rick11

Anyone purchase a Cervelo RS lately - what do you think? I saw one today at my LBS and really liked the look and at this point the thought of a comfortable bike with performance. I am planning to schedule a fitting and unless something out of the ordinary comes out of that process, I am leaning to the RS. WOuld love to hear from anyone who has one and what they think. Especially in contrast to what they were riding before.

thanks

rick

jmel7771

Almost bought one. The problem for me was the top tube length (short torso). Otherwise I was going for it. If it fits, it is a great bike.

merlin55

Nice bikes, but Cervelos are the current "in" bike, and you pay for it.... it all depend how much you need/want to spend on a bike. Some people need to spend $7000+, some people spend less, it all depends on you and your tastes. The current fad of very light bikes and parts is sort of crazy, when you see people spending several thousand dollars EXTRA to save 1 or 2 pounds on a bike, but they are 10 or 20 pounds overweight.

My Dad taught me that some people have more money than sense, and that other people have to help them get their sense to money ratio closer to 1/1, but taking away much of their money....since you can't easily make them smarter....he reminded me of this when I bought a BMW when I was only 25....and he was totally corrrect

Garfield Cat

Yes, losing body weight is the quickest and cheapest way to impove on riding. Keep riding and be selective on what you eat. Its that easy.

Hermes

I own a Cervelo P2C with a Zipp Sub 9 disc and Hed Tri spoke front. Currently, I have a 2006 Madone 5.2 which I plan to replace. Yesterday, I test rode a Cevelo R3SL 56 cm frame. I set it up with my Bontrager Race XXX Lite carbon clinchers. Bike weight with saddle and pedals was 14.96 pounds. I took it on a ride which included hill repeats, fast descents and a ride over somewhat bumpy road.

I liked the performance on all three conditions of bumpy road, climbing and descending. Comparing it to my Madone, it is less twitchy. For me the Madones, even the new 6.5s (which I tested) feel twitchy went climbing at high power especially out of the saddle and the high speed descent of my Madone is okay but not great. The R3 SL is perfect with no signs of any glitches. I am not bashing the Madone...it is great but when pushed hard, it does not work as well as the R3 for me. On the bumpy road at higher speed, it lived up to its reputation of being the choice for Paris Roubaix. This is a purely qualitative assessment based upon feel. YMMV

I am also going to test other bikes including the Parlee Z4 and the Look Origin 586. Good luck.

oilman_15106

Our group rides have almost turned into a Cervelo rolling advertisment. They are selling alot of bikes and most of the owners I talk to are happy with the frame. You can drop some serious coin on these bikes and the other thing brought up above is that most of their bikes are more of a racing geometry, ala Lemond, Ridley, etc. longer top tube.

No comment on the model you lust after. Link to the mfg would help.

stapfam

Can't say that Cervello are out of my Price range-as they do make some Economically priced bikes. The reviews over here are on the higher end range and it seems that if it is Cervello- No-one can fault it. Like all bikes- they have to fit and they do not fit everyone.

Great bikes for Discerning riders.

And from my point of view- With any good name bike- you get what you pay for. If you can afford it- it will be worth it.

Hermes

https://www.cervelo.com/bikes.aspx?bike=RS2008

WHOOOSSHHH...

Great review!!! I am also thinking of a R3SL and this really helped!

Garfield Cat

Rick, I bought an RS frameset and 3T Funda bars and new stem put on. The Dura Ace came off the old Ridley Aeron. The Aeron is not all carbon so its not a fair matchup. The RS is 51 cm and weighs 15.5 lbs with two bottle cages.

At first it seemed twitchy but I think that's not a fair word for it, rather it should be "responsive". I guess its the steeper head tube angle because the RS is more like the R3. I feel more confident leaning into turns and going downhill on longer descents.

Its stiff enough but I'm not a masher either at less than 140 lbs. But off the saddle going up a short and steep part, its light and very agile. Not that its effortless, but there is a difference. The Aeron weighs 16.9 lbs. That could be the other reason.

The famous Cervelo rear seat stays on the R3 are also on the RS. On several 65 mile rides, it is smooth, even smoother than the Aeron which had a carbon rear triangle.

Will the RS ever be ridden in the pro races like the TdF? I don't think so, with so much to choose from with the R3 types. Do I have a longer torso for the longer top tube? My fitter says no but I do have long arms relative to my torso. Thus my stem is short. What does RS stand for? Retired Senior. I have close to 1,100 miles on it since Sept 08.

Hermes

I bought the 2008 R3 with D/A and IRD carbon cranks. I have 1750 miles on it including two USCF road races and two USCF hill climbs. I sold the Madone. After riding the R3 and then the Madone, I knew I would not ride the Madone again.

luv2cruz

I test rode an RS yesterday on a cold drizzly day. I ride a Specialized Roubaix Pro, and the ride of the RS compared very nicely with it. It felt a little firmer, with the sharp bumps well muted. Very smooth. A little tighter handling, I think the wheelbase is a bit shorter. My Spec is a 54, and that's what I tried in the Cervelo, the RS had a 120 stem and I ride a 110, I think with a 100 the RS would be a perfect fit. The RS felt very stiff in the BB area on the few short climbs I did on it.

If you're on a straight bumpy road, you can look down and actually see those thin seatstays flexing. Pretty cool!

My overall view is that it is a great ride. It's a little firmer, but not uncomfortable at all. Compared to the Roubaix, I could dial the fit in with no trouble. In fact, if I can sell my bike, I will probably pull the trigger on an RS sometime this winter.

Good luck, and good riding....