Cervelo S5 Red AXS Bike

Cervelo S5 Red AXS Bike is Cervélo's aero road flagship, built around the idea that every shape on the bike should be there to cut through the air. This build pairs the S5 frame with a full SRAM Red AXS E1 wireless groupset, and at $14,500, it represents the top of the S5 lineup alongside Cervélo's Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 build on the same frame.

The current S5 is a redesign of a bike that's already been a fixture at the front of the professional peloton, and Cervélo says this generation is over 6 watts faster than its predecessor while shedding 124 grams. Most of that gain comes from the front of the bike: deeper fork legs and a deeper head tube reduce drag, and the frame pairs with a one-piece carbon cockpit that builds on the S5's original V-stem concept. Cervélo also reshaped the seat tube and rear wheel cutout with asymmetric profiles to manage airflow around the rear end, an area the brand points to as a meaningful source of the bike's aerodynamic gains. It's an aero road bike in the strictest sense — nearly every tube and junction on the frame is there to solve a wind problem, not just a structural one.

Cervélo co-developed the Reserve 57|64 Turbulent Aero wheelset specifically for the S5 frame, and this build comes with that wheelset as stock: a 57mm-deep front and 64mm-deep rear, both tubeless compatible and built on DT Swiss 180 hubs. Reserve's Turbulent Aero program uses real-world wind data rather than pure wind-tunnel numbers to shape the rims, aiming for wheels that hold their aero advantage in actual crosswinds and traffic-disturbed air, not just in a controlled test environment. Pairing a wheelset designed alongside the frame, rather than bolted on afterward, is part of how Cervélo frames the S5 as a complete aero system rather than just an aero-shaped tube set.

On the drivetrain side, this build runs SRAM's Red AXS E1 groupset end to end: wireless electronic shifting across a 12-speed cassette, Red AXS hydraulic disc brakes on SRAM Paceline X Centerlock rotors, and a Red AXS crankset with 50/37 chainrings and a built-in power meter, mounted to a ceramic BBright bottom bracket. The 10-33 cassette gives a reasonably wide gear range for an aero race bike, useful on rolling terrain without needing a second, more relaxed bike. Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR tubeless tires come mounted at 700x29, and a Fizik Arione R1 Light saddle and Cervélo's SP34 carbon seatpost round out the contact points. Cervélo highlights results like Wout van Aert's Green Jersey win by the largest margin of victory in modern Tour de France history and Simon Yates riding into the maglia rosa as evidence that this frame's aero shaping and handling hold up at the top level of racing.

Because a one-piece bar and stem can't be swapped the way a standard cockpit can, Cervélo builds the S5 in nine different frame and bar/stem size combinations, and an authorized retailer fits the correct combination at no additional cost when the bike is purchased. This build is available in Five Black across six frame sizes from 48cm to 61cm. For a rider chasing outright speed on flat and rolling terrain, whether that's a criterium, a fast group ride, or a time-sensitive century, the S5 Red AXS is built specifically for that job.