“The last two years with Cervélo at CSC was perfect. Not just the bike, but the people behind the bike was really important. They follow you around in all the races and test a lot and they listen to the mechanics and the riders and that’s really important.”
- Henk van Lijsdonk, Team CSC mechanic, to pezcyclingnews.com.
We constantly receive feedback from riders across a wide spectrum of abilities, from relative novices to the pros of Team CSC. With regards to geometry and fit we always receive positive feedback, the only request that sometimes receive from riders with higher than average handlebar positions – including a few at Team CSC – is to offer headtube lengths to match that higher bar position. Enter the RS, our new stiffness-to-weight (STW) design to accommodate these more upright positions while maintaining the high performance characteristics that set Cervélo apart. After all, your flexibility has nothing to do with your performance level, even a good portion of the pros have rather limited flexibility (which is not that strange, they were not selected for their ability to touch their toes, but for their excellent leg muscles, heart and lungs).
Of course, they as well as any serious cyclist understand the importance of improving flexibility, but there will always be those who are more flexible than others. And so we have the R3 and Soloist models for those with average or above average flexibility, and the RS for those who prefer a higher handlebar position.
Just to be perfectly clear, the RS does not fall into the trap so often found in the bike industry of equating a higher handlebar position with less of a desire for high performance. From tube shapes to carbon lay-ups to stiffness & strength, the RS is so good that some CSC riders will use it next year, while those pros and regular riders with average or low handlebar positions will continue to be perfectly served with the R3 and Soloist ranges. |
| | Squoval downtube & chainstays - Optimized for the highest possible stiffness-to-weight ratio (STW), the downtube and chainstays have a Squoval shape.
Multi-shape toptube - The toptube loading case is a lot more complex, hence it is Squoval near the headtube and seattube and oval in the center section.
Oversized bottom bracket area – The increased volume of the bottom bracket area provides great STW. The smooth contours of the BB volume help both for this BB stiffness and also for its strength as the fibers have a much more continuous path to transfer the loads better.
Lay-up optimization - The stiffening plies are added to the sides of the tubes where they have the greatest effect in bending. They are feathered to distribute the loads into the structure. We also add more plies on the bottom of the down tube, the headtube and the toptube to distribute the loads from a potential headtube impact. Finally, we add Kevlar to that same area and downtube to prevent catastrophic failure.
RS Seatstays - Based on the revolutionary R3 seatstay design, the RS seatstays offer even more vertical compliance thanks to their built-in deflection mode.
Longer headtube length – Same handling philosophy as our other road bikes, but with longer headtube for those who prefer a higher handlebar position.
Special XS size – The new XS size completely eliminates toe-overlap (see geometry section for more information). |
Squoval downtube
R3 frames ready for assembly at our Toronto facility
| | The downtube and chainstays of a bicycle frame mostly see lateral bending, even if the frame as a whole is in torsion. Yet virtually all frames on the market sport round or oval downtubes and chainstays. Excellent shapes to counter torsion of those tubes, but not lateral bending. A box section is the best shape to counter lateral bending, which is why we use a box-inspired shape on the Soloist Carbon chainstays (of course the downtube on the Soloist Carbon is TrueAero-shaped for aerodynamic reasons). On the R3, we squared off the box shape even more, leaving only a small ovalization of the shape to boost its buckling strength. This squared-off oval, or Squoval, significantly increases the stiffness-to-weight ratio (STW) of the shape in lateral bending and is used in the chainstays and the downtube. The front and rear of the toptube also use the Squoval shape, but it transitions to oval in the center to counteract the torsional loading in that section. Smartwall® for Carbon Upon hearing Smartwall, most people immediately think of Cervélo’s method to obtain excellent lateral stiffness in an TrueAero tube. But the Smartwall principle is universally applicable, not just on aero tubing. After the tube shapes are optimized, the lay-up allows us to further refine the character of the bike. In fact, Squoval tubes are very well suited for the Smartwall application as they have two sides that are very far removed from the central plane – i.e. adding even a small amount of extra material there increases the lateral stiffness significantly. To properly distribute the loads from the Smartwall section into the rest of the tubes, the additional plies are feathered. |
  | | You will notice three geometric changes on the RS. The first is the longer headtube, to match the higher handlebar position. The second is the chainstay length. After all, once the handlebars move higher and the rider’s torso rotates backwards, his/her center of gravity moves backwards as well. By lengthening the chainstays, we keep the weight distribution between front and rear wheel as desired for optimal handling characteristics.
