Cervelo R3 Rival Road Bike 2012

3-Time winner and 6 podiums in 6 years at Paris-Roubaix

When Johan Vansummeren won the 2011 Paris-Roubaix, he followed in the footsteps of Fabian Cancellara and Stuart O’Grady who won on the same grueling cobblestones using the R3. In fact the R3 has been on the podium of the world’s toughest race every year since it was first launched in 2006.

To this day, the R3 is engineered to optimize strength, stiffness and comfort while offering low weight in every situation. Built on the lessons learned at Project California, the Smartwall™ optimized second generation Squoval™ tubes place material where it is needed most, and remove it where it is not. We include the Cervélo optimized 1 3/8" steer tube taper for confidence when descending and cornering, BBrightTM to increase bottom bracket stiffness to new levels, and maintain comfort by using thinner than ever lightweight seat stays.

Available in either the base model R3 or the lighter R3 Team, this bicycle has become a staple for Team Garmin-Cervelo riders, and it could be yours.

Experience:

1. Low weight to help your climbing.
2. Torsional stiffness for safety and confidence while descending.
3. BB stiffness to not waste any energy.
4. Vertical compliance and vibration damping for comfort on long rides & bad roads.

GEOMETRY

The R3 and R5 have an updated version of this geometry, which finally suits both seasoned pros and regular riders alike. The solution is as simple as it is elegant. The main problem in most geometries is that bikes come with pretty short headtubes. Presumably this is done to appease the pros, but even for them the headtubes are now often on the short side. This explains why nowadays you mostly see stems with only a minus-6 degree angle in the peloton. There are two issues with this:

1. You can imagine that if the headtubes are already short for the pros, they will feel REALLY short to regular riders.
2. Pros love maximum front-end stiffness, but - for the same handlebar height - a short headtube with a minus-6 stem provides less stiffness than a longer headtube with a minus-17 stem.

Enter Cervelo's new geometry for the R3 and R5. The headtube is slightly longer in most sizes, but they allow for the same low position as before if used in combination with a minus-17 stem (now available from our team partner 3T and also Ritchey). And for regular riders, the new headtube lengths with a standard minus-6 stem offer the slightly higher handlebar height most of us need. Of course those who ride low can still go with the minus-17. The other adjustment of the geometry is in the headtube angle for the smaller sizes. As you may know, we have never been fans of slacker headtube angles on smaller sizes as they usually compromise handling through a combination of poor fork geometry and improper weight distribution, sometimes coupled with a lack of frame stiffness. On the other hand, we do realize that toe overlap remains an issue for some of our customers. So we spent some time figuring out how to get the best of both worlds, how to change the steering geometry and combine it with a longer chainstay length to get good handling out of a slacker headtube. We then had these new geometries tested by several Cervelo TestTeam riders, in particular our "engineer-in-the-saddle" Roger Hammond (who happens to ride a smaller size frame). The results showed that - we have to admit - we were a bit too quick to dismiss slacker headtube angles outright. If executed well (a big if), it can result in a very well-handling bike. To find out for yourself, try the R3 or R5 with the new geometry at your Cervelo retailer.

73 Degree Seattube Angle

Size	Wheel Size	Head Tube Angle	BB Drop	Top Tube	Head Tube Length	Front Center	Rear Center	Stand Over Height	Stack	Reach
48	700c	70.5°	68	516	108	575	405	693	505	360
51	700c	72.2°	68	531	128	577	405	723	530	369
54	700c	73.1°	68	548	148	575	405	753	555	378
56	700c	73.5°	68	564	173	587	405	784	580	387
58	700c	73.5°	68	581	199	604	405	815	605	396
61	700c	73.5°	68	597	225	620	405	846	630	405

Note:

The standover height is measured to the toptube directly above the bottom bracket.