Cervelo’s new Project California shows CA is the place ya oughta be.
The first bike fully designed and built out of their new CA design headquarters, the PC is a (claimed) 700g road frame (size 54), but if you listen closely in the video, the one you’re looking at here is 648 grams! Whoa.
Gerard Vroomen, Cervelo co-founder, says the lightweight comes from a detailed analysis of the frame and testing new manufacturing techniques, pointing them toward new ways of strengthening and stiffening the frame while removing material from the inside of the tubes.
Vroomen says such testing and development comes largely from their ability to use the Cervelo Test Team, including Thor Hushovd, to dedicate part of their time to working with the product development team.
The Project California bike is hand made by the CA engineering team
Hushovd, who’s a big, powerful rider, was skeptical until he rode it, saying “It has to be…not that stiff, but when I tried this bike and hit corners with it, it was just so stiff and (handled) how I wanted. It was really incredible how stiff the bike was in the front (triangle) and bottom bracket. This was incredible how comfortable it was…riding on bad roads was the same the S2, S3 bikes. They made a lighter bike, a stiffer bike and as comfortable as the other ones.”
The frameset will be available in August 2010 for $9,600 US (€8,000) in limited availability…limited because they can only make about one per day. (By comparison, the S3 frameset, which is not handmade is $4,600)
Photos after the break…
Once the lab’s strength testing gives it the OK, riders like Thor Hushovd put the Project California through its paces.
The square-ish/round-ish “squoval” shape of the downtube is more like Cervelo’s R3 frame than the aero shaping of the S2 and S3 that Hushovd compares the ride to. And, from the best we can tell, it’ll use a standard 1-1/8″ headtube. Cervelo’s R3 and R3sl both eschew a tapered steerer tube, likely for weight savings, so it’s very likely that the PC will follow suit.
If you’ve never seen an R3 up close, the seatstays are pencil thin and oh so svelte looking, and the new PC looks just as waifish. But if Thor approves, you can bet it’ll be stiff enough for you. And don’t fret about the price, trickle down tech is quicker than ever these days.
And just when we thought Colnago’s new Matte Black EPS was the ultimate stealth bike…here’s hoping they keep the matte finish on production bikes.