The final change is in the smallest size, the XS. A smaller frame means the front wheel moves closer to the rider’s feet, which as the size gets small enough causes toe-overlap (meaning in some pedal positions, the toe could touch the front wheel if the wheel swings out very far). While inconvenient at walking pace, this issue disappears at normal riding speeds as the actual steering angles become very small. There are four ways to deal with this:
1) Accept toe overlap, after all it is no problem if the rider is aware of it at low speeds, and it does not occur at higher speeds.
2) Use 650c wheels, which allow us to bring the wheel rearward but thanks to its smaller diameter it won’t touch the rider’s toes, not even at very low speeds.
3) Simply don’t move the front wheel closer, but then the front wheel will see less weight on it than is ideal, which will affect the handling.
4) Instead of moving the headtube towards the rider, move the rider towards the headtube by moving the saddle forward (small frames with steeper seattube angles do this). But why change your desired and ideal saddle position just because the bike manufacturer can’t figure out how to design the front end of the bike?
There is no real right or wrong here, smaller frames ALWAYS require one of these four solutions, and which one is picked depends on the type of rider and the type of riding the bike is designed for. Since the performance and enjoyment of the bike comes from a comfortable rider position and good handling, “solutions” 3 & 4 are no option for us. That leaves options 1 & 2. For the R3 and Soloist models, we opt for solution 1, which explains in part why our smaller sizes often get great reviews about how they handle “surprisingly well” for a small frame. For the RS, we have decided for solution 2, simply because there are people for whom that solution will be more appealing. Again, there is no right or wrong in this case, it’s simply a different solution, and which one of these solutions works best for you depends on your individual situation, and should be discussed with your bike fitter.
| 73 Degree Seattube Angle | | Size | Wheel Size | Head Tube Angle | BB Drop | Top Tube | Head Tube Length | Front Center | Rear Center | Stand Over Height | Stack | Reach | | XS | 650c | 72° | 40 | 515 | 175 | 555 | 410 | 732 | 520 | 355 | | 51 | 700c | 71° | 68 | 532 | 140 | 558 | 410 | 742 | 531 | 369 | | 54 | 700c | 72° | 68 | 546 | 160 | 573 | 410 | 764 | 555 | 376 | | 56 | 700c | 73° | 68 | 565 | 180 | 593 | 410 | 787 | 579 | 388 | | 58 | 700c | 73° | 68 | 580 | 200 | 608 | 410 | 805 | 599 | 397 | | 61 | 700c | 73° | 68 | 592 | 220 | 620 | 410 | 816 | 618 | 403 | | Note 1: | The standover height is measured to the toptube directly above the bottom bracket. | | Note 2: | The above headtube lengths are for integrated headsets. To compare to non-integrated headtubes, deduct 20mm from the above lengths to adjust for the stack height needed for non-integrated headsets. |
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| | The RS is available as a frameset or with the DuraAce Team kit. Because Team CSC is so focused on equipment, it uses many different parts depending on the race course so there is no such thing as THE team kit. The Team kit we have put together reflects a few choices that the team makes for maximum durability, most notably the Ultegra cassette that you will find on all of their training and about half of their race wheels. We figure that just like it is for Team CSC, durability is a more important feature on your training wheels than saving a few grams. Speaking of wheels, for the complete team race kit, speak to your Cervélo dealer about a set of Zipp Carbon wheels with a DuraAce cassette for racing.
| Part | DuraAce Team kit | | Fork | Easton EC-90 SL | | Seatpost | FSA SLK 27.2mm | | Shift/Brake Levers | Shimano DuraAce STI | | Front Derailleur | Shimano DuraAce STI | | Rear Derailleur | Shimano DuraAce | | Cassette | Shimano Ultegra 12-25 | | Chain | Shimano Ultegra | | Brake Calipers | Shimano DuraAce | | Crankset | FSA SLK Light Compact MegaExo Carbon | | Bottom Bracket | FSA SLK MegaExo | | Headset | FSA | | Stem | Syntace Force 119 | | Handlebars | FSA Gossamer | | Saddle | Selle San Marco Ponza | | Wheels | Shimano R550 | | Tires | Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick | | Specs may change without notice. |
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| | Every Cervélo frame comes with a limited lifetime warranty for the original owner. For full details on this warranty, please click here. Please note that frames not purchased from an authorized dealer are not covered by any warranty. For a list of authorized dealers, please check our dealer locator below. |
| | Here you will find Cervélo’s general owner’s manual. Additional information, as well as fitting information to optimize performance (as opposed to fitting information for safety purposes described in the manual) can be obtained from your Cervélo dealer. To read the owner’s manual, please click here. |
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