Tested: Cervélo R5, an exciting climbing machine

Weight isn’t everything when it comes to road bikes. But having been fortunate enough to review quite a few stunningly light builds over the years, it absolutely can make a difference – especially in terms of acceleration and, of course, climbing performance. It’s also just a whole lot of fun to ride a super nimble bike that responds pretty much instantly to every input.

That brings us to the 2026 iteration of the famed Cervélo R5. This is the flagship climbing bike that Pauline Ferrand-Prévot rode to Tour de France Femmes glory back in August and has been in the road racing arsenal of Visma-Lease A Bike (men and women) for much of 2025.

Virtually everything about the new R5 revolves around minimising materials and shaving weight. Through strategic updates to the frame, fork and components, Cervélo claims the new R5 is almost 400 grams lighter than its predecessor. Specifically, they say the top-spec R5 (56cm frameset) builds up to just 5.97kg. Our own scales registered slightly more than that—6.21kg without pedals and bottle cages – but still impressively light and 600 grams under the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum weight limit.

Styling

There’s nothing brash about the aesthetic of the 2026 Cervélo R5, especially in the matt black/bronze colourway of the review build. As tends to be the way with lightweight road bikes, it’s reasonably conventional to the eye with a classic double diamond set-up, standard head tube and fork, and traditional (albeit extremely narrow and barely UCI legal) seat stays reaching all the way up to the seat tube/top tube junction.

Compared to the previous R5, the downtube is a little thinner, the head tube a little slimmer and the top tube a little flatter. Some people I rode with loved the classic styling, while others felt it was plain and, frankly, a bit boring. Regardless, while there’s certainly no shortage of tech built into the actual frame and fork design, there’s little in the way of overt aero tube shaping apart from some quite subtle kammtail profiles, most notably on the seat tube and seat post. The R5 also boasts a modestly sized bottom bracket junction, at least by today’s often hefty standards.

Frame & geometry

Whipping out the tape measure and comparison charts, the 2026 Cervélo R5 boasts very similar geometry to the S5, which was also relaunched earlier this year. It has a slightly longer reach and lower stack than the previous model R5, but we’re only talking a matter of millimetres here. Whilst technically speaking the head tube on the R5 is 30mm longer than the new S5 (156mm vs 125mm), this is largely offset by its more conventionally angled HB18 stem/bar, resulting in an almost identical stack height to the S5 with its sharp-rising ‘V-stem’ cockpit. While the tube sections have generally been reduced in size compared to the outgoing R5 model, Cervélo says the overall bottom bracket stiffness has still been increased by 13 per cent. I’ll take their word for that.

Wheelset & components

Given the 2026 R5 is all about weight reduction, there’s no surprise it’s fitted out with components that are as low in weight as they are high in quality. The relatively shallow Reserve 34|37 TA (Turbulent Aero) carbon wheelset spins around superb DT Swiss 180 ceramic bearing hubs and arrives with slender 26mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed TLR tyres. The top-spec review build boasted a 12-speed Shimano Dura Ace groupset with a dual-sided 4iiii Precision Pro, GEN3+ power meter. SRAM and Ultegra builds are also available. There’s a new one-piece HB18 carbon bar and stem, which Cervélo says is around 130 grams lighter than the previous two-piece HB13-ST31 system. The HB18 cockpit is available in 15 different size combinations.

Switching to the rear of the bike, the ultra compact Prologo NAGO R4 PAS saddle (137mm x 245mm) is perched atop a zero-offset carbon seatpost that almost begs you to jump out of the saddle whenever the road tilts upwards. With nano carbon fibre rails, the saddle weighs a measly 138 grams and is comfortable enough on moderate-length rides. But I can’t lie, it did start to feel a little less accommodating the further I went.

The ride

Light and lively, the Cervélo R5 is built for the hills as you’d fully expect. Out of the saddle, it climbs like an absolute dream, and the steeper the ramps, the better it feels. Power transfer is always exciting on lightweight bikes, and the R5 is no exception. Pick up is pretty much instantaneous when you stomp on the pedals – so much so that I actually found myself lifting the front wheel under hard accelerations at first, requiring a slight modification of my technique. The riding position is low enough without being overly aggressive and in terms of compliance I’d say the ride feel sits on the stiffer side of average – it’s certainly more forgiving than the S5, but not by as much as I’d expected. Performance-wise it’s clear there’s not a huge amount of aero assistance happening on flatter terrain in comparison to its wind-cheating S5 sibling, but the R5 certainly isn’t slow and still taps along very happily at higher speeds. Initially I found the R5’s agile handling was definitely on the lighter ‘floatier’ side—something that took a little getting used to, particularly on faster corners and winding descents. Half-way through the review I actually switched the Reserve 34|37 TA wheels over to a tubeless set-up and experimented with lower pressures (around 60psi was my sweet spot) and that proved the perfect combination, immediately delivering a touch more stability and giving me the confidence to really attack corners just as I do on my day-to-day road bike. It also gave me the impression that wider tyres – maximum clearance for the new R5 is 34mm –

and/or wider rims would likely improve the experience even more for everyday (aka non-elite) riders like most of us, even if the trade-off is an extra 300-400 grams on the scales.

Summing up

Wonderfully light and wonderfully equipped, the 2026 Cervélo R5 is an exciting climbing machine that can more than hold its own on the flat, but absolutely relishes the ramps. The steeper it gets, the better it goes. Acceleration and handling is exciting, but the flip side is it can feel a little light at times especially if running narrower tyres and higher pressures. Regardless, if you spend plenty of time with your front wheel pointing upwards, the sky is the limit with the R5. It’s an absolute col crusher and a whole lot of fun.

Cervélo R5

RRP:                                       $18,000

COLOUR:                               Black/Bronze (matt finish)

FRAME:                                 Cervélo All-Carbon R5

FORK:                                    Cervélo All-Carbon, Tapered R5 Fork

HANDLEBAR/STEM:           Cervélo HB18 Carbon (400×100, 56cm frame)

SADDLE:                               Prologo Nago R4 PAS Nack Lightweight

SEAT POST:                          Cervélo SP33 Carbon

BRAKES:                               Shimano Dura-Ace R9270

ROTORS:                               Shimano CL900 Centerlock (160mm front/140mm rear)

SHIFT LEVERS:                    Shimano Dura Ace DI2 R9270

FRONT DERAILLEUR:        Shimano Dura Ace DI2 R9250

REAR DERAILLEUR:          Shimano Dura Ace DI2 R9250

CASSETTE:                           Shimano Dura Ace R9200, 11-34T, 12-Speed

CHAIN:                                  Shimano M9100

CRANKSET:                          Shimano Dura Ace DI2, R9200, 52/36T

POWER METER:                  4iiii Precision Pro, GEN3+ dual sided

BOTTOM BRACKET:          Ceramic Speed SL, BBright for 24mm spindle

RIMS:                                     Reserve 34|37 TA Carbon (tubeless compatible)

HUBS:                                    DT Swiss 180 Dicut

TYRES:                                  Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed TLR G2.0 700x26c

CLEARANCE (MAX):          34mm

More info cervelo.com/en-AU