New Cervelo California, the Rca

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

eric
Posts: 2196
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 9:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
Contact:

by eric

I wonder if Sony will be suing for trademark infrigement? RCA is a popular trademark.

I like it, but raw carbon and relatively skinny tubes just look good to me. If it was merely expensive rather than insanely expensive I'd get one.

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



eric
Posts: 2196
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 9:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
Contact:

by eric

It's only 13mm higher than the R3SL head tube. I could still fit that without going to a -17 stem. But I have long legs for my height so my seat's relatively high for the frame size. On my R3SL I have a +6 degree stem and 5mm of spacer. On the Rca I'd need the stem flipped down and 7mm of spacer.
(that's not adjusting for headset stack height)

But for someone the opposite of me with short legs for their height it may not go low enough.

User avatar
jmilliron
Posts: 2012
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:03 pm
Location: Denver, CO

by jmilliron

Damn, my Cento1SR is -26mm of stack for a similar reach. Using a -6, 130mm stem right now.
2013 Wilier Cento1 SR || 2009 Ridley Crossbow || 2011 Yeti AS-R 5 Carbon

asv
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 10:26 pm

by asv

Looks like a nice bike, but I'm not sure why anyone would pay 10k for this frame when you can get a lighter EVO frame for less than half the price. I paid less than the cost of this frame for a full bike di2 9070 evo.

User avatar
rmerka
Posts: 618
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:23 pm
Location: Austin, TX

by rmerka

asv wrote:Looks like a nice bike, but I'm not sure why anyone would pay 10k for this frame when you can get a lighter EVO frame for less than half the price. I paid less than the cost of this frame for a full bike di2 9070 evo.


Lighter EVO frame?

asv
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 10:26 pm

by asv

rmerka wrote:Lighter EVO frame?


Evo Nano.

thisisatest
Shop Owner
Posts: 1980
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 4:02 am
Location: NoVA/DC

by thisisatest

Djconnel,
the r5ca had a 72degree seat tube angle. None of their seat tubes truly bisect the bb on any of their bikes, although I haven't stared at the latest ones to doublecheck. Either way, that wasn't a design feature of the r5ca. The slacker seat tube was purely to better accommodate a lighter, inline seat post.

As far as the cable entry points, I'm glad they decided to NOT enter the cables at the head tube. Doing so is easy and light, but not convenient. especially for all you guys that like to slamthatstem. Leads to tighter radius bends, kinked housings at the entry point. I also like that the rear derailleur cable exit point is not on the very back of the dropout but in front of the axle. Again, it gives more room for gentle bends.
Bikerumor has some pics that show the min/max/median weights of the frames for each size. Also, their weight is supposed to include Der hanger, cable guide, frame stops, etc. Basically all the dedicated, required parts.
not being able to take a seatpost battery kinda blows, though.

uraqt
Posts: 1108
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:53 am

by uraqt

thisisatest,

The user guide/manual says that it can take a seat battery.... it on the cervelo web site
C

User avatar
mythical
Posts: 1515
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:49 am
Location: Europe
Contact:

by mythical

I was looking into this one and I'm officially impressed! The Cervélo RCA definitely upped the ante over every other production frame. Apart from the BB standard, it's probably the most awesome frames at the moment. It's light with an aerodynamical advantage and probably rides like a dream. The RCA white paper shows a photo on a scale on page 18. Man is 667g LIGHT!!

Also, there are some interesting (seemingly unlisted) videos on their channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04vdDyhkBLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIlNlEWLIWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzI5Vj2arcA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEjVjDefRkk

One caveat about the RCA: it's BBright. It seems we can't have it all after all. Any weight savings made with the frame is paid back in crankset weight due to the limited selection of compatible cranks, although the THM Clavicula is available with BBright solution, but it won't be the lightest. For a truly light build, I would've liked to have seen it BB30 with a Hollowgram SiSL2 SpiderRing option. Maybe a THM M3 with custom spider-less integrated chainring combo instead? If you go with a frame this light, you might as well go with the lightest components, especially since it isn't about the money anymore.

I wonder if a custom Crumpton could be the lighter now that he has a new tubeset.
Last edited by mythical on Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
“I always find it amazing that a material can actually sell a product when it’s really the engineering that creates and dictates how well that material will behave or perform.” — Chuck Teixeira

justkeepedaling
Posts: 1707
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 6:14 am

by justkeepedaling

thisisatest wrote:Djconnel,
the r5ca had a 72degree seat tube angle. None of their seat tubes truly bisect the bb on any of their bikes, although I haven't stared at the latest ones to doublecheck. Either way, that wasn't a design feature of the r5ca. The slacker seat tube was purely to better accommodate a lighter, inline seat post.

As far as the cable entry points, I'm glad they decided to NOT enter the cables at the head tube. Doing so is easy and light, but not convenient. especially for all you guys that like to slamthatstem. Leads to tighter radius bends, kinked housings at the entry point. I also like that the rear derailleur cable exit point is not on the very back of the dropout but in front of the axle. Again, it gives more room for gentle bends.
Bikerumor has some pics that show the min/max/median weights of the frames for each size. Also, their weight is supposed to include Der hanger, cable guide, frame stops, etc. Basically all the dedicated, required parts.
not being able to take a seatpost battery kinda blows, though.


I haven't seen a Cannondale Evo in the real world at the weights that Cannondale advertised. On top of that the Cervelo gets that weight with Kamm aero tubing. Very impressive (especially if you also consider that on top of that, their claimed weight is with hardware [seatpost clamp, front and rear derailleur hangers, water bottle screws, grommets for Di2?] and an integrated magnet)

nickl
Posts: 140
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:37 am

by nickl

uraqt wrote:thisisatest,

The user guide/manual says that it can take a seat battery.... it on the cervelo web site
C


About time they sorted out their Di2 story on the R series. I found a great deal on a R5 VWD but decided not to do it because of the problems with doing internal Di2.

Permon
Posts: 637
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:52 am

by Permon

Interesting is that 667grams includes paint (30grams) and hardware (43grams). Bare frame in size 54 is 594grams.
CRAZY! :thumbup:

User avatar
djconnel
Posts: 7917
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 1:57 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

by djconnel

thisisatest wrote:Djconnel,
the r5ca had a 72degree seat tube angle. None of their seat tubes truly bisect the bb on any of their bikes, although I haven't stared at the latest ones to doublecheck. Either way, that wasn't a design feature of the r5ca. The slacker seat tube was purely to better accommodate a lighter, inline seat post.


A slacker seat tube + forward tube displacement puts the seat in a similar place at one particular seat height. Lower, further forward. Higher, further back.

Image

This one intercepts the center of the BB, but is steeper:
Image

Granted, the high BB requires more head tube relative to a lower BB, but that head tube is huge. Reminds me of:

Image

sedluk
Posts: 412
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:10 am

by sedluk

Just so that we are all on the same page. It looks like they changed the seatpost angle to 73 degrees, the original R5ca was 72 degrees. But this has nothing to do with stack or reach. This change should not change your fit at all. All that it will change is possibly what seatpost you use and where on the seatpost rails you place your saddle. Your saddle should be in the identical position, saddle position is not determined by seat tube angle.

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



goodboyr
Posts: 1483
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

The best part of the white paper is the bar chart that shows the actual weight of the Pinarello................oink, oink!

Post Reply