The Cervélo P5X broke cover at this year’s Kona Ironman champs, and it’s fair to say the unusual-looking design has divided opinion. We’ve now had the chance to find out the reasoning behind this design, and what it means for the rider.
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Obviously, the P5X is all about aero, but the Cervélo design team wanted to take a more holistic approach so the bike would offer Watt savings as well as fitting triathletes’ specific needs. Key elements included consideration for water bottle placement, storage for spares and tools, and plenty of room for energy products, too.
Cervélo told BikeRadar: “We started with the P5 as a launch point, then to the P5Six with its hidden brakes. This started as a machine for both tri and TT so it had to comply with the rules.
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“The other difference is between the disciplines: on a TT bike the bike is set up and then you ride 40km flat-out, full-blast and it’s done. With triathlon it’s further to ride, and most triathletes also travel a lot, so you have to be able to break the bike down and rebuild it consistently. So building, fitting and fixing has to be easier so you can concentrate on racing.”
The team at Cervélo distilled the data and came up with the following brief:
- Modular, integrated storage and easy access
- Compatible with round bottles
- Easy to fit the athlete to the bike
- Easy for the athlete to adjust the position even after initial set up (as riders evolve, and distances change, you may want to get to a more aggressive position for faster shorter events and on long distance you’ll want a more comfortable position)
- More aerodynamic than the P5 carrying the same items
- Same stiffness as the P5
- Easy and safe to pack
Bottle placement was worked out during physical testing — using gaffer tape and card — and riding, too. Cervélo tested on a 50/50 split group of male and female riders in Texas, where you can get some serious crosswinds. The design team arrived at mounting a bottle between the bars (using larger 750ml bottles throughout), a single bottle mounted behind the seat and one on the downtube (or horizontally if the storage box is fitted).
Why did Cervélo choose disc brakes?
Mechanical rather than electronic shifting
Packing up the Cervélo P5X
Cervélo P5X aerodynamics
- Speedcase fitted — net aero: 0g drag
- Horizontal bottle in place — net aero: +23g drag
- Diagonal down tube bottle in place — net aero: +29g drag
- Bottle between extensions — net aero: +41g drag
- Rear bottle mounted — net aero: +5g drag
- Base bar up position — net aero: -15g drag
Where was the P5X made?
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/cervelo-p5x-design-a-more-holistic-approach-for-triathletes-48565/
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