2024 Cervelo Caledonia-5

[AndrewCowley]

I was hoping Cervelo would shave some weight from it. It's not like they don't know how to make a lightweight bike.

I am a believer that weight still matters for normal people riding endurance bikes, even if it's less of a thing for the cool people on aero bikes at faster average speeds.

Cervelo has 4 road bikes in their range. I suspect they are evaluating this and have thus rolled out a very low key update to the Caledonia.

[eric01]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

[Steve Curtis]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

I didn't even know they were going to update it. I've had my 5 since early 2023 so it would take a huge step to make me consider changing.

I'm happy with everything about my custom build, but some aero details would be nice.
I don't think my current 5 with its integrated bar/ stem is particularly aero, but other brands have made steps in this area as a sales hook.

Oh, and UDH would have been nice too

[robeambro]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

I didn't even know they were going to update it. I've had my 5 since early 2023 so it would take a huge step to make me consider changing.

I'm happy with everything about my custom build, but some aero details would be nice.
I don't think my current 5 with its integrated bar/ stem is particularly aero, but other brands have made steps in this area as a sales hook.

Oh, and UDH would have been nice too

Out of curiosity - what makes you think that? Most of the tubing appears to be fairly aerodynamically optimised. Of course we don't have Tour data (or Cervelo's), but I don't know whether the Cal-5 would be less aerodynamic than say, a Fray*.

*frame only. Of course Enve's cockpit may well be a fair bit more aero than whatever comes with the Caledonia.

[robeambro]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

I think it's been clearly highlighted already. UDH would've been nice, a threaded BB.. Plus, Cervelo to this day doesn't offer an integrated barstem solution, which I would've liked to see on the higher end models - but that's highly personal and not necessarily needed on an endurance bike.

Also - personally I would've loved to see an updated Caledonia (non-5) with a Soloist price tag. If I compare the £4.5k Cal-5 frameset (incl. stem but to my knowledge one can't pick length) vs the £5.5k Fray chassis (incl. stem and handlebar, fully customisable), we're not far off, so the frame is not a screaming deal either.

[Steve Curtis]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

I didn't even know they were going to update it. I've had my 5 since early 2023 so it would take a huge step to make me consider changing.

I'm happy with everything about my custom build, but some aero details would be nice.
I don't think my current 5 with its integrated bar/ stem is particularly aero, but other brands have made steps in this area as a sales hook.

Oh, and UDH would have been nice too

Out of curiosity - what makes you think that? Most of the tubing appears to be fairly aerodynamically optimised. Of course we don't have Tour data (or Cervelo's), but I don't know whether the Cal-5 would be less aerodynamic than say, a Fray*.

*frame only. Of course Enve's cockpit may well be a fair bit more aero than whatever comes with the Caledonia.

Cervelo tend to design their frames using their portfolio of known aero tube shapes, so maybe it's not a brick, but if it were aero I'm sure they sould shout about it.

Standard fit stems and bars are absolutely crap so I put together an integrated bar with custom made spacers. I feel this whole area could be improved upon if Cervelo factory made an integrated solution.

[robeambro]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

I didn't even know they were going to update it. I've had my 5 since early 2023 so it would take a huge step to make me consider changing.

I'm happy with everything about my custom build, but some aero details would be nice.
I don't think my current 5 with its integrated bar/ stem is particularly aero, but other brands have made steps in this area as a sales hook.

Oh, and UDH would have been nice too

Out of curiosity - what makes you think that? Most of the tubing appears to be fairly aerodynamically optimised. Of course we don't have Tour data (or Cervelo's), but I don't know whether the Cal-5 would be less aerodynamic than say, a Fray*.

*frame only. Of course Enve's cockpit may well be a fair bit more aero than whatever comes with the Caledonia.

Cervelo tend to design their frames using their portfolio of known aero tube shapes, so maybe it's not a brick, but if it were aero I'm sure they sould shout about it.

Standard fit stems and bars are absolutely crap so I put together an integrated bar with custom made spacers. I feel this whole area could be improved upon if Cervelo factory made an integrated solution.

I see what you mean about an integrated barstem solution (and I've mentioned this in a previous post too), but regarding the bold I don't fully agree - oftentimes brands decide to share / not share also based on a product positioning standpoint. Even if the Cal-5 were aero, they probably would not tell you "The Cal-5 is as aero / more aero than the R5" or "it's only (e.g.) 7 watts slower than the S5" nor they would give you any data that could indirectly lead you to these conclusions, as this would a) risk jeopardising sales of the latter models and b) dilute the product positioning of the Cal-5, which is meant to go for "long stupid rides", as they say, not to win races. Just like Specialized may have well made the SL8 to be quite comfortable but they won't tell you that, since that's the key area of the Roubaix.

Cervelo will generically tell you that the Cal-5 is aerodynamically optimised cause they know they have to say it, but if you're the kind of guy who needs to know exactly how many watts, they probably want you to buy an S5 (or even a Soloist). It doesn't help much that Cervelo has an overly crowded road line-up. Whatever they say about one model may have unintended / adverse outcomes.

[JWTS]

Out of curiosity for current Caledonia owners, what upgrades were you hoping for?

I wouldn't say I was "hoping for upgrades" as I'm totally content with my Cal5. Here is what would have gotten me to replace it:

-integrated storage (done a little better than they've managed it on this bike)
-increase in tire clearance to 40mm (48mm inside dimensions)
-adjustable geometry. They way they implemeted it in their electri bike would be absolutely perfect, IMO: https://www.cervelo.com/es-ES/bikes/rouvida
-keep the weight close to what it is now

This would tempt me to go from a Cal 5 and Aspero to a single bike.

As far as the updates, I have to agree with what has been said--it seems like a very cost-saving targeted update. The update in tire clearance is especially disappointing, and it really should be T47 and UDH.

As a Cal5 owner, I'll say a couple of things about it:
-it's aero. Having field tested it against my Merida Reacto Disc (gen 1), and a rim brake Propel and Cervelo S5 (gen 1), the Cal5 is within a watt or two of all of those bikes when normalized with cockpit and wheels. My guess is that they don't lean into the aero claims simply for marketing reasons, particularly since I bet it's a lot more aero than the R5, and that wouldn't be a great look. Dunno...but it's definitely a fast bike
-tire clearance. You aren't fitting a 38mm WAM tire in the rear with a "lot of clearance". 3 sizes of frame all measued 41.Xmm internal at the rear tires. That's less than 2mm a side. Running a 35.8mm tire I'm right at 2.5mm. So, the official increase to 36mm does help a little, but I think it's just not enough.

For someone looking at the new Cal5, the Enve Fray just looks like a more compelling option. I have a set of gravel wheels I'll toss on occassionally, with Conti 35mm terra speeds. It's great--but would be even better if I could put those on wider rims and get a touch more clearance, or being able to run any 38mm WAM.

For a current Cal5 owner there is really no compelling reason to upgrade.