Nice2Tri is now a Cervélo stockist

18/02/2010

Obviously before we get the frames in the showroom we have to see them for ourselves and ride them to ascertain how they feel and their handling and what’s the only way to do that?

So courtesy of Cervélo and Madison our Bike Development Manager Dave Paton was dispatched to sunny Portugal to gather intelligence and report back his findings. Oh it’s a hard life isn’t it? So, over to you Dave….

“The trip started with being picked up from the airport by some of the riders. A short while later we arrived at Quinta Del Rio or Hotel Robinson it is otherwise known as. As it turns out it is a premier sports and health spa resort, the likes of which the top sports teams from around the globe use whilst taking in some warm weather training. Needless to say the accommodation and facilities did not disappoint.

However I was there to work and gain a valuable insight to the engineering and manufacturing processes behind the Cervélo brand. Well they certainly brought some firepower to the seminars in the form of the man responsible for the company – none other than Gerard Veroome himself. 

Several seminars were held on the research and developments that have been carried out before the range of frames are launched on the unsuspecting public. The main highlight of these was Gerard revealing the thought processes behind the R3 and RS3 frames which employ their “squoval” tube technology – the stiffest but lightest carbon frame on the market. The frame behind the successes of the Cervélo Test Team.

I am very happy to report that I got to to sample the R3 and S3 – along with SRAM Red and the Rotor Rings and Cranks. We were led on two rides by four members of the female pro team with each being on a different bike.

The first ride I was on the R3 which was really stiff as they said it would be. However the ride was surprisingly comfortable and the roads around there were pretty lumpy. The power transfer through the frame was such that I at the front spinning away feeling rather spritely. This was despite the 4.00 am start to catch the flight out and actually thinking that I might be too tired to ride anything other than slowly. When it got to the climbs the R3 came into its own allowing me to spin a few gears higher. When descending it handled so well that I ended up whooping with delight as I went from apex to apex pretending to be a TDF rider. Also every time I needed to sprint out of a corner the bike practically leapt forward with just a turn of the crank.

The second was on the S3 the most aerodynamic road racing bike out there and made the previous days ride same flat by comparison. Before we reached the big climb we rode out for about an our start with the flat coastal roads before we turned inland and started climbing on roads steeper than anything down in this neck of the woods. We reached the big climb and the pros waved the red flag with “ok you can race now if you want, just regroup at the top”. That was the signal for the group to start battering each other, after all this was the fast group of we sped in single file, each of us with our race face on. The S3 was amazing in this respect, I climbed the whole 7k in the big ring with quite a fluid cadence even so much that I kept looking down at my gears to check in some disbelief.

Once we regrouped it was time for the descent of all descents (as far as I was concerned) and the bike handled brilliantly even allowing me to save a potentially nasty moment as I got a bit carried away and overcooked it on a really steep bend with a nasty drop on the far side. Mind you it didn’t stop me from screaming like a girl, much to the amusement of the rider behind me. We still had some seriously steep but thankfully relatively short ascents to complete and it was here that I felt that the S3 preferred to be ridden in the saddle rather than out as opposed to the R3 that loved to be ridden in that manner. 

Where the S3 performed best was on the steady descents and the flat coastal roads as it just glided along with seemingly little effort and just flew when the head was down and the pace was high. Little wonder Heinrich Haussler and Emma Pooley are fond of breakaways!!!

Obviously the triathletes amongst you are wanting to read about the P2, P3 and P4 TT/Triathlon frames. Well I think letting loose a bunch of civilians on a load of carbon TT bikes would be beyond the pale so to speak. So we had to settle for the road models instead. However, do not worry you lot as we will be stocking some of those beauties, details to follow shortly after we officially announce everything on our website.

So that’s all folks and remember to keep checking back as all will be officially announced on our website in due course!

Dave Paton.

Nice2Tri Bike Development Manager.