Cervelo R5 VWD or S-Works SL4

londoncommuter

Has anyone spotted any detailed group tests which directly compare the above? Both have glowing reports everywhere you look but these often read more like adverts, repeating directly the blurb put out by the companies and not having a bad word to say. Something objective would be great!

Has anyone out there put decent miles into both?

If roughly the same price, which would you go for?

BikeSwan

I dont have any conclusive evidence for forming this decision, but if it was me I wouldn't even consider the Specialized. I would much rather have the Cervelo. It looks better (in my opinion), is slightly lighter, and thanks to those pencil thin seat stays it probably rides better too. The Cervelo is so much more "special" as well, there are fewer of them and they come from a smallish company from Canada not a huge multinational selling machine from the states. Having said all that, you could go for either and you wouldn't be disappointed

smidsy

BikeSwan wrote:

The Cervelo is so much more "special" as well,

Velonutter may agree, but not in the way you think

viewtopic.php?f=40004&t=12912985

bristolpete

Yep. Both great bikes. £ for £ the Tarmac is up there with the very best. Uber bike.

R5 too.

The small caveat with the R5 now is that since the 1/2 price close out there are loads out there, where as paradoxically very few SL4's as people conform to hyperbole, internet chat and my mate down the pub says points of views rather than try a bike themselves. People say Specialized are everywhere put I find to the contrary they are not.

See your Specialized dealer as there are Expert Tarmac bikes available to demo via Specialized UK.

Mccaria

The one thing they have in common is they both have own standard bottom brackets. BBright or Specialized OSBB. Neither is a favourite.

I am just building up an SL4 in 58cm and the head tube is a bit shorter than the R5 VWD in 58cm (190mm vs 199mm), so have ended with 1 cm of spacers on the SL4 whereas with the R5 VWD there are no spacers. I may end up taking the spacers out of the SL4, whereas with the R5 I will have to look at a steeper angled stem. The R5 has all external cabling and was very easy to self-build, the SL4 has more internal cables and I have heard these can be a bit of a pain for manual gearing setting (mine will be Di2 so not a problem). SL4 can take manual or electronic, the 2012 R5 VWD frame is not drilled for electronics.

Built up with Rotor crankset and 7900, the R5 VWD is very, very light. Either/both will build up into fantastic bikes. I do think the head tube on the R5 VWD is pretty high which is fine if you like a higher front end or are OK with a more angled stem, but worth thinking about if you have an aggressive ride position (or get a smaller frame with a long -17' stem !)

letap73

Assuming you are not totally stuck on these two choices, unless you are getting it massively discounted, I cannot see how the Cervelo is better value for money than the supersix evo frame at Pauls cycles:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m6b0s25p51 ... -FORK-2012

I cannot say much about the S-Works - except it does look great. I have seen the Evo put up against the Cervelo in group tests - honour between the two seems pretty much even.

bernithebiker

I have the Sworks SL4 and love it, (I would say that wouldn't I), but I've not ridden the R5.

They will both be pretty similar in terms of weight and stiffness, so it's then down to which geometry you like best - lower front or higher, etc.?

londoncommuter

Many thanks for the comments so far. It is just those two I was choosing between (although the Supersix is of course a great bike).

In terms of sizing, by my clunky measurements, I'd need to run 20mm of spacers on the SL4 to replicate my current bike's stack and none on the R5. That means I guess that the SL4 would be easier to drop in the future but I could always swap the R5's 15mm headset cap for a lower one before having to resort to a negative stem.

Mixed feeling about internal cabling but on balance the ease of installation and slightly better performance of external cabling slightly tips the balance for me. Not a killer either way though.

Bit freaked out though by the link above to the wonky R5 frame! The sucker in me believes Cervelo are much more high end and hand built etc but there are quite a few posts here and there about craked bottom brackets and flaky paint (and now "bespoke bottle cage placement").

speshsteve

what sort of deal are you looking at? I bought my vvd for 1500 quid brand new last year and for that money its a no brainer vs 2500 quid for the spesh.

If your paying full price i'd pocket the grand difference and get the spesh.

