If you have been watching this year's Tour de France, you have already seen this bike in action. But you may not have seen some of the details on this bike from us, so let’s give some quick cliff-style notes first.
Some quick history: in 2019 the latest P5 was launched with five sizes and 3 build options. Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Shimano Ultegra Di2, and a frameset. It was a completely different mold; it had disc breaks instead of the Magura hydraulics and was one of the first fully integrated cockpits. It also was one of the first to market with an aero bottle and integrated aero top tube “snack pack” all included in the build, instead of as add-on options. It had a price point of $12,500, $7,500, and $5,000.
So, it’s been five years, and if you are like most people, you are looking at this new bike and asking yourself the same question: “What’s the difference?”
Well, let’s talk about consumer purchase options first. There are now five builds to choose from, two more than before, and they have added a sixth size, 61cm. Builds and prices are as follows:
P5 Dura-Ace Di2
Color: Black only
Wheels: Reserve 77|88TA w/ Zipp ZR1 SS hubs
Crank Powermeter: 4iiii Precision Pro Gen3+ DUAL
Pricing US $13,500 | CA $18,000 | EUR €13,999 | UK £12,000
P5 Red AXS
Color: Black only
Wheels: Reserve 77|88TA w/ Zipp ZR1 SS hubs
Crank Powermeter: Quarq Spider-based
Pricing US $13,500 | CA $18,000 | EUR €14,999 | UK £12,000
P5 Force AXS
Color: Black only
Wheels: Reserve 52|63 w/ Zipp ZR1 ST hubs
Crank Powermeter: Quarq Spider-based
Pricing US $10,000 | CA $14,000 | €EUR TBD | £UK 8,900
P5 Ultegra Di2
Color: Black and Deep Dahlia
Wheels: Reserve 52|63 w/ Zipp ZR1 ST hubs
Crank Powermeter: Quarq Spider-based
Pricing US $10,000 | CA $14,000 | EUR TBD | UK £8,900
P5 Frame Set (Black and Deep Dahlia)
Seat Post, Aero Bottle, Top-Tube Pouch, and rear bottle cage holder
What has changed besides adding a frame for the tall people and SRAM to your purchase options?
To sum it up quickly, Cervelo improved on what it missed in 2019. Let’s be honest -- not much can be done with bikes to go “faster,” especially a UCI-legal bike. Simply put, companies can't, or it isn’t brilliant to go too far from the norm. Cervelo has always had one thing in mind. SPEED. You also have a company that is building bikes around the best riders in the world and asking them to ride these new bikes first in the biggest race in the world. And to be honest, in my opinion, that is really what is best for all of us. These are straightforward improvements. (Disagree? I’m sorry, but you all want something SUPER FAST, but every time someone designs it and brings it to market, all you say is ‘That bike is FUGLY.”
Now, with that said, let's look at some of those new things that Cervelo has done with the newer version of the P5.
DEEP GUSSET POINTS
If you look at the interior points of the frame, you can see the extended sections. These are designed to create a sail effect or “Pull” with the tubes and wheels, they also allow for increased stiffness where riders need it most.
TRUNCATED ENDS
It is located at the aero seatpost, seat stays, fork blades, more bottomless head tube, and down tube.
FRONT END
The bayonet reduces drag by allowing the air to remain attached to the headtube longer.
BASEBAR
A 10mm decrease in the standard level height results in a lower CDA, and a 10mm decrease in bar reach allows for less weight. There's also improved flexibility in fit, with 40mm of adjustability allows for an increased fit adjustment that wasn’t present before. (Note: to get to that additional 20-40mm worth of stack, it requires an aftermarket spacer bolt kit.)
EX14 EXTENSIONS
The aerobar fitment is compatible with all aftermarket 22.2mm diameter extensions. These extensions feature increased pitch angle – +30-degrees in 5-degree increments -- and simplified assembly. The extension mount is supported in a curved cradle that rotates to adjust pitch; 0,10,20,30 degrees when the insert is facing forward and 5,15, 25 when the insert is facing backward.
TIRE CLEARANCE
This 100% has to do with the aerodynamics because it’s a massive 34mm with 4mm of ISO frame clearance to spare.
What does this all mean? At virtually the same price point as five years ago, you now have a more comfortable, faster, and even better, more adjustable bike. This bike shows that the engineers are listening to all sides of the table and bringing those improvements from every corner.
This isn’t all. We will address the specific wheels that are paired with these builds in another article. For all you lovers of integrated hydration, etc., maybe, just maybe, the PX-series will be updated. (History has shown the order of updates.)
