Nat Bromhead
Hidden in plain sight would be one way to describe Cervelo’s new S5 – it was the bike Wout van Aert used for his stage victories at this year’s Tour + the machine he used to score his huge haul of Green Jersey points.
More a subtle update than major makeover, the 2022 S5 features deeper frame sections to maximize the shapes allowed by the UCI, a new fork design that helps simplify the front end, and increased wheel/tire clearance.
Cervelo say they have reduced drag by 65 grams, and increased surface area while still reducing the bike’s weight.
‘Wider wheels and tires are faster aerodynamically, and more comfortable,’ said a Cervelo rep at the launch just after the Tour.
‘The S5 comes specced with 28mm tires but has clearance for up to a 34mm (measured) tire. The frame is optimized to complement the wider Reserve 52/63 turbulent aero wheels. In addition to the handling benefits, this saves over 5 watts compared to the previous Reserve wheelset.’
‘We’ve improved the comfort of the handlebar, and tweaked the shape to get a perfectly flat bar-to-hood transition. We now use a two-bolt interface that allows for infinite tilt adjustments between 0 and 5 degrees.’
RRP’s start at $7600 for the S5 frameset, $12,500 for the bike with Shimano Ultegra Di2 and $17,500 for the S5 with Dura Ace 12-speed Di2.
Bicycling Australia have requested a review bike and we hope to have that soon.
