Cervélo’s history has always been rooted in racing at the highest level, whether with the brand’s racing team or with numerous Ironman triathlon victories.
The range includes the R-series ultralight bicycles, the aero-optimized S-series bicycles and the specific avant-garde P-series for triathlon.
More recently, Cervélo has expanded its horizons with Aspéro gravel machines and the Caledonia range focused on endurance.
Caledonia is not the first time Cervélo has submerged the tip of its foot in waters of resistance. In 2015, the C-Series gave a sturdy driving position, but the design was more like the bikes of the nascent gravel and all-terrain scene.
Picture and equipment Cervélo Caledonia 5 Ultegra Di2
Ultegra Di2 has the same engines and circuits as the new Dura-Ace Di2. Dave Caudery / Our Media
Caledonia is much more of a road-based endurance bike in its prospects (even with its 34mm tire separation). The frame design is largely inspired by the R and S-Series, with a bit of gravel-oriented Aspéro for a good fit.
The front looks like it could have come directly from the brand’s aerodynamic road designs. Its smoothly intertwined fork crown integrates seamlessly with the aerodynamically shaped steering tube, which then flows into the ST32 stem with its aero-shaped headphones and spacers, and the fully integrated brake path. .
The back of the bike includes low-seat seats that look like they were inspired by the Gravel Aspero, while the D-shaped mast, with its perfectly hidden caliper, comes straight from the R-Series territory.
Everything fits well, and Caledonia is a beautiful-looking bike, with smooth lines, excellent integration and details that enhance the driving experience.
The bottom tube has two positions for the bottle cage. If you like to run a single bottle, Cervélo recommends using the lowest position because this improves the aero.
If you use two bottles, using the highest position means that the two bottles sit side by side; it’s not something that’s usually an important consideration on endurance bikes.
There are also good practical touches.
The ST32 power comes with a front plate to fit your bike computer in line with the power, cleaning the clutter of the bars and keeping the aesthetics clean.
At the toes, there are detachable fender / mudguard mounts that combine with a detachable composite deck for later stays. This means that during the winter months you can run full-length mudguards.
Cervélo Caledonia 5 Ultegra Di2 geometry
Regardless of the free space of the 34mm tires, we are in the territory of the endurance road bike. Dave Caudery / Our Media
Geometry is a classic endurance bike material, with a 72 degree head angle that is combined with a 50 mm fork displacement (the R series has a 73 degree head angle and a 45 mm displacement) .
This means that the Caledonia gets a travel length of 57 mm with a 25 mm tire, which increases to 60 mm with a 30 mm tire (the track figure comes from a combination of the angle of the tube This measure shows the point of contact of the tire “at the end” behind the steering axle. management response).
To put it in context, super-fast racing bikes, such as the Specialized Tarmac, the Cannondale SuperSix EVO and the Cervélo R5, have track figures of around 57 mm, while the most geared bikes resistance the trail figure is closer to 60 mm, as with the Caledonia with 30 mm tires.
With its off-the-shelf appearance with 28mm tires, the Caledonia 5 could have touched the happy middle ground between fast, tolerant handling.
The 73-degree seat angle is common on the road, but the rods reach 415mm, 5mm more than their more competitive road designs.
Cervélo claims that the longer rear center, the reduction in pedal height and the increase in track are added to a bicycle with fast handling but more stability due to the rigors of racing conditions. It seems that Cervélo, even with Caledonia, has not abandoned its competitive roots.
The frame reaches 936 g claimed and the fork matched 370 g (painted, with tight hardware and with a size of 56 cm as tested here). The full bike, with new 12-speed Shimano Ultegra Di2 wheels and Reserve, weighs 7.95 kg (lighter than the equivalent 2021 model).
Impressions of the route Cervélo Caledonia 5 Ultegra Di2
The Prologo Dimension star chair is attached to a D-shaped SP24 carbon pole. Dave Caudery / Our Media
Caledonia’s roadie origins are immediately apparent. Fortunately, a sports Cervélo is heard every inch. It reminds me of the R-Series and S-Series bikes with their fast, responsive frame. The spine of the bike feels solid as a rock.
The bike accelerates with a proper punch when you step on the pedals. Every inch is a match for its supposedly “racing bike” rivals. However, it does not have the disadvantages of a long, low and super aggressive stretching rider position with which you will need an intense yoga class to live.
On the other hand, the driving position is not so vertical that you will feel like you are in an urban hybrid with fall bars installed by mistake.
