The All-New 2019 Cervélo S5
The Cervélo S5 is the original aero road bike, setting the standard by which everyone else is judged. But the sleek, long-running S5 has been in need of a serious update for some time. With the relaxation of the UCI 3:1 rule (ratio between the length and the width of bike tubes), Cervelo took the opportunity to re-engineer an all-new disc brake only aero road bike – the new 2019 Cervélo S5.
Most importantly, the new S5 is more aero. With the recent relaxation of the UCI 3:1 rule, Cervelo was able to adapt new fork and seatstay designs. The tubes are up to long 8cm with widths as small as 1cm. Thanks to the changes, Cervelo now calls the new S5 the “World’s Undisputable Fastest Bike!”
The redesign focused largely on the leading edge of the bike, from the handlebar down to the fork & downtube. You can see a lot of the P5 TT bike in the new S5. The external steerer fork and the upright looking stem and bar design look very familiar. Cervelo claims the changes result in 45g of drag reduction for a savings of 5W vs. the previous generation of the S5. For comparison, the last S5 redesign saved 21W, we are definitely reaching marginal gains territory.
While the new S3 is 25% stiffer at the bottom bracket and 13% stiffer torsionally from the front to rear wheels. Cervelo says it wasn’t just stiffness that they were after though, but instead a more balanced overall stiffness profile that improves the new bike’s performance.
The new S5 retains much of the same road racing geometry as its predecessor, but now the smaller sizes get much improved geometry to maintain consistent handling quality across all sizes. Interestingly, while smaller sizes improve, Cervelo cut out the largest size of the previous model. The new 2019 Cervélo S5 is available in five stock sizes, from 48-58cm.
As for the nitty gritty, the new S5 gets all the new industry standards like 12mm thru-axles with aero quick release levers, flat mount disc brakes, and clearance for 28mm tires. There is also an integrated computer mount, a lower bottle position for improved aerodynamics when using a single bottle, and a hidden wedge seatpost clamp in the top tube.
The new integrated, but separate carbon bar and stem include 6 stem length options, 4 handlebar widths, 30mm of possible spacers under the stem, another 2.5mm spacer possible between the stem & bar, and the ability to adjust the bar angle to one of three rotation positions – 0 °, 2.5 °, or 5 °.
The new 2019 Cervelo S5 is available in four complete bike builds and as a stand alone frameset. The $5500 frameset includes the full carbon frame and integrated fork, plus the proprietary aero seatpost, and the integrated two-piece aero bar & stem.
Complete bike builds start with a mechanical shift Ultegra Disc build at $6500. That comes with a pretty nice set of 32mm deep alloy DT Swiss P-series wheels. Definitely, a bargain compared to the frameset.
For $9000 you get an Ultegra Di2 electronic shift groupsets and 35mm deep carbon DT Swiss PRC 1450 wheels.
There will be two “Halo” builds. A $11,500 Shimano Dura Ace Di2 Disc bike that also gets Enve SES Disc 5.6 aero carbon wheels. And a wireless electronic SRAM Red eTap HRD Disc build for $12,000 with 48mm deep DT Swiss ARC 1450 aero carbon wheels.