Tour Tech 2011: Tyler Farrar's Cervélo S5

Any chance that any of the boys on the Garmin Cervelo squad were using the new Garmin Vector? I've given Tyler's bike a look over and can't figure out where the power meter is .......could it be in the pedals?
What do you guys think?
FR

I thought the problem with those seat tubes wasn't as much getting stuff rammed up there (though that would be unpleasant) but the constant abrasion of grit and dust carried through there on the wheel, in the wet perhaps, which can sand out a channel in your seat tube. I'm sure I heard about a TT bike brought into in a bike shop which was in two halves due to this.

Still, I know not the allure of carbon wrapped between my legs, so shoot me down and call me a Luddite.

Great infomercial for Cervelo though. Foam DZ. That'll catch on.

yes, that is perplexing Matt_S

Now I'm going to have to go trawling through Cervelo technical info when I should be sipping cocoa… but I'm not going to be able to let it lie

…right I've changed the bit about 25 miles at 25mph - I think what was meant was more likely 25 miles at the same given effort. Anyway while rooting around I found this.

How can it do 25 miles at 25mph faster than the s3 can do 25 miles at 25mph? Surely, by definition, that would take, errr, let me get my maths straight... an hour!

Quote:

virtually all TTs are held on A-roads, former A-roads, bypasses, or back roads carefully selected by the organisers

You obviously haven't done all the local tens round here

It's a pro bike. It's supposed to be pushing the envelope. In the days before the UCI's ridiculous sticker beanfeast the pros would ride prototypes, different to the bikes you could buy in the shops. That's not an option now, so if Cervélo think the close-fit scuplted seat tube gives a definite advantage – and clearly they do – then that's what you'll get down your LBD too. A bit like the mad old days of rally group B homologation, but even more so because you really will be able to buy one.

Good point spaceyjase - I see Ridley have gone down the integrated brake route with the new Noah… Talking to one of the Trek technical guys about the Speed Concept last week he reckoned that integrating the brakes and getting them to work properly was the single most difficult part of the project.

Plus it does leave Cervelo something to shoot for when it comes to the SR6 I suppose. The nose cone would certainly make it more aero, but they're never going to get that past the UCI in the present climate.

eddie11 maybe the pics don't do it justice but believe me when compared to a normal bike this is very thin - which is going to make it a lot more aerodynamic.

Not knocking, I spent many happy hours in the saddle of one back in the day, but your fave wasn't particularly noted for rider comfort either, or handling come to that, or second gear A classic nonetheless.

Other websites can of course make their minds up on it, and we'll make ours up when we get one to ride. Mind you, apparently that might be some time - all the initial order brought in to the UK by Madison have apparently been sold – including the press bike.

Going back to the Felt AR series - yes there probably is slightly more of a gap, not that much more and you could argue that is potentially more of a problem than a really small gap because there's more that can get in to it and get stuck.

its a lovely piece of machinery but these shots showing: 'Look how narrow and aero our bike is!' annoy me a bit. a normal bike is hardly the widest thing in the world to start wit is it.

Certainly a nice bit of kit! I wonder if there are strides to make the front even more aero, specifically around the brake system? See the back is nice but are there further savings to be had if the brake were inside the fork or if there were some kind of cowling to cut into that thick atmosphere (like a nose cone!)?

well they don't train on super smooth A-road I can tell you, some of the minor road we saw at the Tour, with teams on 'em on their race bikes were shocking.

There are loads of race bikes with super-tight clearances at the fork and at the back too the latest Felt AR series has been around for a few years now and it has a similar rear wheel cut out I haven't heard of many/any problems with stuff getting stuck between the rear wheel and the cut out seat tube - I have heard of people coming to grief though with things like acorns getting stuck between their wraparound aluminium mudguards and the front wheel.

As for TT bikes being able to get away with it because "virtually all TT bikes are held on A-roads" have you seen the state of most of our A-roads lately? They're hardly silky smooth rivers of tarmac.

Out of interest though handlebarcam if this is your idea of the worst bike in the world what gets your vote as the best?

I've reconsidered my initial opinion, and now think... this is possibly the worst bike ever made.

Quote:

The most obvious aero feature is the seat tube that comes with a cutout for the rear wheel to smooth the airflow through the centre/rear section of the bike.

A cut-out is one thing, this bike is wrapping about a fifth of the circumference of the rear wheel with an aerodynamic fairing that gives less clearance than a mudguard, yet is made out of expensive carbon fibre rather than cheap, replaceable chromoplastic. Does it come with a warning sticker on the stem, saying something like, "Warning: This bicycle must not be ridden over any of the following: freshly resurfaced roads with loose chippings, roads melted by the summer heat, left over grit from the winter that collects at the bottom of hills, road kill, grass, or gravel driveways. Failure to stop and carry your 6000 pound superbike over such obstacles will void your warranty."

Quote:

Virtually every TT bike these days comes with something similar, Cervélo themselves having popularized the concept with their P3.

Virtually every TT bike can get away with such an extreme a cut-out, because virtually all TTs are held on A-roads, former A-roads, bypasses, or back roads carefully selected by the organisers. Likewise, the Tour de France doesn't take the riders over anything but the freshest tarmac each département can provide. If it is going over any pavé sections, the team will know months in advance, and would switch to another model. And Cervélo will doubtless provide the Garmin riders with a fresh bike whenever the seat tube does inevitably get scratched to shit. Private buyers, however, won't be as lucky. But then anyone who buys this deserves everything they get.

Oh, and it's still hideously fugly.