Subtle updates to headset and seat tube areas for Cervélo's latest aero bike
(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
It appears a small contingent of riders within the Jumbo-Visma team have been racing a new bike in recent weeks. More specifically, it appears that Cervélo has a new S5 aero bike up its sleeve, and Wout Van Aert piloted it to victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. However, due to the subtleties of its changes, it had managed to fly under the radar despite being on show for all to see, until now.
We got up close with the new bike ahead of Sunday's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, which was piloted by Tiesj Benoot during both of the Opening Weekend's race days.
A deeper head tube is the most obvious difference to the existing S5 (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The standout difference between Cervélo S5 new and old is the depth of the head tube area, and with the new design, it seems as though Cervélo has taken advantage of the UCI's relaxation of the rules that govern the permissible dimensions of tube shapes, no doubt for greater aerodynamic gain. It also appears to use a neater one-piece design than previously.
With the S5, Cervélo was already using a novel design here that places the steerer tube on the outside of the frame, putting it in front of the head tube and shaping it in such a way that mimics a single tube with a deeper profile, but without breaking the UCI's rules.
Here, the former model shows a shallower head tube (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The design of the new head tube retains this same concept, but by deepening both the head tube and steerer tube, each tube is theoretically more aerodynamic in its own right, and in turn, should be more aero overall.
The seat tube junction features a triangular cut-in, while the old model was more curved (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The other major difference lies in the junction between seat- and top tube. The existing design simply joins the two with a curved edge, as seen on Teunissen's bike above. The new design, meanwhile, uses a straighter edge to adjoin the two. It's a small detail, but one that's found on a number of other aero bikes such as the Merida Reacto.
Other details are even more subtle, with the seat tube, bottom-bracket shell and seat stays both appearing slightly altered, while the two-pronged aero handlebar seems to be entirely the same. Overall, it's certainly a case of evolution rather than revolution for the brand's flagship aero bike.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Image 1 of 4
Shimano's new Dura-Ace groupset provides the shifting(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
While many riders have been forced to mix and match, Benoot's bike is fitted with the new groupset's chainset, too(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
And that is paired with a 10-30T cassette(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Benoot's bike was fitted with the new Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 groupset. In any normal year, this would be a given, but many teams are being forced to use the previous model or mix and match to overcome a shortage in availability. Up front, he had fitted a 54/40T chainring combination, and this is paired with a 10-30T cassette at the back.
Dura-Ace C50 wheels are shod with Vittoria Corsa tubular tyres (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Wheels were also courtesy of the new Shimano groupset, with the Dura-Ace C50 hoops being wrapped in Vittoria's Corsa Graphene 2.0 tubular tyres.
Image 1 of 4
It's clear from this image how Cervélo has increased the depth of the whole headtube, even protruding the steerer tube forward a little(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The 20mm of spacers are immediately obvious given the design of the bike(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Despite the update for 2022, the cockpit appears to be unchanged(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Up front, a CloseTheGap computer is fitted to the underside of the bar(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Beneath the integrated handlebar, around 20mm of spacers are used to raise Benoot's position, while a CloseTheGap computer is mounted to hold the Belgian's Garmin computer out front. At the back, a Fizik Antares carbon saddle is Benoot's perch of preference, and it appears he's using a secondary seatpost clamp to prevent it from slipping on the rough cobbles.
Image 1 of 1
Dura-Ace pedals are joined by a small 'Science of speed' phrase on the end of the crank arm(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Tiesj Benoot's new Cervélo S5: Full bike specifications
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
