IT'S A MIRACLE THAT THE CERVÉLO R5-CX EXISTS AS an all-new model in 2023. Viewed from outside the cyclocross bubble, this is a niche bike. Bikes like the R5-CX often fail to make it into most brands' product lines, as the market is small. Production bikes are generally not made for a focus group of two riders. But when your name is Wout van Aert or Marianne Vos, those norms go out the window.
The R5-CX is Cervélo's love letter to cyclocross. It's a purpose-built bike designed for the exacting demands of top riders. It thoroughly excels at that task; the bike's results speak for themselves.
Digging into the development process and riding the bike, I discovered the R5-CX is much more than just another elite race bike. This bike is about dedicated people working against the clock to deliver a world-class product. And it's a tale about why some bikes get overlooked because of their name or marketing label.
RACING IS A NEAR-UNIVERSAL ELEMENT MANY RIDERS embrace at some point in their cycling lives. Thus race bikes carry an almost magical aura for many.
Trying to best a sibling around the block on a hot summer's day, going for the town-line sprint on a Sunday morning group ride, climbing the Stelvio's fabled 48 switchbacks in the Giro d'Italia-bikes are formally and informally raced in endless ways. Even if it doesn't require paying an entry fee or affixing a number plate to a bike or jersey, almost all of us "race" a bicycle at some point.
As purpose-built machines, race bikes have a seemingly simple-sounding mission, but one that is sometimes impossible to achieve: carry a rider over a certain distance faster than any other competitors. Since bike-racing disciplines are so varied, having nuanced and specific needs required for success, dozens of variants of race bikes exist to eke out hundredths of seconds in competition.
この記事は Bicycling US の Spring 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Bicycling US の Spring 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
A Celebration of Junk Miles
No longer dreading my next bunch sprint, I felt like I belonged on my bike again.
THE 92-MILE FAREWELL
THE SEA BREEZE OF THE LONG ISLAND SOUND FELT DELIGHTFUL, AND I WISHED I COULD RIDE WITH MY EYES CLOSED AND TRUST THE REST OF MY SENSES TO STEER ME BACK HOME.
CHECKING IN ON MY CYCLING SELF
BUT, TODAY, PEOPLE OF ALL SORTS OF WONDERFUL, COLORFUL CULTURES WHO LOVE THE WIND IN THEIR HAIR HEAR THE SOUND OF A MILLION ANGRY HORNETS ON THEIR TAIL.
EVERYONE KNOWS 52x11 IS BIGGER THAN 48x10. EVEN THOUGH IT ISN'T.
THE HUMAN THRESHOLD FOR 'LEAST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE' IS GENERALLY ON THE ORDER OF 10 PERCENT CHANGE OF A VALUE.
I RODE THROUGH PAIN. YOU SHOULDN'T. HERE'S WHY.
AND WHILE \"PAIN\" AND \"SUFFERING\" ARE OFTEN THROWN AROUND IN THE SAME BREATH, WHEN IT COMES TO THE BODY THEY'RE NOT, IN FACT, THE SAME.
THE RACES ARE FASTER. ARE THEY CLEANER? AND DOES IT MATTER?
THE LAST TWO EDITIONS OF THE MEN'S Tour de France were among the three fastest.
BRAYDON BRINGHURST VERSUS THE BEAST
THIS FORMER POLE VAULTER IS THE RARE ATHLETE WHO CAN BLEND EXPLOSIVE POWER WITH PRECISION AND CONTROL. BUT HE'D NEED A LOT MORE THAN THAT TO RIDE HIS BIKE UP THIS INSANELY TECHNICAL DOWNHILL TRAIL.
THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FRICTION-FREE
CONSIDER THE HUMBLE LIKE CHAIN. IT'S AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED BICYCLE PART COMPARED TO FLASHIER COMPONENTS WHEELS, CRANKS, AND DERAILLEURS. BUT THE CHAIN IS THE CRITICAL LINK IN THE DRIVETRAIN BETWEEN THE RIDER'S POWER AND THE BIKE'S REAR WHEEL.
MOLLY'S LAST RIDE
Twelve-year-old Molly Steinsapir crashed onto the pavement from a Rad Power e-bike and never woke up. With a poorly regulated electric-bike industry, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE WHEN A CHILD DIES?
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COMBINE AETHOS WEIGHT, VENGE AERODYNAMICS, AND BUTTERY SMOOTHNESS?
Building a great bike is hard. Making a great bike better is even more challenging. Yet every three to four years, brands that make race bikes for their professional road racers take on this challenge.
