Cervelo S5 Celebration Beautiful Bicycle

Cervelo recently released a limited-edition frameset commemorating their historic Grand Tour treble, detailing the frame with yellow, pink, and red accents; the leader's jerseys from each race. Contender Bicycles was lucky enough to get one of these framesets in a 56cm and craft a stellar frame-up build. While building up the bike, the rider wanted to celebrate not just Cervelo, but one of the greatest groupset manufacturers; Campagnolo.

Aiming to celebrating peak performance, a no-holds-barred approach was taken on this build with each part being handpicked to provide the best possible ride. Some people may clutch at their pearls when they see the limited-edition Cervelo not built up with a full SRAM build kit like the Visma Team Bikes. Still, it is hard to argue with the decision to use the recently released Campagnolo Super Record Wireless Groupset. The complete build turns this bike into a celebration of the bike racing world as a whole and not just Visma’s accolades. 

A CELEBRATION FRAME

Cervelo is on a growing list of brands with two separate bikes for their World Tour teams, with brands like Specialized, Pinarello, ENVE, and BMC instead focusing on making one great frame for all types of road racing. Since Cervelo has the R5, a lightweight climbing bike, the only focus of the S5 is speed and aerodynamics. It is a bike designed to go fast, and Cervelo made it stand out as one of the fastest. 

The first thing you’ll notice on the frame is the unconventional stem with the split v-shape minimizing air resistance and providing a more direct path for the brake housing to travel to each lever. One question we answer about this frame often is, “How do I know how many spacers to run under my stem?” Because of the unconventional design, changing the stack height seems more difficult than it is. Cervelo’s unique spacer design allows you to change the spacers under the stem, without having to cut the steerer tube, meaning theoretically you can swap among zero to three centimeters of spacers without any steerer cutting or hair pulling. This makes fitting the bike a bit easier than its other headset-routing cousins. 

Beyond the stem, the entire front end is designed to be as aerodynamic as possible. The headtube design is more comparable to a track or time trial bike unlike anything else being ridden in the peloton. With a frame design that allows for the rear wheel to be forward almost directly under the seat, the bike provides the snappiest handling possible, giving it the ability to be thrown around at high speeds and to thread the needle through bunch sprints. Cervelo pushed the limits of UCI’s rules on aerodynamics with their domination in many races. Even without a pure ‘sprinter’ riding on the team, it is hard to argue with what they have done to the S5. 

DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL 

Looking at this bike it is hard to find a place to start. Even the saddle hasn’t been spared in maximizing performance with the carbon Selle SMP Carbon Lite saddle, a lightweight saddle that hasn’t been changed much since they started making them in 2007. After that, the build gets more and more interesting. The Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO 60 C23 was the best option for wheels to pair with the Aero frameset, the 60mm wheel was chosen to give the bike the best aerodynamics. With the miniscule 1395g weight for the set, the wheels are light enough to navigate in crosswinds. While looks aren’t everything, the classic construction of Campagnolo’s Triple-Spoke design makes every bike rider smile. 

The newest Campagnolo Super Record Wireless groupset may be the only one available that can come close to overshadowing this frameset. When talking to riders about what they ride, few are as brand loyal as the Campagnolo fans. Most of the Campy bikes that we build usually start with the words, “I have Campy on my current bike." End of discussion. People don’t say this because SRAM and Shimano are low-performers, they say it because of an extreme attention to detail that Campagnolo puts into every part they produce. Some will argue that Campagnolo has fallen out of the limelight in recent years. The brand has focused their efforts to compete with SRAM and Shimano on top-end bikes with their Super Record groupset.

Pursuing a Campagnolo build certainly means the price tag goes up. For these loyalists, the extra cost is often rationalized in a similar fashion to cars. While a Corvette and a Ferrari can go around a track in the same amount of time, this group knows which one they would rather pull up to the rally with. The smooth shifting is precise, relying on Campagnolo’s smaller cassettes (most of them start with a 9T cog) and reduced chainring size. While providing similar gear ranges to the competition, these unique ratios offer benefits including lower weight, improved durability and increased efficiency. With the Super Record Wireless groupset, Campagnolo takes aim at the top-of-the-top by combining a history of innovation with an unmatched pedigree in the sport of cycling.

The rest of the build screams performance too, with Continental GP5000 being the rubber of choice minimizing rolling resistance. Continental has been one of the tire brands leading the charge for high-end tires, making it an easy choice for the over-the-top build. Whether intentional or not, this build fully encapsulates the history of World Tour cycling and will continue to roll fast and smooth with the perfect build kit.

WRAPPING UP

Few bikes we send out the door rival the builds that are seen on the World Tour and even so, this bike stands alone. The youthful performance derived from Kuss and Co. is multiplied when combined with iconic Campagnolo. Even in the stand at the shop, no one was just walked by the bike. Everyone stopped to drool for a moment before trying to remember what they were doing. Cervelo could not have given this bike a more appropriate name, celebrating their Grand Tour glory but in this case also celebrating the long history of Campagnolo and bike racing altogether. 

If you want to build up your dream bike, give us a call we are happy to help in whatever way we can. A dream build doesn’t always have to mean the best of the best. It can mean anything depending on what you are trying to do with the bike. Visit us in-store, online, or give us a call to talk to one of our many experts in perfecting your next bike build.