That being said the R5 has surpassed my expectations, so light and yet the ride is way better then my roubaix in every way (performance and comfort). I would expect the spesh is a great ride but somewhat less forgiving in terms of ride quality.

BikeSwan

speshsteve wrote:

. . . and yet the ride is way better then my roubaix in every way (performance and comfort).

I've had a similar experience on my SuperSix Evo. I test rode the SuperSix Evo, R5 VWD, and BMC TeamMachine a little while ago. I loved how all of them rode, I just loved the SuperSix a little bit more. The 63cm size felt right for me and it felt more comfortable than the other options. The only bike i've ridden which is more comfortable than my SuperSix is the BMC GrandFondo GF01. If you can consider anything other than the Tarmac and the R5, a SuperSix would be an excellent option.

bernithebiker

londoncommuter wrote:

Mixed feeling about internal cabling but on balance the ease of installation and slightly better performance of external cabling slightly tips the balance for me. Not a killer either way though.

The internal cabling on the SL4 is quite well done, and works well, I've had no issues. Replacing cables is easy using the guides that come with the frame (don't lose them!). I think it gives the bike a nice clean look.

saprkzz

I can +1 for the R5, bought mine last year (when they were £3499 for the frame only :oops: ) It has been excellent, very comfortable and superb on distance rides and climbs like a mountain goat!.. however I took mine round MK bowl last night for a blast, and was very dissapointed.. in my opinion the bike or me on the bike didnt go round the circuit at speed as well as i was hoping or as well as i did on my stretto, was having to constantly apply pressure to the pedals which in turn knakered me out after half an hour and couldnt get any 24mph+ average speed laps like i have done the previous weeks, maybe i had an off day, but i felt fine, so really not sure.

If you are doing crits and fast circuits then I would say the speccy, but if like i was last year doing sportives and long distance casual rides, then I would have no hesitation to vote in the R5.

I am stripping my R5 down and replacing it with a 2011 or 2012 S2 (or something simliar) as soon as i can find the right frame, as I want to race this year.

bol

I've got an SL4, which I really like (surprise, surprise), and would recommend, but I went for the Pro rather than the S-Works, as I really couldn't see the benefit of spending an extra grand to save 100g and have a slightly more ostentatious logo on the side. It's worth considering. A decent LBS will sell you an Expert frame only and build something else with the parts. You could spend the difference on posher wheels and gruppo, or a week or two in the alps..?

bernithebiker

bol wrote:

I've got an SL4, which I really like (surprise, surprise), and would recommend, but I went for the Pro rather than the S-Works, as I really couldn't see the benefit of spending an extra grand to save 100g and have a slightly more ostentatious logo on the side. It's worth considering. A decent LBS will sell you an Expert frame only and build something else with the parts. You could spend the difference on posher wheels and gruppo, or a week or two in the alps..?

Hate to say it, but this is good advice!

BikeSwan

bernithebiker wrote:

bol wrote:

I've got an SL4, which I really like (surprise, surprise), and would recommend, but I went for the Pro rather than the S-Works, as I really couldn't see the benefit of spending an extra grand to save 100g and have a slightly more ostentatious logo on the side. It's worth considering. A decent LBS will sell you an Expert frame only and build something else with the parts. You could spend the difference on posher wheels and gruppo, or a week or two in the alps..?

Hate to say it, but this is good advice!

Yep . . . I'm in agreement with this.

londoncommuter

Less of the sensible advice please! There's no way my legs can justify either frame but that's not the point....

The feedback from you owners has been great but to complete the picture, somewhere out there must be a decent magazine grouptest with the two? Anyone with an encylopedic memory spotted one?

