Cervelo RS Frameset 2010 Model

£1799.99

Increased comfort with Cervelo performance

Introduction
“That is the very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very best bike I’ve ever ridden here” - Andreas Klier after Paris-Roubaix

Good enough for the pros (as proven by Cervelo TestTeam who raced it at Paris-Roubaix and the Vuelta a Espana), but don’t let that fool you. The RS is designed to give non-racers a bike that suits their style of riding, without the (unfortunately common) sacrifice in your performance experience. Thanks to its taller headtubes, the RS allows you to position your handlebars higher without needing too many spacers (or alternatively, to position your handlebars low with the use of a -17 degree stem).

Features
The bike industry loves to talk about features (tube shapes, materials, etc). But a feature is useless without a benefit! Ask yourself, would you prefer a poorly engineered frame made of “Ultra High Modulus carbon” (a feature)? Or an intelligently engineered frame that uses the material to create something lighter, stiffer and stronger (real benefits)?

Even more than benefits, you want experiences. The aforementioned lightness & stiffness may be benefits, but what you really want is the experience of higher performance, through quicker acceleration and better climbing.

This is why Cervelo are keen to promote the rider benefit in addition to the product feature.

2 cm taller headtube: Allows for a higher handlebar position without requiring too many spacers (thus improving stiffness). Higher performance, comfort and beauty: Fewer spacers creates better stiffness so less energy is wasted and handling is better. It also looks more beautiful (and there is nothing wrong with that).

1cm longer chainstays compensates for higher handlebar position to maintain optimal weight distribution and longer wheelbase. Higher performance through precise handling, more comfort as longer wheelbase handles road imperfections better.

Squoval™ (Square Oval) tubing: A square shape put lots of material far away from the center plane of the frame to create more lateral stiffness. The slight ovalization makes the shape extremely resistant to denting. The resulting frame is very light, very stiff and very strong. Higher performance as higher stiffness creates better power transfer and better cornering, lower weight helps with climbing and acceleration while higher strength makes it bomb-proof.

Squoval™ The dominant forces on the downtube and chainstays are lateral bending forces. The best way to resist those is with a lot of material far away from the center plane. Square tubes do this best, but can easily buckle. A slightly ovalized square creates the best of both worlds, which explains why Cervélo’s Squoval shaped frames win stiffness and lightweight tests everywhere. The front and rear of the toptube also use the Squoval shape to counteract lateral bending, but it transitions to oval in the centre to counteract the torsional loading in that section.

Smartwall™ for Carbon patent-pending technology from Cervelo’s carbon materials and manufacturing group, Smartwall™ elaborates on the Squoval tubeshape. With the sides far away from the centre plane more important, more material are concentrated there to increase the benefit.

Strips of High and Ultra-high modulus carbon stiffen the sides of the main tubes to resist lateral bending. These strips are feathered in to properly transfer the loads from the joints into these tubes.

Finally, Kevlar is added to the headtube / downtube area for industry-leading impact strength.


Geometry
You will notice three geometric changes on the RS. Longer headtube, to match the higher handlebar position.

• Longer chainstay length. Because a higher handlebar position rotates the rider’s torso and therefore his center of gravity backwards. Longer chainstays ensure the weight distribution between the two wheels remains balanced for optimal handling characteristics.
• Eliminated toe-overlap by using 650c wheels for the XS size. Toe overlap is not a problem for experienced riders, but can be intimidating for some.

Using 650c wheels in the XS size is the only way to solve this problem without compromising the weight distribution and thus handling. Every solution that eliminates toe-overlap but keeps 700c wheels suffers in handling. Explanation for the 650c wheel solution on the XS size: A smaller frame means the front wheel moves closer to the rider’s feet, causing toe-overlap. While inconvenient at walking pace, this issue disappears at normal riding speeds as the actual steering angles become very small.

Conclusion
The RS delivers performance associated with Cervelo, but with increased rider comfort and ride enhancement.

Customer Reviews