First Impressions: Cervelo P5

Upon first hearing about a replacement for the P4, I was very intrigued as my trusty P3 was showing some age and in need of a complete overall.  I had some great races on the P3 and it has proven to be one of the fastest frames ever designed, even against the most recent super bikes from Trek, Specialized, BMC, Scott and Giant, etc.  The newly announce P5 was positioned as a faster super bike, and one that was very simple to use (a real problem on super bikes).

My order went in on the first day the P5 was announced and my wait commenced…for a year.  I ordered it in the second week of January 2012. There were many false positive delivery dates throughout the year (as has been well chronicled on Slowtwitch).  I nearly gave up on the bike in the late summer as my season was winding down, and the new Dura Ace Di2 electronic shifting group became something that I started to put in my mind for the preferred set up on my next tri bike.  With Di2 not available until spring 2013, the whole project looked to be delayed beyond my worst expectations.

In doing my research on the best use of Di2, I began to realize that ultra fast precise shifting was more important on my road bike considering the dynamics of road racing, climbing, etc.  On the tri bike, the dynamics are more stable, with less dramatic shifting demands or overall performance from the group.  With that in mind, and news that the P5 was imminent (became a bit of joke), I decided that a standard SRAM Red group with Zipp R2C shifters would be my set up. I then began to acquire all the parts that did not come on the P5-6 frameset (the 6 designation was the non UCI compliant version – fully aero fork, bars that exceeded the 3:1 ratio rule).  I stayed with SRM as the power meter, and planned to use my current Zipp 303 wheels for training (808 set up or Disk/H3 for racing).

So, in late December (almost on Christmas), I was notified that it had arrived (in fact, Adam at ATC was so tired of me asking about it, he sent me the UPS tracking number).  My first thoughts upon unpacking it were that it looked very nice in the matte finish, and damn, there are lot of tiny screws and bolts…

The P5 comes with Magura hydraulic brakes that are light, powerful and seem to require little maintenance.  They are not easy to install (easier than the shift cables and housing however).

I let George at ATC set up the brakes and cut my seatpost, and then I took it home to attempt to run the cables and finish the assembly.  It came with ski-tip style bar extensions, which I hate, and so I spent over two weeks sourcing the S-bend style (which were almost non-existent for some damn reason). After acquiring the mysterious bars, I tried to finish the cabling only to find that there is a super tight spot as the housing runs through the bars into the stem assembly.  Once I got the housing in there, I had a ton of friction (I manage to pinch the housing) and gave up on it entirely.  I don’t have the time to work on bikes all day anymore, and so back to George it went, where it came out shifting perfectly with no friction at all.  Back home, I grabbed my SRM computer and began to pair it, but could not find a signal no matter what angle, distance, etc. I tried.  I shot off an email to SRM and they had me try a few things, then said to send the crank back to them.  Argh… At this point, a full year has passed since I ordered the frame and I was now missing a crankset.

A week later, the replaced crankset was back and I managed to get it on a beautiful day where I had no afternoon meetings. I got home in time to quickly set up the Garmin and the hit the road as the sun began to set.

My position on the P5 is very close to what it is on the P3, so the bike felt similar. It did, however, feel so much more stiff and stable than the P3.  The brakes worked perfectly, much like a good hydraulic disc set up.  I absolutely love the bars as they are solid, very stiff and are very comfy overall.  I decided to ride some hills to find out how the bike handles climbing (in and out of the saddle) and how it descends and brakes into hard corners.  It was a joy to ride, and handled the terrain with great feedback, agility and control.  It felt really solid descending and there was not noticeable flex in the corners. The bars from 3T are superb and even though they are fairly narrow, they are very stable and comfortable.

After a year and a couple of weeks, I now have a great racing machine for the next few years.  I look forward to testing it on some fast roads, doing some good FTP work and seeing if I can perceive any added speed from the frame.  One thing is for sure, I won’t be dealing with the finicky brakes I have dealing with for years on my P3.  Hopefully I will be fit in time to race in Galveston and give this bike a real test…