem for most riders, the Cervelo World Tour teams felt the bikes got more uncomfortable as the weeks of a Grand Tour wore on. So - reduce stiffness? In a climbing bike? It seemed crazy, but the Cervelo engineers dove in. They found previously that a specific ratio between head tube and bottom bracket stiffness is the magic formula for ride quality, but they’d never applied it to the R5, being in pursuit of stiffness like they were.
So they worked on a couple different layups, tested them and also sent them over to Team Jumbo-Visma for testing. Tom Dumoulin, having previously ridden and loved an R5 at Sunweb, was the prime candidate for early testing. The verdict? Unreservedly positive. Dumoulin felt he could climb just as efficiently on the bike and that the added compliance would result in less fatigue and more effective recovery. Jumbo Visma verified this and they were off to the races.
With the primary objectives achieved, Cervelo set to work on refinements - bringing the cables inside, increasing tyre clearance, working on the bar, stem and seat post to make the package even lighter and faster. You can even put a 34mm tyre on it. Just don’t call it a ‘cross bike!