I assume the thoughts so far wouldn't change if it was a 2013 R5 rather than 2012 (same frame, slightly gaudier colours)?

letap73

The review below also mentions the R5:

http://www.roadbikeaction.com/Latest-Ne ... Works.html

speshsteve

Theres a german bike mag that does a bike of the year test, showing weights, stiffness etc, etc. I know the SL4 and Dale evo were both included in this (amongst about 10 others) and I think the Dale cam out top overall. You can view the mag online however buggered if I can remember the link.....anyone else remember what I'm twiddling on about!

speshsteve

Tour magazine.....trying to find the link now

londoncommuter

speshsteve - did you manage to find the link to the review? The only one I could spot was to this older group test which has the SL3 but no Cervelo:

http://www.tour-qtr.com/epaper_4_2011

I was hoping for an impartial R5 v's SL4 shoot out!

Thanks so much.

pkripper

Around our way (south London) the s-works are the rarity, cervelo are everywhere.

For what its worth, I'd choose a bmc.

londoncommuter

In a totally non-scientific study I wonder if there is a SE/SW London split!

I'm a member of two SE London clubs and there are a fair few Cervelos but I went out with Kingston Wheelers the other day (nice club by the looks of it) and they were stock full of Specialized.

Maybe cheaper houses in the SE mean people can waste more on frames! Anyway, no idea why I'm fuelling this debate as it's technical arguments I'm after.....

pkripper

londoncommuter wrote:

In a totally non-scientific study I wonder if there is a SE/SW London split!

I'm a member of two SE London clubs and there are a fair few Cervelos but I went out with Kingston Wheelers the other day (nice club by the looks of it) and they were stock full of Specialized.

Maybe cheaper houses in the SE mean people can waste more on frames! Anyway, no idea why I'm fuelling this debate as it's technical arguments I'm after.....

Ha, my thoughts are based on riding around the Kingston area! I think having a cervelo is an entry requirement for Richmond park.

Hubmeister

Have just taken delivery last week of a S Works SL4 with new Di2 & Roval wheels.
Have done just two rides on it so far, one 73 miles with 4,500 feet of climbing and I'm seriously impressed with this bike!
It's lightweight, very stiff, responsive , climbs superbly, can't imagine a bike gets much better than this.
Despite the brand awareness of Spesh, I have never come across another S Works on the road.
Also good to know I have the back up of the dealer I brought from.
Good luck with your dilemma.

bernithebiker

Hubmeister wrote:

Have just taken delivery last week of a S Works SL4 with new Di2 & Roval wheels.
Have done just two rides on it so far, one 73 miles with 4,500 feet of climbing and I'm seriously impressed with this bike!
It's lightweight, very stiff, responsive , climbs superbly, can't imagine a bike gets much better than this.
Despite the brand awareness of Spesh, I have never come across another S Works on the road.
Also good to know I have the back up of the dealer I brought from.
Good luck with your dilemma.

Nice! Welcome to the club! Pics, weight, size?

Hubmeister

Many thanks Bernithebiker...will post some pics shortly.
56 Frame Matt Black with Red Headlining, New Di2, 52/36 Spesh Chainrings, Spesh Carbon Cranks, S Works SL Stem, S Works Bars, S Works Toupe Saddle, Roval 40mm Clincher Wheels & S works 24mm Tyres..bike shop weighed it at 14.2lbs!

FoldingJoe

Reminds me - I must sort some pictures of mine out.

Mccaria

All the parts arrived today at my LBS for my SL4 9070 Di2 build. Dropped off the frame and checked out the bits - the new seatpost battery looks awesome, so much better and lighter than the previous model.

Rarely been so excited by a build

bernithebiker

Mccaria wrote:

All the parts arrived today at my LBS for my SL4 9070 Di2 build. Dropped off the frame and checked out the bits - the new seatpost battery looks awesome, so much better and lighter than the previous model.

Rarely been so excited by a build

You are hereby morally obliged to post photos of that...........please.

Mccaria

I will, not sure how long it will take the LBS to assemble. I was surprised that everything arrived so quickly, the lead time for the battery was supposed to be June, but I had the thing in my hand today !

bernithebiker

Mccaria wrote:

I will, not sure how long it will take the LBS to assemble. I was surprised that everything arrived so quickly, the lead time for the battery was supposed to be June, but I had the thing in my hand today !

Yep, sounds lucky, quite a few people I know are waiting on new bikes, and all delayed due to lack of Di2 stuff...