Cervelo R5 Dura Ace (2014)

With this bike everyone can be like Elon Musk

Pros

- Takes "trickle down" technology to a new level
- Superb handling and ride
- No compromise components

Cons

- It will still empty your wallet
- "Squoval"

Review

What is this about Elon Musk? Space enthusiasts will know about the push to make suborbital flight affordable to the masses. At the moment it still requires the resources of the Musk's and Branson's of the world to get anywhere near orbit, let alone outer space itself.

The Cervelo Rca is comparable to this in the bicycle world. This bike is so extraordinarily rare and expensive that there are very few people on the planet with the means of acquiring one...a bit like getting passage on a rocket into orbit. Fortunately the bike industry moves more quickly than aerospace - If Elon employed some of the engineers at Cervelo we might all be lining up for a trip to the ISS next year - and with that outlandish statement I introduce the Cervelo R5.

The R5 benefits from much of the technology from its esteemed big brother yet at half the price. Sounds like a bargain - unfortunately you're still looking at around $5000 for the frame alone and complete bikes begin at the $7000 bracket. So it's remortgage the house, not sell off a kidney kind of money.

In some ways the R5 is more impressive than the Rca because it is only fractionally heavier, (just over 100g), and is not far from achieving comparable stiffness numbers without the whizzbang aerospace technology. On top of this reports say it rides as well and is even noticeably and measurably more stiff in the bottom bracket than previous versions of the R5.

This mechanical Dura Ace version is the "base" model (did I really just say that?), but the frame is future proofed and can easily accept electronic groupsets as well. Rest assured though, even if you opt for the budget mechanical model the shifting performance of Dura Ace will be flawless.

The R5 incorporates all the technologies you would expect on a flagship frameset: tapered head tube, aero profiles, "compliance" orientated narrow seat stays and "Squoval". I have said it before that I think this is terrible marketing jargon, yet it is also one of the few downsides to this amazing bike. I could live with riding Squoval!

The R5 is premium road bike kit. It would suit any cashed up road cyclist, is perfect for serious club racing, rides well in the wind and has compliance for rough roads. Apart from not getting you into orbit this bike truly is out of this world. (sorry)