Ryan's Ostentatious Fred Sled (Cervelo R5ca) - "Final" pics on pg 15

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coppercook62
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Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:58 am

by coppercook62

nice

by Weenie


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964Cup
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Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

Enjoying this. My R5Ca is at 6kg dead (13.2lbs) at the moment (with Di2 and a power meter); shooting for 5.4kg (11.9lbs) once the new bits (brakes, wheels) arrive. I thought about eTap, but bit the bullet and had it converted for internal Di2 instead - including shaving the cable stops. I'll post pics etc when I get a chance.

RyanH
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by RyanH

Any pics of the cable stops removed? Did they refinish it just in that spot? I'd love to do that.

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tonytourist
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by tonytourist

Bike looks awesome, Ryan! How are you liking the bar/stem and saddle combos?
The Berk saddles really are great, it's good to know that the combo like you have retains the comfort even if it is slightly firmer.

liketoride
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Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:05 am

by liketoride

Well that is a very nice ride ryan. nice work.

xeladragon
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by xeladragon

If you got a new frame without cable stops, this build could be even lighter! :)

RyanH
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by RyanH

Thanks all.

@tony, I really like the combos. I did a 70 something mile ride the other day on the Berk combo and no soreness, which I was concerned of. The handlebar combo seems to be as stiff as my 3T/Zipp SL bar and stem pair. Considering the Zipp SL stem was 140g and considered a pretty stiff stem, I think that's pretty good. It's certainly better than having the Extralite stem, and I was concerned the Mcfk stem wouldn't be stiff enough (always fun having an almost $600 gamble on parts that aren't tested yet).

lee16
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by lee16

Ryan where did you get the brakes from? Also what length stem are you running?

RyanH
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by RyanH

@lee16

The Fibulas can be purchased from Fairwheel in the US or for a better price, can be shipped from Starbike to the US. The -17 Mcfk stem that I have is effectively a 110mm stem, even though stated size is 100mm, which is common with -17 stems.

964Cup
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by 964Cup

R5Ca with cable stops removed: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=139732

RyanH
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by RyanH

Component Review

Now that I have close to 2,000 miles on this bike, I feel it’s a good time to do a writeup on my component selection. If you recall, this build was setup for racing and I was particular about the component selection.

3T/Mcfk Bar Stem Combo
Judging by my unscientific jostling of the Mcfk stem and bars prior to sending them off to get bonded, the combo was a really good idea. The end result was not only something that was 10g lighter than the unbonded parts, but stiffness was on par with the 3T Ergonova/Zipp SL combo, which clocked in at 70g more. Plus, with it being bonded, I don’t have to worry about the bars slipping (common complaint of the Mcfk stem) or noises etc…And, let’s not lose sight of the important things, it looks badass.

THM Fibulas
The build started off with eeBrakes, which I was certain that I wouldn’t be replacing...until mr.gray offered me up a pair for a price that I couldn’t refuse. I had these on my Siena a couple years back and found them finicky. I always brought the THM wrench with me to recenter them. A few others I know that have had them expressed the same complaint. Upon installing them this time around, I read the instructions more closely and noticed the high torque specs for the brake bolts. Turns out that was the missing key. They stay perfectly centered and are unaffected by putting in the car etc…

As far as performance? They’re amazing. Stopping power is very good as well as modulation. My memory is fuzzy now but they’re at least on par with the ee’s. Compared to the Ultegras, which I got back and forth a lot with, I prefer the THM hands down. The Ultegra’s seem to have more initial power (or bite) but when needing to stop abuptly, the THM continue to ramp up the power whereas the Ultegras seem to plateau. A few months back, I was riding in the rain on my Altamira with Ultegras. It was a light drizzle and brake performance was just okay. The next day, I rode in a downpour with the Fibulas and braking was much better. It could have been the premium Reynolds pads vs standard Cryo pads, but I would take the Fibulas any day over the Ultegra regardless of weight.

Tune Wassertrager Cages
These were probably the biggest gamble since the Arundel Mandibles work so well. They came in at 11g each, a savings of 32g over the Mandibles. They seem to be made for the Specialized bottles. Fit is near perfect and I haven’t had an inkling of a suggestion that it’s even possible they’d eject a bottle. They’ll occasionally “snag” on the bottle if I pull up instead of directly out and the cages do sway when viewing above while riding rough road. They are incompatible with Camelback Podiums, don’t even try, you’ll spend the next ten minutes trying to free your bottle.

