Cervelo is one of those truly remarkable brands that seemingly comes from nowhere and rises to dominance in virtually no time at all. In terms of bike manufacturers, Cervelo (a clever moniker derived from Latin terms for “brain” and “motion”) is a newbie. Founded in 1995 when owners Gerard Vroomen and Phil White were approached to design the World’s fastest TT bike, Cervelo went on to grab international prominence by building supremely aerodynamic road, tri, and TT framesets. In fact, Cervelo built track frames for the USA’s Olympic team in 1996 and Cadence's Brian Walton rode a custom Cervelo track frame for the 2000 Olympics.
Since their inception in 1995 Cervelo has had meteoric success in both road racing and triathlon events. As sponsor for the world’s number 1 ranked UCI Pro Team, CSC, Cervelo has gained impressive popularity and, with feedback from such seasoned riders such as Stuart O'Grady and David Zabriskie, has been able to create equally impressive race frames.
It's no stretch to claim that there is no other company designing frames today that is so technologically driven across their full product line. When it comes to aerodynamics, the creative use of carbon fiber technology, and a complete understanding of the complex dynamics of multifarious forces and stresses applied against frames, Cervelo is in a league all their own. Cervelo has a total of 44 employees and a full 25% of those are dedicated engineers working in disciplines as diverse as fluid dynamics and structural design. This is just one example of what sets Cervelo apart from the mass-produced knock-offs which today ride Cervelo's coat-tails.
A curse of being a leader in your industry is that others will copy and profit from your success. Cadence, like Cervelo, is no stranger to this predicament. Nevertheless, as leaders and innovators, both Cadence and Cervelo are here to lay the developmental groundwork to ensure high quality products and services for discriminating clients hungry for nothing but the best. And while Cervelo, like Cadence, will be tight lipped about their deepest trade secrets and research results, they'll nevertheless share important tidbits which will inevitably be seized by those with less vision and diligence.
One of those fascinating tidbits made available by Cervelo resulted from their extensive wind tunnel testing. Initially, Cervelo learned that the effects of aerodynamic frames can be more massive than originally thought, with the best frames reducing drag up to 1/3 lb. at 30 mph (roughly 2%!) when compared with round tube frames. As an aside, that 2% decrease in drag over a 40K time trial translates to roughly a one minute gain. More recent studies--which Cervelo now does entirely digitally with fluid dynamics programs--have resulted in the so-called 80/10/10 law; namely, wind resistance (from rider, frame, and wheels) is responsible for 80% of the drag created at 30 mph, while rolling resistance from the tires and mechanical friction are each responsible for 10% additional drag.
While it's known that the critical areas of a frame—in order of significance—are 1) the leading edge (fork, head tube, handlebars) and 2) the area between the riders legs, manufacturing frames with air foil shaped leading edges and seat tubes is no simple matter. Tube wall thicknesses are much thinner on aero-tubing due to their elongated shapes and this means that these tubes are inherently weaker and more flexible. Cervelo, however, developed a method for manufacturing aero tubing without these inherent flaws--and without adding bolstering weight--with their proprietary "taper-wall" construction. For aluminum frames, this means the tubing is extruded at varying thicknesses according to where the greatest lateral and torsional stresses are applied against the frame; for carbon frames, it means that the lay-up of carbon fibers is strategically oriented for greater resistance to lateral and torsional forces.
At Cadence, our coaching staff is fanatically passionate not only about innovative new testing protocols and the latest physiological studies, they are also nutty about innovative technology and how it improves rider, runner, and swimmer efficiency. Cervelo is certainly one of those brands which has enormous appeal to our coaching staff because of the genuine value and benefit it brings to the sports of cycling and triathlon.
Cadence is pleased to be one of the strongest brick and mortar Cervelo dealers in the nation. For more information or for a test ride on any of these pro machines, call or stop in anytime. We can't promise you'll ride like Cancellara or O'Grady, but we can promise you're riding an exact replica of their bikes!