All About Zwift's New Cervelo S5 2020 Bike Frame - Zwift Insider

UPDATE: FRAME HAS BEEN #NERFED

why are you releasing a new frame which absolutely destroys everything that came before it…?

no reason to ride anything else now if racing.

honestly at this point I’d probably just prefer if frame/wheel choice was a cosmetic feature only.

what’s the point in having a massive shop full of different brands/frames/wheels if one choice straight-up obliterates everything else?

UPDATE: FRAME HAS BEEN #NERFED

Gets my vote.

On the other hand, steady state tests by simulators don’t really mean a great deal, and 7 seconds over 50 minutes doesn’t seem that big. I don’t believe it equates to a 7 second difference at the end of a race, because most (all) races aren’t done under steady state test conditions.

If I could do 300W solid for 50 minutes maybe I’d care. :rofl:

The real question, for me, is why introduce a better bike at level 27 than what was previously the best bike at level 33? If the unlock for the new Cervelo was somewhere in the 40s, there would still be a purpose for the Venge S-Works. I mean, the Venge doesn’t even look good. Why would anyone ride it now?

Marketing income? I don’t blame Zwift for making money from this honestly.

Specialized doesn’t even make Venge anymore, so yeah, it is kind of a defunct bike IRL and in Zwift.

It’s all cosmetic. And marketing. And those fast frames make nice carrots to keep users riding and earning Drops and XP.

The performance differences between the top 10 (or 20…) frames are all lost in the noise. ZwiftInsider’s testing is done on the flat, at 300 W steady state, in isolation. The estimated power savings of the Cervelo S5 2020 is ~2 watts. That’s 0.67%.

  • Riding in a group will reduce the benefit.
  • Riding at less than 300 W will reduce the (absolute) power savings.
  • Trainers are generally accurate to around +/- 3%.
  • Your choice of chain lube can make a difference of 5 W (or more) even if your chain was thoroughly cleaned and lubed yesterday (which mine certainly wasn’t).
  • When was the last time your bottom bracket or pedal bearings were cleaned and lubed…?

Should you buy it? Sure, why not, if you’ve got the Drops and level required. It’s the closest I’ll ever come to owning a Cervelo S5!

It’s about time it was introduced into Zwift because the bike has been about for years in real life and it is very fast in the real world too - I ride one, S5 Team Sunweb with SRAM Red AXS instead of the Sunweb Dura Ace group set.

Yes even in real life it feels really fast even with my light weight. Anywhere flat or downhill it takes off. Uphill is a different story, it is heavy. It’s 7.82kg, 1.82kg more than my Canyon Ultimate CF Evo. That is noticeable. The Evo has done a lot of big climbs in France but I never got the chance to try the S5 there before Covid swept in.

It was time for this bike in Zwift to shake up things.

On the S5 I have no trouble keeping up with a friend on the real Venge despite him being more powerful.

Before in Zwift everyone just rode the Tron bike…

Seven seconds in 50 minutes may seem like a small difference, but if you look at it as a difference of about 0.2%, it is huge.

If we boldly assume that the same ratio applies to the sprint, there will be a difference of 1 meter when you run the full 400 meters before the finish line. 1 meter difference could change several positions.

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Yeah, that’s fair enough; I’m seldom in those sprints so it’s not something that would compel me to worry about being on the absolute fastest bike. The 7s over 50m (or 2W) wouldn’t keep me in the lead group.

looks like the nerfs are in lads, that was quick :smiley:

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