Cervélo invented the aero road frame, and continues to lead the category. Aero road frames are the most difficult frames to design, as they have to be everything in one: aero, light, stiff, comfortable. Cervélo has worked to optimize this balance between the various requirements since its inception 13 years ago.

For the S3, the engineers at vroomen.white.design used the R3 seatstay technology, rotated the stays 90 degrees and gave them a proper Cervélo aero shape. This reduces the weight, increases the vertical compliance and improves the aerodynamics. Sounds simple, but the structural design is extremely complex, which is why only Cervélo has such stays. The chainstays were also redesigned to optimize aerodynamics. Finally, the cable routing system (ICS2) is the first to have cable entries through the top of the toptube without sacrificing shifting performance.

 

Outstanding aerodynamics – Airfoil shapes designed by Cervélo for bicycle speeds, not for airplanes. Features that work, no aero gimmicks that work on a TT bike but not on a road bike.

Light, but efficient – Sub-1000g yet with an exclusive Cervélo lay-up design to create class-leading stiffness in the bottom bracket (for efficient power transfer) and in torsion (for excellent handling)

Vertically compliant – Seatstays as thin as on the R3, but rotated 90 degrees and reshaped for aerodynamics. Light, comfortable and aero, the best in aero road bike engineering.

Perfect balance – Aero, light, stiff and comfortable, the S3 works. Several companies make aero road bikes, but only the Cervélo aero road bikes were used extensively at the hilly Olympic road race, a testament to their balanced approach.

Aero sloping toptube – Horizontal airfoil cross section for the toptube with 1:15 thickness-to-chord ratio make even the toptube an aero asset.

Stealth aero headtube – Hourglass shape on the sides allow for aero cross section without the need for a nose on the headtube.

Oversized bottom bracket area – Large diameter and smooth, optimized shapes increase bottom bracket stiffness for excellent power transfer from pedal to rear wheel.

ICS2 Internal Cable Stops – Entry through the toptube & Internal Cable Stops on the downtube combine the most aero cable routing with the lowest friction and lowest weight solution (no excess housing inside the frame).

Flexible geometry – The 2-position seatpost (optional) allows you to put your saddle in a 76 degree seattube angle position, ideal for the occasional triathlon. As the S3 is more aero than most of the full TT bikes on the market, this offers great triathlon performance without the need for a second bike. Of course, for regular triathlon use, a triathlon bike is still a better choice, thanks to the 78 degree seattube angle and dedicated triathlon geometry.

 

 

Lighter frame – The S2 is light, the S3 is amazingly light. Aero benefits without a weight penalty when compared to most frames, with the S3 you can have your cake and eat it too.

More aero – The S2 has led the aero road bikes in windtunnel performance until now, the S3’s new seatstays, chainstays and cable routing make it the newly crowned king.

 

 

Airplanes require different airfoils than bicycles. Sounds logical, but many companies are so proud to say their airfoils come from the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). So did we, 13 years ago. But now, we design our own specific airfoils, and it has led to significant improvements. It’s one of the reasons why we spend weeks and weeks in the windtunnel each year, not hours (if any) as is customary in the industry. When you have the most and the best engineers working on aerodynamic improvements and you give them more time to play in the windtunnel sand box than anybody else, you end up with faster bikes. Simple.

 

Patent-pending technology from our carbon materials and manufacturing group, Smartwall elaborates on the Squoval tubeshape. With the sides far away from the center plane more important, we concentrate more material there to increase the benefit. Strips of High and Ultra-high modulus carbon stiffen the sides of the main tubes to resist lateral bending. These strips are feathered in to properly transfer the loads from the joints into these tubes. Finally, we add Kevlar to the headtube/downtube area for industry-leading impact strength.

 

To celebrate the S3’s Olympic debut, this model is available in a Limited Edition with the five ring design. For a limited time only, you can order the exact same frame as ridden by Simon Whitfield, Fabian Cancellara and all the Cervélo athletes in Beijing.