{"id":368323,"date":"2025-08-23T22:55:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T22:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368323\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T22:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T22:55:22","slug":"cervelo-s5-dura-ace-di2-review-the-2025-s5-is-blisteringly-fast-and-easy-to-ride-but-is-it-overgeared-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368323\/","title":{"rendered":"Cerv\u00e9lo S5 (Dura-Ace Di2) review: the 2025 S5 is blisteringly fast and easy to ride, but is it overgeared for you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cerv\u00e9lo S5 (Dura-Ace Di2) frameset
\n\"Cerv\u00e9loThe 2025 S5 picks up where the previous incarnation left off. Andy Lloyd \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

The latest Cerv\u00e9lo S5 builds on the reputation of its predecessor<\/a>, with refined aerodynamics and lighter weight without sacrificing stiffness.<\/p>\n

The S5 is nominally a pure aero bike, but it\u2019s also the bike most often used by the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson in races.<\/p>\n

Before its launch, Vingegaard used the S5 exclusively during his general classification bid at the Criterium du Dauphin\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Cerv\u00e9loThe S5 is viewed as more of an all-rounder than the R5. Andy Lloyd \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only when the race hits the high mountains that the team switches to the R5<\/a> (a new model of which was seen at the 2025 Tour de France, weighing only 7.03kg in a size 58cm with pedals, bike computer and empty bottles). This indicates that the S5 is considered something of an all-rounder compared to the R5\u2019s climbing specialism.<\/p>\n

From the side, the most noticeable changes are to the head tube and fork legs, which are now deeper than before, making more of the UCI\u2019s latest 8:1 tube ratio regulations.<\/p>\n

This helps to manage airflow more effectively at this key frontal area, assisted by the bayonet fork design retained from the old S5. This enables the steerer tube to be recessed further back relative to the leading edge of the head tube, increasing the effective chord length without compromising handling (more on geometry to come).<\/p>\n

\"Cerv\u00e9loThe silhouette will be familiar to fans of the previous S5. Andy Lloyd \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Also retained is the frame\u2019s curvature around the front and rear tyres, providing a familiar overall silhouette despite the changes.<\/p>\n

Front-on, a slimmer structure to the head tube, seat tube and seatpost is suddenly obvious, while the new cockpit\u2019s reprofiled top bar widens the aperture relative to the old one, which is said to create less drag-inducing turbulence behind it.<\/p>\n

Also important is the new Reserve 57\/64 wheelset, which is designed to complement the S5\u2019s asymmetric design with widened spoke angles and a new rim profile.<\/p>\n

\"Cerv\u00e9loThe 2025 S5 gets new wheels in the shape of Reserve’s 57\/64 wheelset. Andy Lloyd \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

All these factors add up to a 6.3-watt saving at 50kph compared to the old S5 with its Reserve 52\/63 wheels, according to Cerv\u00e9lo.<\/p>\n

It also says that a refinement of its carbon layup and curing processes (where it uses an inflatable bag, rather than traditional foam mandrels) led to less waste material in the frameset to the tune of around 30g.<\/p>\n

The new HB19 cockpit is also one-piece, thanks to the removal of the bolts and hardware for the old cockpit’s topbar attachment.<\/p>\n

This saves around 100g, but comes at the cost of the 5-degree angle adjustability the previous bolt-together layout had, and means you\u2019ll need to swap the whole thing out if you want a different handlebar width or stem length.<\/p>\n

\"Cerv\u00e9loThe fork legs are notably deeper than on the 2023 S5. Andy Lloyd \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Cerv\u00e9lo has also limited the deeper fork\u2019s weight gain to a claimed 57g, with downsized hardware at the dropout and brake caliper mount points.<\/p>\n

Unlike the as-yet unreleased R5, it still requires the use of the caliper\u2019s flat mount bracket, but you\u2019re locked into using a 160mm rotor.<\/p>\n

Overall, the frame is claimed to weigh 1,006g, and the fork 465g in a size 56cm.<\/p>\n

Further weight savings are seen at the seatpost. This is thinner than before, but the saddle mount features a new carbon plate and alloy clamping bars, which are said to improve adjustment range (a weakness my colleague, Simon von Bromley<\/a>, noted in his review of the previous version) while shedding 27g compared to the old design.<\/p>\n

\"Cerv\u00e9loThe seatpost is held in place by a wedge clamp, with a choice of 15mm and zero setback. Andy Lloyd \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

The seatpost is fastened in place by a simplified wedge clamp which is covered by a simple push-on top cap.<\/p>\n

Cerv\u00e9lo has even gone to the trouble of designing its own direct-mount hangers for the bike, known as \u00e9UDH. <\/p>\n

Probably inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, this saves a single gram over SRAM\u2019s UDH, and 5.8g versus its old Shimano hanger. The frame is also compatible with direct-mount derailleurs.<\/p>\n

The bike uses a BBRight pressfit bottom bracket<\/a>, and retains the old model\u2019s 34mm tyre clearances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cerv\u00e9lo S5 (Dura-Ace Di2) frameset The 2025 S5 picks up where the previous incarnation left off. Andy Lloyd…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-368323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115080549433661161","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}