Cervélo is launching a new bike — but you cannot buy it yet
Cervélo is readying a new road bike for launch, but the timeline for seeing it in shops is still fuzzy.
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Primož Roglič raced to 13th place at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2021 on a yet-to-be-released Cervélo road bike. From its appearance, the bike is part of the R Series lineup, but keen eyes spotted a few subtle differences between the current R Series bikes and the bike that Roglič was racing.
Cervélo’s sports marketing director Richard Keeskamp told VeloNews that the bike is in the final phase of pre-production. The bike is so new that it does not yet have a model designation; it’s currently called the FM-140.
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“It’s a bike that is in the last phase of engineering. And we will bring it to the market in the coming 12 months — hopefully as soon as possible,” said Keeskamp.
Why is the official launch of the new Cervélo road bike so far in the future, without an exact date? Parts availability. Bike manufacturers — and thus pro cycling teams — are suffering the same problems that many consumers face: Components are unavailable from the major parts manufacturers. Both new and existing lines of parts are in short supply, which is a holdup for everyone from Vuelta a España winners through weekend gravel racers.
“There are new groups coming from Shimano at some point this year but, exactly when is a difficult issue,” said Keeskamp. “[The bike] is ready and can go into production. The components situation makes it difficult to say exactly when we will launch it. So that’s the bottleneck, actually.”
Aero gains and smooth lines
A close look at the bike Roglič raced several weeks ago reveals that the shapes of the fork crown and head tube are refined, improving upon Cervélo’s low-drag aerodynamic profile. And most notably, gone are the exposed brake and shifting cables, which are now internally routed. As such, the front end of this bike has a much cleaner look than the previous R Series models.
“The area around the head tube is significantly different — a bit more aero — but it’s not unique in the sense that all of our bikes that we released the last couple of months [have these features],” Keeskamp said referencing the Cervélo Aspero and the Caledonia.
“The internal routing and the different shapes, especially the head tube area [are] a bit wider,” said Keeskamp. “Aerodynamics are more a part of the frame compared to the current one.”
While Jumbo-Visma will be using bars and stems from FSA, when the new bike becomes available in your local shop, it will be outfitted with Cervélo’s fully integrated cockpit.
Top racers, top testers
Cervélo developed the FM-140 with feedback from Jumbo-Visma riders who recently had the bike for just several weeks. While Roglič has been racing on the bike, Tom Dumoulin also provided feedback to Cervélo as well. Keeskamp said that during the feedback period only 56cm bikes were available, limiting the test group. But, Keeskamp affirmed the American climbing star Sepp Kuss will be racing on this new Cervélo, and so will superstar Marianne Vos very soon, too.
“As soon as the bike is available in smaller sizes, Marianne Vos will also be racing on it,” said Keeskamp. “I think it’s very important for us that at the same time that the men get these bikes also the women’s team will be entering the [Giro] Rosa on the bike.”
Also read: Where’s Tom Dumoulin?
When can you get it?
From the looks of the bike Roglič was recently racing already splashed with Jumbo-Visma colors, this new bike is being readied for imminent launch. Keeskamp confirmed that the Jumbo-Visma men’s team will be racing on the bike at the 2021 Giro d’Italia, and the women’s team will be on the bike for the Giro Rosa. Cervélo also wants the new bike under riders for the Tokyo Olympics.
“We got so much feedback already that I can say with 99 percent [certainty] the development of the current bike: It will go into production,” Keeskamp said. “For the Jumbo team, we produce the bike for the key people to have a bike for the Olympics.”
VeloNews will be tracking all the details of this new Cervélo bike and will report on its launch as soon as the bike is publicly available.