Canadian brand, Cervelo, has a long-established reputation for leading-edge technology, and their stand at Eurobike included further examples of both. 

Widely credited as inventors of the aero road bike with their ‘S’ series, and having escalated the lightweight arms race with the Rca ‘Project California’ bikes, Cervelo brought new editions of both to Friderichshafen.

We took a close look at Cervelo’s latest claim to the title of world’s lightest frame, the ‘Project California’ edition of the R5 , and a new ‘entry-level’ aero road bike, the S3.

Cervelo R5 ‘California’

The new R5 has a claimed weight of 667g in a 54cm frame: a significant figure, if your goal is to build the lightest frame in the world. Expect to pay around €8,000 for a complete bike with an R5 Ca frame at its centre, but hurry if your heart is set on it: just 325 have been made, and remaining supplies are ‘limited’, according to Cervelo’s man on the stand at Eurobike.

If €8,000 seems a little high, and you can stand to carry an additional 100g, Cervelo offer a complete bike with the R3 Ca frame for €6,000. It shares a tubeset with its lighter sister, but with a less exotic carbon lay-up.

Cervelo S3

The S3 is Cervelo’s new aero road bike. Sister to the flagship S5 ridden by Garmin-Sharp’s David Millar, it’s claimed to offer greater comfort and shares seat stays with the R series (although not the Ca incarnation), in a bid to offer the best of Cervelo’s two worlds.

Compare and contrast the conventionally-shaped stays with the hour-glass profile of the head tube and the very ‘tall’ downtube. The bottom bracket shell is enormous. The new S3 range starts at €3,600 for an 11-speed mechanical Ultegra build with Mavic Cosmic Elite wheels (the Xentis wheels pictured were for the show only).

Website: Cervelo