Cervelo launch R2 costing £1,999

I totally get what the chap means when he says Cervelo have lost their image. Terrible case of brand management by the current owners even if they were saving the company from bankruptcy.
The David v Goliath image that The Cervelo Test Team had is long gone and the current marketing and promo is dire.
On a more positive note, which small bike co is going to see the opportunity and get inventive and step up to fill the gap?

I totally get what the chap means when he says Cervelo have lost their image. Terrible case of brand management by the current owners even if they were saving the company from bankruptcy.
The David v Goliath image that The Cervelo Test Team had is long gone and the current marketing and promo is dire.
On a more positive note, which small bike co is going to see the opportunity and get inventive and step up to fill the gap?

I only see them in the Tri crowd....no thanks.

I ride both an R5 and and S5 and love them both for different reasons.

If the Cervelo brand becomes "more common" (successful) with the advent of S2 and R2 packages and more people get to experience the high ride quality, then that's fantastic! It doesn't diminish my bikes in any way at all. It certainly doesn't encourage me to move away from the best bikes I have ever ridden due to some misguided brand snobbery.

As long as they don't sacrifice design for price, then the brand will go from strength to strength.

As for exclusivity, I reckon an R5 will remain a rarer commodity than an R2 in the same way a Dogma does with respect to an FP3 etc.

Like BMW, you need to cater for a broad spectrum of consumers to remain successful and grow your brand. It doesn't make the i8 any less desirable as an automobile?

Great price. Stick a 105 chainset on there and a SRAM chain and that's a fantastic bike.

I own 3 Cervelos & they are certainly not common here in the Midlands. I love the ride of each & believe they carry credibility and respect for their frame designs despite being mass produced like virtually every other bike frame in the far east.
If you're worried about image .... pay over the odds to get a Pinarello like every other wannabee Sky team member !

This is a mirror image of what they've done with the S3 & S2. The S2 is the same frame as the S3 but has different forks and is only available as a complete bike with cheaper finishing kit to keep the price down. The idea is that you get a package to get you started & upgrade as you go.
I would guess the price at £2,400/500 based on the S2.

Surprised this hasn't generated more interest. The Cervélo R series has always been a well respected bike and this filtering down the price points can only be good for consumers.

The R3, S3, and P3 are still the best choices in my mind as they have the finishing kit that most would aim for around those price points i.e. Adamo saddles on the P3. Wheels are generally workman like training wheels rather than having some heavy, aero pseudo-race wheel.

With the R2, and Cannondale's offerings in the 5800 105 range, next year's model line up looks amazing in the hard working privateer race bike category...

To the guy worried about 'exclusivity': some people want a mid range bike that's economical to replace parts on and even replace the frame, for racing. I know a guy who had a beautiful high end DuraAce Di2 equipped Colnago that got taken out on the second lap of his first race on it. Don't underestimate the healthy market of riders who race, and want a tool for the job rather than an irreplaceable work of art to ride on.

Seeing as the R3 framset alone comes in at a price of around £1600 I can't see this selling for much less than £2000.

Interestingly the R2 has a fork from the same mould as the limited production R3 'mud' Cervelo built for their pro riders to use on the cobbles. There is an insane amount of tyre clearance on the R2's fork, way more than on the R3 and R5.

I suspect this change may filter up the range, especially with the current trend for wider rims.

Wouldn't have thought so, they all come out the same factory anyway don't they?

Not Canadian any more. They're owned by a Dutch company called Pon.

^ wow

oh dear, time to move to another brand as Cervelo pursue its move downmarket after the V & W buyout to position the brand into mass market affordability by its new owners.

Sounds rather snobbish but Cervelo had always in the past projected an air of success with an exclusive upmarket position, which appealed to a niche area of the marketplace.

Oh well a Feather or an F8 beckons in 2015.

Looks nice, gotta wonda if its actually any better than my all carbon Ribble tho

Last year there was some confusion where the frame for the R3 105 was different to the R3 frame supplied with higher end components. Given the similarity in frame and groupset between this and an R3 equivalent, I think they'll phase out the R3 105 in favour of this. So I would expect the price to remain around £2k.