“For your big, stupid rides.” That’s how Cervelo sums up their newest creation in the promo video. Just what is the Cervelo Caledonia? Cervelo states that this bike was inspired by the team-only R3 Mud bike that was raced to Roubaix victory in 2011 by Johan Van Summeren. Take that inspiration, and add modern details, and you get a bike that should be just as comfortable on your next century+ as well as on the roughest cobbles.
According to the website copy, Cervelo has purposely “stayed away from compliance gimmicks.” Instead of elastomers, or other devices, Cervelo is opting for engineered compliance though their existing tube shapes. The frame includes a dropped rear stay, proprietary SP18 D-Post, and a semi-integrated front end as well.
With clearance for up to 700c x 34mm tires, there’s the ability to gain some compliance from big rubber too. Even if you don’t plan on running 34mm tires, the extra clearance will give you room for full coverage fenders with fairly large tires, using the hidden fender mounts.
This is still a race bike which is intended for monuments like Roubaix, but Cervelo wanted to make the bike more stable. So the geometry is fairly aggressive, but with a longer rear center, lower BB, and increased trail number compared to the R3 that was raced previously.
The full carbon frame and fork uses a tapered steerer with a 1 1/2 – 1 1/4″ taper, fully internal cable routing, flat mount disc brakes, 12mm thru axles, and though it’s not listed, it appears to have a large diameter press-fit bottom bracket shell. Sold as a frameset as well as complete, the frameset includes the AB09 carbon handlebar and ST31 carbon stem to make sure you keep that front end looking sleek.
Complete builds start at $5,000 with an Ultegra disc build, and top out at $11,000 for the Dura Ace Di2 Disc build. The framesets are priced at $4,300.
