The Cervélo Caledonia-5 Dura Ace Di2 Disc in review

Cervélo Caledonia-5 Dura Ace Di2 Disc or, “The bike for your big, stupid rides.” as the manufacturer claims. During its presentation, the Caledonia-5 caused quite a stir and is an undeniable representative of a new generation of road bikes. Will that let it overcome the rest of the test field? We found out for you.

For an overview of the test fleet head to the group test: The best road bike of 2021 – 15 models in review

The Cervélo Caledonia-5 Dura Ace Di2 Disc caused quite a stir amongst our test crew. After all, on paper at least, the bike appears to combine opposite ends of the road bike genre. The Cervélo bike portfolio is arranged into four segments: the S-series for aero road bikes, the R-series for superlight all-round bikes, the Aspero line (read review here) for gravel bikes and the C-series for endurance bikes. The Caledonia is claimed to combine the best of all of them and is positioned right in the middle of the portfolio. The Caledonia-5 is the premium option with internally routed cables and a proprietary cockpit combining the 420 mm wide Cervélo AB09 carbon bars with a 100 mm Cervélo ST31 carbon stem. The basic Caledonia model has externally routed cables, a traditional cockpit and a standard 27.2 mm seatpost instead of the D-shaped carbon post on the Caledonia-5. Sadly, the bosses for a top tube bag are only featured on the base model, even though they would be a sensible option for the top-end one too. A clever feature shared by both versions is the easily removable mudguard mounts. Cervélo use a special bridge between the seat stays and frame inserts, the latter of which are fitted neatly near the thru-axle.

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Our test bike, as the name might suggest, comes with a complete Shimano DURA-ACE Di2 groupset and ENVE SES 3.4 AR Disc wheels. At 30 mm, 700 x 28C Vittoria Corsa Control Graphene 2.0 TL tires measure significantly wider than the specs would have you believe. However, they’re not capable of filling out the impressive 34 mm tire clearances of the Caledonia-5 and never result in any toe overlap. We like that! Unlike many other manufacturers, Cervélo trust in their € 10,999 series build completely, not upgrading or changing a single component for this test. The bike weighs in at 7.42 kg in size 56.

Size	48	51	54	56	58	61
Top tube	502 mm	522 mm	543 mm	565 mm	581 mm	598 mm
Head tube	90 mm	110 mm	136 mm	162 mm	191 mm	218 mm
Head angle	70.5°	71.5°	72.0°	72.0°	72.0°	72.0°
Seat angle	74.5°	74.0°	73.5°	73.0°	73.0°	73.0°
Chainstays	415 mm	415 mm	415 mm	415 mm	415 mm	415 mm
BB Drop	77 mm	77 mm	74 mm	74 mm	72 mm	72 mm
Wheelbase	982 mm	985 mm	995 mm	1,012 mm	1,030 mm	1,048 mm
Reach	360 mm	369 mm	378 mm	387 mm	396 mm	405 mm
Stack	505 mm	530 mm	555 mm	580 mm	605 mm	630 mm

The Cervélo Caledonia-5 Dura Ace Di2 Disc in review

The Cervélo accelerates directly and willingly, though both the S-Works Aethos and Wilier Filante are perceptibly more light-footed when pedalling from a standstill or uphill. The scales tip in the Caledonia-5’s favour in situations where maximum efficiency is required. During high-speed orgies on the flats, it can make the most of its aerodynamic features, maintaining a high-speed and drawing attention as it thunders by. Some might actually find the bike’s rolling rumble a touch loud.

The Caledonia-5 is definitively part of the vanguard of a new generation of road bikes and misses the test win by just millimetres. A very impressive second place!

Overall, the handling is very calm, requiring comparatively assertive steering input. It’s particularly at high speeds that it needs active input to persuade its stoic straight-line stability into cornering. During fast direction changes and in hectic situations, precision or directness can’t quite keep up with the competition from Specialized, largely due to the comparatively upright position aboard the Cervélo. On the other hand, this contributes to the overall high level of comfort of the bike but does represent a compromise in sporty and dynamic situations.

If you want more load over the front wheel for more direct handling, you can swap between headset top caps with a height of either 7 or 22 mm to adjust the stack height – that provides a sensible range of adjustment. The vibration damping of the Cervélo is excellent! Here, the Vittoria tires, carbon frameset and D-shaped Cervélo SP18 carbon seatpost gel perfectly, without becoming vague or undefined. The cockpit might transmit a touch more high-frequency vibration but by no means is there an imbalance in comfort. The high comfort and stability ensure a solid foundation of trust even on uneven terrain. Solely in terms of sprightliness and precision is the Caledonia-5 missing that last bit to clinch the win, meaning it comes out of the test with a silver medal.

Tuning tip: If the loud ride disturbs you, take out the bottom bracket and put some foam inside the tubes to reduce the size of the resonant body to try and damp the noise.

Conclusion

The Cervélo Caledonia-5 Dura Ace Di2 Disc impressed our testers with its high level of comfort, excellent efficiency on the flats and great performance across the board and on all surfaces. If you can accept a little less sprightliness and precision in the handling, you’ll find a very good bike here. In the group test, it has to concede defeat to only one competitor and, as such, unequivocally belongs to the vanguard of the new road bike generation. Congratulations!

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For more information head to cervelo.com

The test field

For an overview of the test fleet head to the group test: The best road bike of 2021 – 15 models in review

All bikes in test: BMC Roadmachine 01 ONE (Click for review) | Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-MOD Disc Ultegra (Click for review) | Canyon Grail CF SLX 8 eTap (Click for review) | Cervélo Caledonia-5 Dura Ace Di2 Disc | Mason Resolution Ekar (Click for review) | MERIDA REACTO TEAM-E CUSTOM (Click for review) | MERIDA SCULTURA ENDURANCE CUSTOM (Click for review) | OPEN MIN.D. (Click for review) | Orbea Gain M20i (Click for review) | ROSE REVEAL FOUR DISC Ultegra Di2 (Click for review) | SCOTT Addict eRIDE Premium (Click for review) | Specialized S-Works Aethos (Click for review) | Storck Fascenario.3 Comp Disc Ultegra (Click for review) | Trek Domane+ LT 9 (Click for review) | Wilier Filante SLR (Click for review)

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Words: Photos: Valentin Rühl