Hi all

So, I'm completely confused as to what the difference is between these frames. Given the price difference I assume its down to "quality" of carbon and weight, but even on the Cervelo site I can see nothing that explains it to me. The Team and VWD even seem to be given exactly the same weight despite the difference in price, it appears that the forks are the same throughout the range as well. I give in !

Can anyone shed some light on this for me ?

Cheers
Sean

It's weight. The base model was claimed to be about 1200g, the team 1100g, and the vwd 1000g. All in a 56. The ones I've measured have been pretty close fwiw. There might be some marginal ride quality changes (lateral stiffness, vertical compliance), but I haven't ridden all three enough to really tell.
I can tell you that the team frame felt more comfortable on bumps than my s3. To me, anyway.

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My Rides:
2011 S3 Sram Red/808's/Zipp SLC2/Romin Pro
2009 SWorks Epic/Handbuilt wheels (by me)/Marta SL magnesiums/ XTR drivetrain
2008 Ellsworth Moment/ Handbuilt wheels (by me)/ Marta SL/ X0 (9spd) drivetrain

K.P.A.

Funny how both the Team and the VWD are quoted at 996gm for a 54 size though......

And why don't Cervelo (who pride themselves on engineering etc) put more details about the actual differences on their website ?

Thanks
S

where do you see the team at a quoted weight of 996? Because I doubt Cervelo is saying that. Its most likely a misprint.

For 2013 they dropped the 3 different designations and went to 2. VWD and base(which I believe is the old team).

It's the same with the R5. Is there any difference between the R5 and the R5 VWD other than 100-150gs. You get a crank with the R5 but otherwise they are similar price. I guess the R5 VWD is replacing the R5 but you would have thought this would have happened by now or Cervelo would have just discounted the R5 earlier to clear stock. It's a bit like the R3 and R3SL but they were priced very differently.

THe frame on the base and team is EXACTLY the same. The only difference is the Fork. The same with the R3 base and team.


The VWD is the only bike in the family with a different frame.

Ghost is correct. They said their "team" frames were lighter due to the paint. Notice base models were generally white. Fork on team bike is lighter. I weighed them once-somewhere between 30-50g lighter if I recall accurately. R5vwd were made in an altogether different factory, I would assume that's the case with the s5vwd as well.

the base model was actually closer to 1300grams.... team version about 60 to 80grams lighter, and the VWD 990gr depending on size...

If the frame was any lighter it was due to the paint. The frame is EXACTLY the same between the base and team.

Here are a couple of links where this has been discussed extensively on the Cervelo Forum, including Damon Rinard and other Cervelo tech gurus weighing in:

http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/p/8604 ... aspx#59656

http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/p/8767 ... aspx#60750

http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/8315 ... ageIndex=1

EM3

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My 2011 Cervelo R5

EXACTLY?

maybe u mean the compliance, stiffness and ride is comparable between levels of the S5?

He means they are the same naked frame. Some are painted as regular s5 bikes, some are painted as s5 team bikes. This is a known fact. This is likely why they're simplifying the naming for 2013

NOT TRUE...if u peruse the URLs I posted above u could read Damon Rinard himself explaining the differences among the frames (hint: carbon weave and carbon layup is indeed different).

The bigger question is whether Regular Joe Weekend Warrior, the typical Cervelo customer, is astute enough to tell the difference between frames if they were given a blind taste test?

EM3

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My 2011 Cervelo R5

Sorry I maybe mistaken but they aren't the same frames... There's more differences than just the weight & color of the paint...

It appears I got some info crossed up. I'm pretty sure it was the R3/R3team that I was thinking about. Sorry for the mixup.
As a side note, it looks like the 2013 s5team frames are a lot less "lumpy" than before.