For our test on a 56cm model, we found Saguaro East to be a perfect testing grounds; rolling, with a few punchy climbs and one good sustained seated climb. On a loop with Danielson and Shrive, I had a chance to test handling as an ITU athlete would find on a technical course (while dragging my tongue on the ground trying to stay with them as long as I could before being popped off the back). With Danielson leading the charge, we swept through S-turns, carried it over punchy climbs and dove into corners, beset on either side by prickly pear and cholla cactus, natural features that kept our lines honest.
Photo by Jay Prasuhn
The bump to a larger lower fork bearing was a massive improvement; the claims of 35 percent headtube stiffness and 17 percent fork stiffness was no joke; while the previous S5 was stiff, this new version feels as stiff and responsive out of the saddle over short climbs as another test bike we've been riding: the R5. The lower front end also made it racier; and there were several centimeters of drop I could have gotten into had I wished.
With a slightly lower front end (and no stops at the crown, allowing for full-range tight steering), you can now truly attack in a way you would with an R5, capable of diving corners instead of rolling through them, making the S5 as sharp a technical handler as the R5. Some riders like Danielson have been historically apprehensive about using the S5. I suspect we will now see some of those sponsored Cerv?lo pro roadies giving the S5 a fair shake on those flat to rolling stages; it handles more like a race bike and less like a steering-neutral tri bike.
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The new handlebar has the aero acumen and handles superbly on the hoods and drops, but does have its drawbacks. The hoods position was designed with an 80mm reach and a clamp angle to prevent need for a smaller rider to tilt the bar up in order to shorten the reach to the brakes; doing so would tilt the aero section up, negating the benefts of that aero cross-section. Reach was great. The only complaint a user could raise a flag on is with sustained bar-top climbing; as a true 3:1 aero cross section, placing the hands on the bar tops while doing a long climb (such as up Mount Lemmon) would be less than comfortable. Some editors complained about the lack of ergonomics for sustained hour-plus climbing—a fair assessment. For my shorter minute-long climbs, I was more focused on the effort rather than manual comfort on the tops. It was seamless to move from from tops to the shallow drops, with very little upper body shift. There was also plenty of clearance for the wrists in the drops, and the knees while climbing.
And for the data freaks: while standard 31.8 handlebar clamp-mount computer brackets won't work with this bar, we found the bar's leading edge on front of the stem clamp to be an ample (and central) mount point for the rubber band-held Garmin Edge bracket.
Triathlon Utility
Of course, for triathlon, there is immediate benefit. As we've always contended (and aero data has backed), an aero road bike can absolutely be the right bike for triathlon, on the right course. Events like Escape from Alcatraz, Cannes International, Ironman France or St. Croix would find the S5 a worthy choice. With a lower headtube, this will be more usable bike in tri than the initial S5 was. In fact, Henderson said said she plans on building her Ironman Mont Tremblant race bike from this new S5.
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