Long-term review: Cervélo Aspero-5 GRX Di2

Dave Rome

It’s been a little less than a year since Cervélo revamped its gravel race bike, the Aspero 5. This overhaul leaned strongly on the aero angle, bragging to be the fastest gravel bike in the world, all while giving it a clearer separation from Cervélo’s 2024 update of the more affordable Aspero.

With official room for just 45 mm tyres and a frame that meets UCI approval for multi-discipline racing, it reads more like a cyclocross bike than some of the newest gravel bikes. Still, it’s a modern example of how gravel is segmenting, where narrower tyres may still be best for the UCI’s tarmac-laden approach to gravel racing.

I’ve been on the GRX Di2 version of this bike since shortly after its launch, testing it with different tyres and wheels to better understand it. In that time, I’ve also managed to share notes with others about where it excels and where it most absolutely does not. Most interestingly, it feels to me like Cervélo failed to make the best gravel race bike, but in turn, stumbled into the future of performance all-road bikes. Allow me to explain...

The short of it: Cervélo's flagship gravel race bike is an aero bike that proves just how quickly race gravel tech has progressed in a short timeframe.

Highs: Damn quick in open and smoother conditions, impressively good as a road bike, high-level build quality, generous specification and quality small details (a new benchmark).

Lows: Seat tube angle is too slack, narrow down tube storage is a fiddle and not well-sealed, bar widths too wide for the purpose, not enough tyre clearance for some uses, harsh ride quality when the terrain turns rough.

Pricing: Complete bikes from US$8,850 / £8,250 / €8,500 / AU$12,900 (as tested).

The Cervélo 5 explained

From afar, you’d be easily excused for thinking the Aspero-5 is one of Cervélo’s road models. The deep aero tube profiles, a seat tube that sculpts the radius of the rear wheel, deep but slender fork blades, an hourglass-shaped head tube, a thin winged handlebar, and a general low-slung look all sum up to what’s clearly a Cervélo; you just wouldn’t assume it to be the brand’s flagship gravel bike.

Cervélo isn’t the first to do such things, with the 3T RaceMax and Factor Ostro Gravel being the clearest competitors, and bikes like the latest BMC Kaius or recently spotted Ridley following a similar path. Still, it’s a short (but growing) list of bikes that could compete with focused aero road bikes in a wind tunnel while still fitting gravel tyres.

Slender.

There are some impressive features across this performance-focused bike, some that scream race optimisation, and others, like the down tube storage, suggest a distraction to everyday livability. A UCI-approved sticker makes it sanctioned for use in road and cyclocross events, and so it’s also an interesting option for those who want a drop-bar race bike to do it all.

Aero is clearly where Cervélo focused in this update over original Aspero-5 – a bike I reviewed back at CyclingTips and rated highly. At launch, Cervélo made some big claims around the aero efficiency of this bike, stating a 37-watt saving (48 km/ph) over its predecessor, and a similar jump above its nearest competitor (unnamed, but I assume it’s the 2024 Specialized Crux, which has round tubes). It's worth noting that these claims include the new wide and slick tyres as part of the significant difference.

Meanwhile, aero and price (mostly price), are where the new Aspero-5 differs most from the standard Aspero. That more affordable version still has some obvious Cervélo identifiers, but is more traditional, somewhat like the Soloist versus the S5 on the road side.

Cervélo Aspero (first/left, photo by James Huang) versus Aspero 5.

Cervélo confused quite a few people in the launch of this bike by equipping it with the then-unreleased Vittoria Corsa Control road'ish tyres in a 42 mm width. A wide road tyre on a gravel bike? Interestingly, that width isn’t too far off the official maximum clearance of just 700 x 45 mm (with 6 mm surrounding clearance). You can squeeze in larger, but there are caveats, more on this later.

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