R5ca and R5 officially debut at Eurobike along with revamped R3
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The T1 track frame has a heavily bolstered straight 1 1/8" head tube.(Image credit: James Huang)
The new Cervélo R5 will have the same exterior shape as the R5ca but will be built in Asia instead of at the company's California development studio.(Image credit: James Huang)
Chain stays on the R5ca start out very tall then neck down quickly for more vertical flex.(Image credit: James Huang)
The matching fork on the R5ca uses a tapered 1 1/8"-to-1 3/8" steerer tube.(Image credit: James Huang)
Cervélo will produce the flagship R5ca in limited quantities. Each will be hand made by Cervélo engineers at the company's California development facility.(Image credit: James Huang)
Cervélo originally developed BBright in cooperation with team sponsor Rotor but other manufacturers have already signed on.(Image credit: James Huang)
Budget-minded riders looking for an aero advantage will still find the aluminum S1 in Cervélo's 2011 collection.(Image credit: James Huang)
The P3 will carry over into Cervélo's 2011 line.(Image credit: James Huang)
Cervélo's popular P2 will carry over essentially unchanged for 2011 - a good thing for bread-and-butter triathlete customers who have come to rely on its versatile fit and proven performance.(Image credit: James Huang)
BBright leaves more room on the driveside for the down tube, seat tube, and non-driveside chain stay - all without affecting pedal stance width.(Image credit: James Huang)
The 2011 Cervélo R3 will get a tapered 1 1/8"-to-1 3/8" head tube.(Image credit: James Huang)
The S2 continues on for 2011.(Image credit: James Huang)
Updated graphics on the new Cervélo range strike us as being more appealing than the 2010 scheme.(Image credit: James Huang)
The striking Cervélo P4 Evo will com with the aero-enhancing integrated water bottle.(Image credit: James Huang)
The more upright and comfortable RS will continue on for 2011.(Image credit: James Huang)
Among the companies that have already committed to BBright are Campagnolo, SRAM, FSA, and Rotor. BBright is mostly based on BB30 but with wider bearing spacing and the same pedal stance width.(Image credit: James Huang)
The new R3 will get the same BBright bottom bracket system as the range-topping R5.(Image credit: James Huang)
Chain stays have grown dramatically on the new R3 relative to last year's version.(Image credit: James Huang)
Cervélo's R3 will become the high-end workhorse of the road family with features and tube shapes borrowed from the new R5.(Image credit: James Huang)
Cervélo somehow managed to find time to design the new T1 aluminum track bike in addition to the new road framesets.(Image credit: James Huang)
Cervélo will offer its new range-topping R5 road machine in two levels for the 2011 season: the limited production R5ca and the inline R5. While both will share virtually identical exterior shapes, the R5ca will be built in Cervélo's California facility by company engineers – not factory workers – and will boast an almost unbelievable 675g claimed frame weight.
That being said, the standard R5 is no paperweight, either, with a claimed figure of under 800g.
Geometry is tweaked a bit as well with more regular jumps in stack and reach across the size range, steadier high-speed handling in smaller sizes, and slightly longer head tubes that still allow for soon-to-be former Cervélo TestTeam riders to achieve their aggressive positions with -17° stems but simultaneously allow the rest of us to produce more realistic positions without having to resort to a tall stack of spacers.
Common features between the R5ca and R5 include a 1 1/8"-to-1 3/8" tapered front end for what Cervélo says is the best combination of stiffness and ride comfort, especially tall and chunky asymmetrical chain stays, Cervélo's tiniest seat stays to date, the company's familiar 'Squoval' tube profiles, and the unique BBright (say, 'bee bee right') bottom bracket system derived from the industry-standard BB30 setup.
BBright uses the same spindle diameter as BB30 plus the same bearing dimensions and placement on the driveside, but extends the non-driveside bearing 11mm further away from the centerline of the bike since the lack of chainrings leaves plenty of room. As a result, BBright yields no change in pedal stance width but affords more real estate for a bigger down tube, non-driveside chain stay and seat tube – and the press-fit cups yield a lighter overall system, too.
Moreover, Cervélo says BBright requires only minor modifications on the part of current BB30-compliant crank manufacturers for compatibility and indeed, SRAM, FSA, Campagnolo, and Rotor are all on board to produce BBright-specific bits. Adapters will allow Shimano Hollowtech II cranks to fit, too, and additional kits will allow users to install older external-type cranks such as MegaExo, GXP, and Ultra-Torque.
Cervelo's R3 will become the high-end workhorse of the road family with features and tube shapes borrowed from the new R5.
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Cervélo will also trickle down nearly all of the R5's shape and features to the wholly revamped R3 (the R3-SL goes away for 2011), including the tapered front end, more radical stay shapes and sizes, revised geometry, and the BBright bottom bracket system for – surprise, surprise – more drivetrain and torsional stiffness, a better ride, and less weight than the previous edition.
Given the extensive development work poured into the R5 and R3 platforms, it's no surprise that Cervélo had little energy left for other projects as the S1/2/3 aero road range and proven P1/2/3/4 are essentially carried over for 2011.
Even so, Cervélo did somehow manage to squeeze in a new T1 dedicated track frame made with aero-profile aluminum tubing, traditional rear-facing horizontal dropouts, a straight 1 1/8" head tube and a standard threaded bottom bracket for those that want to give never-ending left turns a shot.