SRAM eTAP
I’ll keep this to the thing I like most about eTAP since I’m a fairly big fan of it and there’s already a lot of positive feedback in the main forum. I like that if I need to adjust the left/right RD trim, I can do it quickly while riding. For example, if I swap wheels with a different spacing and I didn’t get the adjustment perfect, the RD is being noisy, I can quickly adjust the RD to the left or right, even during a race.

THM M3 SRM
Performance wise, THM did a very good job with this crankset. INstallation is a bit more involved than a SRAM red crankset, and I’m hesitant to take it on and off for that reason unless absolutely necessary. It shifts flawlessly with Praxis and stiffness...who am I kidding, I’m only 69kg and barely put out 1200w. My only niggle with the THM aspect of it is the preload cap should come with a proper tool to go into the holes, not the back of the THM bb tool. I stripped that after three uses, but made a makeshift “tool” using nails and a wrench.

The SRM aspect of it on the other hand, I’ve had mixed feelings about. Had I been writing this last month prior to getting a PC8, I would have told you I hated it and would recommend a Quarq hands down. My battery died in the first two months, I had trouble getting a hold of SRM and was out of a power meter for close to a month. Then, when I got it back, I’d get multiple power drops with the Garmin. Doing intervals would be frustrating since my power could go out for 10s or so during an interval completely messing it up. Further, the Garmin can’t disable auto calibrate, so there was 1 out of 200 or 300 auto calibrates that it’d get wrong and I’d be pushing an estimated 400w and it’d show 200w because it managed to auto-calibrate with a load (my foot on the pedal).

Now, enter the SRM PC8, the SRM training experience became a revelation. I no longer got power drops, I can quickly check my offset with a hotkey (shortcuts for everything), everything is laid out in an awesome, useful and quickly glanceable way. It’s a training device and it really shows once you have one in your hands. So, while I still have mixed feelings on the SRM itself, as a package with the PC8, it’s a great unit.

Reynolds RZRs
This is another piece of equipment that had a bit of a learning curve. First and foremost, noise issues turned out to be due to the smooth hub dropout contact patch (as opposed to the textured DT Swiss hub interface) and Ti skewers. It’d happen most on hot days, so what most likely was happening was the Ti was expanding and making it easier for the wheels to move in the dropouts. Remedy was carbon paste on the dropouts. Shimano skewers may also do the trick...but...no.

The other issue I had was brake rub. This was exacerbated by the ee’s slightly moving in their centering. With the Fibulas set around 1.5mm to 2mm of clearance on each side, I don’t get rub any more.

So, the positives? These wheels are very comfortable for their depth. I’ll add a video later, but when applying a load on the wheels, you can see the carbon spokes at the bottom half of the wheel bow. They also spin forever. Would I buy them again? That’s hard to say. The price of admission is steep. I bought these because was looking for a wheelset that combined the comfortable of a shallow carbon tubular with the stiffness and performance of a deeper wheelset. These accomplish that. I didn’t like riding my DV46’s because they were harsh with the same tires as my Thirty Two’s. These are as comfortable if not more so, and they’re 100g less than the Thirty-Two’s.

R5ca Frameset
Ah, this. I must say, Cervelo put together an amazing frameset. I’ve done a handful of races on it this year, quite a few 80-110 mile training rides and a few training rides where I ended completely depleted, bonking and cramping but I never felt beaten up. The compliance of this frame is exceptional (definitely aided by the THM fork), and the handling is spot on. It’s a really special frame that takes the best aspects of Ti and Steel frames and melds them with modern stiff carbon racing frames.

Final weight is 5.22kg. Some obligatory bike porn...

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exctasy
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Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 4:34 am

by exctasy

GORGEOUS :thumbup:

dudemanppl
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by dudemanppl

Hmmmm... I see you have an eBay listing...

RyanH
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by RyanH

Indeed I do. They seem to be going for a pretty penny at the moment and I can't turn down an opportunity to take a profit on a bike and feed my new gear addiction problem...something you should relate to Tommy.

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dudemanppl
Posts: 1262
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 5:09 am

by dudemanppl

Well, ya got me there LOL. GLWS, what can you even get to replace this though?

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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