Cervelo RS Frameset

Take one look at its tall head tube and then let's discuss exactly what the Cervélo RS is not. It's not a "comfort" bike. It's not a "century" bike. It's not a "sport touring" bike. It's a throw-down, haul-ass road racing bike which is why it was the bike used by the entire Cervélo Test Team for the 2009 Paris-Roubaix, in which team captain Thor Hushovd saw possible victory get snatched away by a crash at the worst possible moment. The RS bears a strong resemblance to Cervélo's stupendously popular R3 model. If it looks so similar, you might ask, does it really serve a unique purpose? The answer is yes, and in learning how it differs from the R3 you'll soon understand the role of the RS in the Cervélo line.

When you put an RS and an R3 side-by-side, the first difference you'll note is the head tube length. The RS isn't just an R3 with a headtube extension. Rather, Cervélo moves the top tube upward in the RS frame by 2cm in comparison to the same-sized R3. Consequently, the head tube and seat tube both increase in height by 2cm. The upside of this heightened headtube is clear: It allows you to position your handlebar 2cm higher than what you can do with an R3. Most bikes in the marketplace force you to accept a certain minimum saddle-to-handlebar drop. For riders with limited flexibility, this minimum drop can oftentimes be too great. It's why companies like Serotta and Pegoretti build all of their stock bikes with extended head tubes, and why Colnago does so on all bikes bigger than 60cm. Here's a fact you can take to the bank: If you can reach the handlebars more comfortably, 90% of good bike fit is nailed. Conversely, if you can't reach your handlebars comfortably, you'll never be satisfied with your bike fit. Please note that there is no functional difference in position between the RS and R3. The top tube for a given size is the same length, and your reach will be the same. But what you'll feel will be a difference in where you're reaching -- it'll feel like you're reaching a hair further outward, but significantly less downward, and for many folks this will be the key to riding more comfortably than they've ever before felt.

Let's do a vanity check: Do bikes with taller head tubes sacrifice the sparkle of looking "Pro"? Our vote is a vigorous NO. Go to your local training ride and observe how many bikes have 3cm of spacers beneath the stem. Is this Pro? You tell us. But what we can tell you is this one fact: With the RS, instead of using a meaty spacer stack, you use the headtube to position your handlebars higher. And, parenthetically, might we play the name game of pro bike racers who had the strength of 100 men, but the back problems (and therefore the flexibility) of a cripple? The RS would've been a godsend for monsters of the peloton like Maurizio Fondriest and Oscar Freire -- riders whose careers were hindered and/or prematurely ended by back and neck issues.

What are the other structural differences between the RS and R3? The RS chainstays are 10mm longer -- a detail originally inspired by the one-off R3's Team CSC used to win Paris-Roubaix in 2006 and 2007. Riders like Stuart O'Grady and Fabian Cancellara rode 700x27 tires in Paris-Roubaix in those years, so their bikes required added tire clearance, something you get with the RS' 10mm longer chainstays.

Instead of continuing to use modified R3's, in 2009 the Cervélo Test Team tackled Paris-Roubaix on the RS. They got the benefit of the RS' tire clearance. Equally important, perhaps, is that the longer chainstays on the RS position the rear wheel a bit further back on the bike. Since the taller head tube of the RS will cause your center of gravity to arc upward and backward, the longer wheelbase created by the lengthened chainstays gives you an ideal weight distribution for surer stability and handling. And while that wasn't enough to keep an exhausted Thor Hushovd from crashing in a tight, cobbled corner, it's a difference you'll appreciate in almost any other circumstance.

You'll also note that the seatstays of the R3 run in a straight line from the seat tube to the dropouts, but by comparison the seatstays of the RS have a pronounced curvature to them. We've always believed that the flattened profile of the R3 seatstays is a key element to its comfort. The RS seatstays have the same flattened profile, but their curved shape maximizes their "cantilever flex" -- engineer-speak for the fact that they should provide added comfort in comparison to the already vertically compliant R3.

Cervélo's goal with the RS was to give it the same handling characteristics as the R3. But it also gave them to opportunity to nip-and-tuck issues that could stand for slight improvement. Sub-56cm riders, please note the following delightful fact: On 54cm and smaller bikes, Cervélo has slackened the head angle and increased the fork rake in order to reduce the likelihood of toe overlap. And they've gone to a 650c wheel on the 48cm (what they now refer to as XS) in order to minimize toe overlap. These sub-56cm bikes are designed to have identical handling to the R3, but to do so with little-or-no toe overlap.

The RS carries on the legacy of the R3 and R3 SL in terms of their lightness and stiffness-to-weight qualities. You get the same Squoval downtube and Smartwall carbon fiber lay-up technology, but Cervélo chooses less costly carbon in order to bring the price of the RS to a new level of affordability. It offers nearly a 25% cost savings over the R3, but it nevertheless weighs in at a scant 1050g -- a mere 10% more than the R3.

The RS comes standard with a 3T Funda full carbon fiber fork, a Cane Creek integrated headset, and a 3T Doric Team Carbon 27.2mm carbon fiber seatpost. It's available in 6 sizes between 48cm-61cm. It requires the use of a braze-on front derailleur and an English bottom bracket.

Size	Top Tube	Head Tube	Head Tube Angle	Seat Angle	Standover
48 (XS)	51.5	17.5	72.0	73.0	73.2
51	53.2	14.0	71.0	73.0	74.2
54	54.6	16.0	72.0	73.0	76.4
56	56.5	18.0	73.0	73.0	78.7
58	58.0	20.0	73.0	73.0	80.5
61	59.2	22.0	73.0	73.0	81.6