What is black, red, and light all over? This beautiful collection of components hanging off of one of the industry’s most sought-after frames. Not that we haven’t posted Cervelo R5ca frames before, seen Sram Red in a thousand different configurations, already posted the company change from Edge to Enve, or even some fairly stock seatpost/stem/handlebar selections made, it’s always nice to see everything put together in a nice little package. The guys at Freshbikes in Arlington, VA have posted some top-range rigs recently, and this is another example of product you may see on the sales floor when visiting their shop. Further details of this build and pics of the bike on the scale after the break…
This may look like a fairly straightforward build, but as we have seen before, the devil is always in the details. Freshbikes Technical Director Greg Thomas has put together a beautiful example of everyday, race-proven componentry installed on an incredibly light frame. This build comes in at 5.16kg(11.39lbs) and is absolutely ready to conquer everything from the biggest mountains to everyday abuse from training.
Drivetrain components for this rig include a Zipp VumaQuad crankset, Sram Red Black front & rear derailleurs, Sram Red Black cassette, and a KMC X10SL gold chain. A solid shifting system, this mix of componentry has proven to be as reliable as it is light. Many apologies for the lack of current decals on the wheelset. This is the lightest set of wheels we had glued up, and it is never fair to give final weights without accounting for tubular glue. This edge 1.25/dt 190 ceramic wheelset is still a fantastic performer, but could use an update.
The handlebar setup for this bike is extremely straightforward. Sram Red Black shifters mounted to a Zipp SL handlebar mated to a Zipp SL speed stem. This traditional front end not only looks pretty deluxe on this bike, it is also extremely adjustable, fairly light, and extremely stiff.
Thanks to Craig Edwards of EE Cycleworks, the EE brake is still king. Extremely light, easily installed, and a fantastic performer, the EE brakes are hard to beat. Also featured in this setup are the new Platinum pads from Zipp. The seatpost didn’t quite make this photo, but it is a 3T Doric LTD post with a Fizik CX carbon rail saddle.
Check it out, on the scale sans pedals at 11.39lbs. These are tubular wheels, and the frame is a bit pricey, but for the most part this is an “off the shelf” build. Updates to this setup may include a swanky handlebar/stem setup for some of the German super light companies, and a more current wheelset would look the part a bit better. Who knows, maybe Zipp will come out with a carbon clincher version of a lighter weight wheel so we could match the rest of the components a little better… Happy Holidays.
