And so it begins; the circus of pre-Tour de France bike leaks kicks off for 2025 with some grainy pictures of what seems to be to be the brand new Cervélo S5, beneath some Visma-Lease a Bike riders together with Jonas Vingegaard and Victor Campenaerts at their current coaching camp.
How do we all know it’s the new S5 and never a brand new aero bike? Properly, primarily as a result of from the pictures it seems to be virtually precisely the identical as the present model. This, mixed with the actual fact the present mannequin is three years outdated – the same old growth cycle time for professional bikes – means we might be actually fairly positive that is an up to date model.
Naturally as we’re occurring some fairly grainy pictures posted on the ever-useful Biking Spy Instagram web page we’re at present gentle on official element, however there are some issues we will shine a lightweight on for the brand new mannequin, primarily across the new cockpit. The photographs, I’m instructed, got here from some athlete’s Strava profiles, however have since been deleted.
The Cervélo S5 has maybe had essentially the most Darwinian evolution of any trendy race bike, with the 2022 model solely receiving modest adjustments versus the earlier mannequin. This, coupled with the truth that in our personal lab testing it was essentially the most aerodynamic of the present crop of race bikes, even some rather a lot youthful than it, maybe means it shouldn’t be a shock to search out that the bike has been tweaked somewhat than overhauled.
Up entrance the simplest change to identify is the brand new cockpit. The identical Y-shaped stem stays, however the connecting truss throughout the 2 struts has been thinned out and kinked forwards within the central part. There may be scant room for mounting a pc, however whichever rider by chance leaked these photos has managed to take action, we suspect with a proprietary mount.
Whichever mount it’s, it’s able to supporting not solely a Garmin laptop but additionally a lightweight beneath. Given each skilled rider rides with a motorcycle laptop it could be that the brand new bar was designed with one mounted on it, and the ahead kink helps make the pc itself behave in a extra aerodynamic vogue.
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You would be forgiven for not noticing this was a brand new bike. (Picture credit score: Biking Spy)
The handlebars are totally different although, as are the fork legs. (Picture credit score: Biking Spy)
The cockpit is now a one-piece system, so no extra adjustment available. (Picture credit score: Biking Spy)
There is not a lot room to mount a pc mount, however right here Victor Campanaerts has managed to succeed. (Picture credit score: Biking Spy)
Whereas the headset bolt covers stay, the 2 rounded rectangles on the bar tops have been eliminated, and the graceful joins point out that it’s now a real one-piece cockpit. Gone is the 5 levels of rotational adjustment, locking the riders as a substitute into what’s presumably essentially the most aero setup. Additionally, no bolt covers and smoother surfaces doubtless provides slightly aero increase. We can not see any width notation, however it’s doubtless {that a} narrower choice will probably be obtainable than on the outgoing mannequin, consistent with trendy tendencies in direction of narrower bars.
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Nonetheless on the entrance of the bike, we additionally seem to have a brand new fork profile. The present setup has straight legs that taper right down to just a bit greater than the width of the thru-axle head, whereas the pictures we will see right here present a fork that is still the identical width for everything of its size. The present pattern for maximising aero good points on the entrance of the bike the place they matter most is once more coming to the fore right here.
From the fork backwards the bike seems to be very, very related. We suspect that any adjustments right here have been made when it comes to layup and weight discount, with out affecting the form. If it ain’t broke – in aero phrases – then don’t try to repair it. The very steep seatpost, closely wrapped seat tube, and dropped stays all stay as was.
Whereas we can not see the top tube, due to a usefully positioned proper thigh, it’s secure to imagine the identical hinged fork stays. With the likes of the brand new Ridley Noah Quick 3.0 displaying how deep head tubes can go we might nicely see a deeper head tube, however for now we’ll simply have to attend and see.
If new photos come to gentle we’ll replace this web page accordingly, and we will probably be on the bottom on the Critérium du Dauphiné to get some pictures ourselves.
