After much speculation around spy shots from training camps, Visma-Lease a Bike do indeed have their hands on a new Cervélo S5, and the bike brand tells us its official launch is “coming soon”.
Apart from some very grainy footage of team leader Jonas Vingegaard training on the new model a couple of weeks ago (and he’s just ridden it to a second-place finish on the opening stage of the Dauphine), this bike has been shrouded in secrecy, so much so that we ended up having a rather awkward encounter with Visma-Lease a bike mechanics yesterday, who swiftly chucked the bike back in their lorry when they saw us trying to take photos.
Less than 24 hours later, however, and the bike is being taken on its first race outing by the team’s riders, on the opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. A source from Cervélo has confirmed to us that it is indeed the new S5. The photos from the start tell us as much anyway, but it’s always nice to have official confirmation.
And while much of the coverage about the new model has so far stressed the claimed lack of change between it and the old model — often using those aforementioned very grainy spy shots from vague angles in social media clips of training camps — the message from our Cervélo source on the ground this morning was that this just isn’t the case at all.
“From the spy shot [reports] there were a few comments like, ‘not many changes’ but it’s quite different. If you really look and put the bikes next to each other you see it’s significantly different.”
At the front, the fork is now almost the same width all the way down to the thru-axles, whereas on the current model it slims down towards the bottom. We’re guessing this fork is supposed to be a bit more aero, and we’d also guess that it’s able to accommodate even wider tyres than the current S5, in line with current trends for wider tyres.
Elsewhere the area below the seat post is more compact, another evolution almost certainly looking for aero advantages.
The other big giveaway is up front, the unique S5 handlebar system with its V-shaped stem now a completely one-piece affair, whereas the old version has a pair of bolts on the top to attach the stem to the bars. That may mean there is less adjustability and fit options for Vingegaard, Van Aert, Yates and Co., but we’re also assuming this change has been made in pursuit of some marginal aero gains.
A new handlebar also means there has to be a new mount to accommodate
a GPS computer, and we’ve found out that components specialist Close the Gap is
responsible for designing and making the new S5 computer mount. We understand
this can also accommodate a bell underneath the computer too with an alternative attachment.
“It’s a new S5, it’s considerably faster, lighter and it’s coming soon,” a Cervélo source told road.cc outside the Visma-Lease a Bike team bus ahead of today’s stage.
Asked about the now-integrated bar and stem, the source admitted: “We have some good competitors, it’s always good to keep pushing and we have some good ideas.”
So when can we expect it to be officially released? “It’s coming soon and then you will have all the details,” the Cervélo figure told us; perhaps ahead of a rather large three-week bike race that takes place in France next month, would be our guess.
Once the crowds waiting for two-time yellow jersey winner Vingegaard had subsided slightly, Sepp Kuss also rolled his new S5 away from the team bus (not before some last-minute computer faffing that ended with him joking about only needing to see the route map) and offering his one-word review of the new bike so far… “Good,” the American replied with a smile. We’ll make sure we get a slightly more expansive review for you up on the site as soon as we’ve got our hands on the released model.
Let us know what you think in the comments as always. Is this the bike that can help Jonas Vingegaard reclaim the Tour from Tadej Pogačar? He’s just finished runner-up behind his great rival in a sprint finish, with Mathieu van der Poel left in third. We’ll safely assume the new, supposedly faster bike was more of a help than a hindrance, then.
