I have a C3 and it is a great bike. Especially great considering what i paid for the frame from Excel Sports. If my timing was better i would have gotten a C5 frame for ~$1,450 when they had them. The fact you could get an R3 for $3k is insane. No matter what you think of Cervelo, that is a lot of bike for the money.

Excel seems to have had the inside track on prior year close outs from Cervelo. For the prices they have been selling for, it would make it almost impossible for a stocking dealer to sell prior year bikes without taking a loss. If i was one of those dealers i would dump the brand to if i carried Trek, Giant, Specialized or other big brands.

there is a large shop in my area that always had a large inventory of Cervelos but they dropped the brand in the last 6 months.