In fact, the driving position also reaches a happy midpoint. This 56 cm test bike has a stack height of 580 mm and a range of 378 mm. This is less than in the equivalent Cannondale Synapse, for example, with 10 mm in height (stack) and 9 mm shorter range.
It is a more compact driving position, but it works. I felt more than comfortable on long, mile-long days, as well as being thrilled by the bike’s responses when the fun factor increased.
The rigid and sensitive chassis is not made at the expense of comfort. I found myself as comfortable at mile 85 as I first got out of my unit.
This is thanks to a combination of 28 mm tires sitting on 25 mm wide inner rims, excellent points of contact on the fork of the HB13 carbon bar which is wrapped with a quality tape and excellent Prologo short chair. This is on top of the compatible D-shaped SP24 carbon stick.
Specification Cervélo Caledonia 5 Ultegra Di2
The new Shimano Ultegra Di2 and Reserve 12-speed wheels contribute to a total weight of 7.95 kg. Dave Caudery / Our Media
Cervélo’s partner on wheels, Reserve, supplies the smooth carbon wheels, with their 40 mm deep front and 44 mm rear fittings, both of which work with DT Swiss’ reliable 370 hubs.
The difference in height of the rim has been seen before by ENVE. Reserve, however, has also changed the crucial internal width between front and back. The front is 25.4 mm wider, while the back reaches 25 mm.
Model Vittoria Rubino Pro TLR G2.0 tires well. The nominal width of 28 mm is 30 mm for the front wheel and only 30 mm at the rear.
The Rubino may not be the fastest tire, but the latest G2.0 is an improvement. It feels good and soft, and relies on grip when testing in difficult wet conditions.
When summer came, I would put on a faster set of road tires without a camera (the Corsas de Vittoria come to mind), but the Rubinos didn’t feel short.
The new bike gear is perhaps the most important story compared to last year’s model, with Shimano’s new 12-speed semi-wireless Di2 making its long-awaited appearance.
Ultegra Di2 8150 retains the most traditional gear we know, instead of the smart rebalancing of SRAM to 12-speed AXS. That means the Caledonia 5 has a 52/36 set of bikes, along with an 11-34 wide cassette.
The new Ultegra Di2 has become semi-wireless. This means that the STI levers communicate wirelessly with the rear derailleur (where the “brain” of the system lives).
It means a very clean front end, like SRAM eTap AXS. Also, all of a sudden there are a lot of bike frames with shutter plates where the old-style Di2 junction box used to reside.
Cervélo’s HB13 carbon rod is wrapped in high-quality tape. Dave Caudery / Our Media
Like SRAM, the levers now depend on a battery of CR1632 coin cells each. Shimano claims that you will get between one and a half to two years of use of these disposable batteries.
Both derailleurs still use a high-capacity rechargeable battery that lives on the seatpost and is connected to the two gear derailleurs. Shimano claims 1,000 km between battery charges.
Charging is much easier than before, with a MacBook-style magnetic port for the cable dedicated to the rear derailleur.
The biggest leap, however, is the inclusion of Bluetooth connectivity between the transmission and the Shimano E-Tube app. This translates into simple firmware updates and system monitoring, along with tuning in the form of synchronized and semi-synchronized changes.
You can set the bike to change the front derailleur automatically when you change the rear (sync) or to have the rear derailleur “compensate” when you switch to the front (automatically setting the rear to the next best gear).
Adding Bluetooth also means you can configure the hidden buttons on the top of the Ultegra levers to operate a third-party main unit.
I set up mine to switch screens on my Garmin Edge, which means I don’t have to remove my hand from the bars to access the travel data screens. It also means that your main unit can display vital Di2 information, such as battery level and gear selection.
This not only aligns Di2 with the SRAM AXS (although the E-Tube application is not as advanced or easy to use as the SRAM AXS), but more importantly, it gives you access to the broader capabilities than they had until now. easily accessed (unless you paid for the wb-111 Bluetooth antenna to be installed on older Di2 systems).
Ultegra Di2 shares the same engines and circuits as the new flagship Dura-Ace Di2, so it has the same Shimano claims of a 58% and 45% faster change for the rear and front derailments respectively.
On the road, however, it is difficult to judge or quantify.
STI levers communicate wirelessly with the rear diverter. Dave Caudery / Our Media
The old 11-speed Di2 wasn’t much of a change …