CERVÉLO C2 105 £2,399

CERVELO.COM

Cervélo launched its C-Series endurance bikes in 2015, and although it may have been a little late to the endurance bike party, by making the entire range disc-brake only, the Canadian brand managed to stay one step ahead of the game. The C-Series frames have also been built to handle tyres up to 32mm wide so they have a reasonable level of all-road ability.

Granted, that’s not enough to make them full-on gravel bikes but they can certainly go places where other Cervélos would fear to tread. The problem a lot of people had with the initial range of C-Series bikes was the price – over £7k for the top-of-the-range C5 and £3.5k for the C3. They may have been bikes designed for the wider, non-competitive market but they’d been priced out of many people’s reach. The C2 has been devised to address that problem.

It has the same frame design as the higher-spec models but uses a carbon-fibre construction that produces a chassis weighing 1.01kg, as opposed to the superlight C5 (840g). The frame features a pretty standard 73° seat angle (on our 56cm test model) but up front the head tube angle has been slackened down to 71° and the fork offset increased to 53mm (compared to the measurements on the equivalent sized R-Series frames).

Combined with a taller stack (up from 580mm to 595mm) and shorter reach (down from 387mm to 382mm), this puts you in a slightly more upright and less stretched out position that keeps you comfortable and in control as you roll serenely over all surfaces – rough and

smooth. The bowed seatstays aid clearance and comfort, while the addition of a protective plate at the bottom of the down tube prevents stones and grit from damaging the paintwork.

COMPROMISED PERFORMANCE

Large-volume 28mm Continental Ultra Sport tyres work in unison with the compliant frame to cushion the kinks and wrinkles on the road. The quality of the chassis is emphasised when you consider the entry-level alloy components used at its contact points. Easton’s EA50 bar, stem and seatpost are fine, and certainly help to keep the cost down, but you can’t help but think a frame such as this deserves better.

The same can be said of the Shimano RS disc wheels. Much like the Easton parts, they’re decent enough, but there’s no getting away from the fact that they weigh in just shy of 2kg and make up a decent chunk of the bike’s 9.5kg overall weight. On flat or rolling terrain the C2 is able to hide the weight of the wheels pretty well, but when you find yourself on longer climbs, their heft can no longer be hidden, which leaves the bike feeling sluggish rather than sprightly.

That weight isn’t an issue when the road heads downwards, however, as the C2’s responsive ride and stability puts it up there with the very best handling endurance bikes. It’s a shame the wheels are so mediocre as elsewhere the cost-reducing kit that has been specced produces no issues whatsoever. A full Shimano 105 groupset (barring the non-series RS510 chainset) delivers slick and dependable shifting and the disc brakes are excellent.

Overall, the C2 gives you just enough of a taste of how good Cervélo’s C-Series chassis can be. But, frustratingly, it’s compromised by the modest components and heavyweight wheelset that are required to bring this bike in at a more affordable price.