This Bike Changed Cycling Forever, But How Fast Is It Now?

The original super bike? Cervélo launched their first aero bike in 2002, which changed the whole bike industry, and led to the Cervélo S3, made famous by the one and only Dan Lloyd! Si looks back at the history of Cervélo and compares Dan’s 2010 Tour de France bike to his modern Canyon Aeroad. How different is this 13 year old aero machine to today’s super bikes?

00:00 Intro
01:15 Dan Lloyd’s Cervélo S3
02:17 Origins of Cervélo
03:23 Cervélo Soloist - The Original Aero Bike
05:59 Towards the Cervélo S3
07:46 Bike Details
09:23 Development of Aero Bikes
10:02 Bike Setup - Cérvelo S3
11:31 Race - Cervélo S3
14:06 Bike Setup - Canyon Aeroad
15:02 Race - Canyon Aeroad
15:58 Results
17:08 Analysis with Dan
20:30 Summary

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[gcn]

Do you think aero bikes are better or worse than they used to be? 🚲🤔

[Alimukz]

People don't want to give GCN props because it's so mainstream and popular, but the content of late has been fantastic. Still bringing fresh material on an arguably limited topic of discussion.

[lukewalker]

Ironically you nailed it Simon in closing comments. How much has the bike industry improved bikes in the last 12 years considering in particular, the massive price increase for the top of the line TdF level bikes? I owned a late model Cervelo aero bike with electric shifting and disc brakes briefly and sold it to default back to rim brakes and mechanical shifting with more round tube sections and feel nothing in speed difference for the kind of rides I do which is ride with fastest guys in town. The 5 seconds difference and thanks for doing the experiment 3 times...is noise in the cosmos...nebulous to those that don't race for a living.
Honestly the marketing of this stuff as a lure to upsell gullible consumers is pretty insulting to those that really understand the tech which I do as a mechanical engineer.
Will close and say, Simon this is one of the best episodes of GCN I have seen. Really well done.
Why? Because it is based on truth and not marketing in a global society now mired in false narratives. Thank you for this honest video and cheers from America.

[tinglydingle]

Just goes to show that if all the "12% more efficient than previous model" and "saves 20 watts at 40kph" marketing claims were true, the newer bike should be practically riding itself with all those cumulative gains over the last 10 years.

[lokerola]

Just bought a 2022 Giant TCR. Mechanical 105 and rim brakes. I love it!!!

[robdogracing]

My 2009 Cervelo RS still a great bike. 5000 miles already this year. External cable routing, threaded BB, and rim brakes. Super easy to maintain, lightweight, fast, and compliant.

[joeallard]

My 2013 Cervelo S2 is a dream to ride. Thanks for doing this video!!

[aarondcmedia]

My 2009 Cervelo S3 still wins crit races in 2023. 2010 HED Jet 6 black and 7970 10 speed Dura Ace Di2. The other people in the race are mostly riding 2020s S5s, Pinarello dogmas, Trek SLR7s and the like. I guess you could almost say it's not about the bike?

[spacekip]

back in 2013 I managed to score a great deal on this specific frameset, and I've been riding it ever since. It's a fantastic bike!

[prestachuck]

In late 2019, I was given by our shop a 2020 Specialized Tarmac Pro Force eTap with 50mm Roval Wheels 700x28c tubeless to ride for two years. It was a major redesign of the Tarmac, claiming more aero and yada yada yada. At right about 15.5lbs, the bike was very lightweight for a disc brake bike as well. I used a Stages power meter on that bike.

My main ride up to then was my fully bespoke Waterford R-33. A custom hand built frame using TruTemper S-3 Super Steel, an Enve 1.0 carbon fork, a Shimano R8000 Ultegra mechanical/rim brake group, and an assortment of lightweight alloy wheelsets. Weight was right at 17lbs including Speedplay USA Stainless Zeros, and a Specialized power meter by 4iiii.

I was offered to purchase the Tarmac well below dealer cost at the end of the two years.

I gave it back, because after looking at my data, I was just as slow on the Tarmac as I am on the Waterford, but the Waterford is much prettier, rides better, and is a lot easier to work on.
It’s still my number one bicycle.

Earlier this year, I rode my steel Waterford in the eTape San Antonio event (met The Jensie!), and at a refuel stop, a lot of people were complaining about the “rough pavement”. I mean REALLY complaining about the chip and seal pavement. I thought to myself “seriously?…I hardly noticed the pavement”
Then I looked at their bikes.. all super aero and probably super stiff carbon machines with deep carbon rims. This out of shape old man also dropped those much younger guys shortly after that stop, and didn’t see them again, so maybe they were just more out of shape than I was at the time.

[zingbopdelux]

My 2009 S3 is now my winter road bike, and I am talking winter as in Canada! … I replaced the original Campy 11 speed with the last Super Record 11speed … the original 404’s, replaced by 303’s … it’s still a near perfect ride experience … simply put, Cervelo was ahead of it all with aero evolution. Great video guys! Thanks!!

[nippon]

I recently got a almost new 2012 s5 VWD for $2000. And I love it

[spishco]

Proud pre-sale Cervelo owner here. I still love, and occasionally ride my RS! Still beautifully comfortable even at 15 years old.

[shuonanzhao]

That s3 frame is an absolute beauty, so is the 10 speed sram red groupset. I still use a set of tdf edition of sram red 10 speed on my allez sprint and it’s just amazing

[dmallo]

The best video/project to make with such a 2010s super aero bike is to update it with modern components that make real performance improvements: 1) modern light, aero wheels of max rim width for the bike, with modern fast tires of matching (i.e., a little thinner) width with latex tubes or tubeless, 2) aero cockpit, 3) waxed chain (marginal performance gain but huge maintenance improvement, and you have Silca onboard!). Then, compare it against a modern super-bike taking into account performance (flat, climb, brake), comfort, maintenance, and price.

[SirRidealot]

I sold my 2016 S3 this spring, I had a bit to many bikes. That one was exactly 7kg and every time I rode it, I felt "shit this is such a fast bike" and it was an absolute joy to ride. Nice video!

[kendallbarron]

Nice to see them compliment the rim brake for a change 😊

[Slopes_N_Singletrack]

I was a mechanic at a Cervelo dealer back when the Soloist and the S3 were big deals. I regret not buying either one. The Soloist was one of the fastest bikes I had ever ridden at the time. Even just taking them out for little spins after assembly or tuning up a customers bike.

[davidheathfield]

The soloist in the CSC livery is still one of my favourite looking bikes. I had to get one when it came out and could only afford to run it single speed for years. It’s now sat on my turbo trainer and it still gets my heart racing when I look at it. I wish there was room for such new and innovative bikes now days.

[hawkmantm]

Own the 2009 Cervelo S2 - the one Dan rode in Qatar. Rode it for 14 years, now it's on my Kickr. It's been better than almost all my friends bikes for such a long time until just recently. This year, got a Cervelo Soloist. It's marginally heavier but so much more efficient. Even on climbs, it throws itself up the road. It's also vastly more comfortable and discs are night and day better than rim (hate to say it). Still love my S2 to death. It's not all about weight anymore.