Cervelo Soloist 105 - Canadian classic
With the Aero road bike S5 and the R5 lightweight speedster Cervélo made history last year: for the first time in the company's relatively young history, the Canadians provided the winning bike(s) for Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard from Team Jumbo-Visma. However, the North Americans did not rest on their laurels, but instead added another competition bike in the autumn - or rather revived their professional classic: the Soloist.
Solo is a racing bike for hobby racers
Unlike in the early 2000s, however, the model will not be making a comeback in the professional peloton; according to Cervélo, the new Soloist was developed specifically for "amateur racers". However, the basic version we tested shows weaknesses in terms of aerodynamics and weight, the most important assessment criteria for competition racing bikes. At 228 watts, the Soloist requires slightly less power to reach 45 km/h than the R5, which is more than twice as expensive, but it still falls behind the competition.
There is potential here: With the reference wheels, the Cervélo Soloist improves by ten watts, which corresponds to a place in the densely stacked midfield. The Soloist is also unable to compensate for the aero disadvantage in terms of weight. Although the frame set is still one of the lightest in the test field, the total weight increases to almost nine kilos due to heavy add-on parts.
The bike accelerates correspondingly sluggishly and its heavy Alexrims wheels somehow seem out of place. Away from the race track, the elegant Cervelo Soloist scores with its smooth ride and decent suspension comfort.
The clamped handlebars with external cables, which are routed into the head tube under the stem, allow the riding position to be customised. The equipment with Shimano's 105 is functional, but a heavy compact crank and simple brake discs spoil the picture, especially as even the basic version is comparatively expensive at 4299 euros. The other five variants range from 5399 to 8599 euros.
Facts about the Cervelo Soloist 105
- Price: 4299 Euro
- Weight: 8,9 Kilo
- Aerodynamics: 228 Watt
- Frame/fork/steering bearing weight* 1095/418/74 grammes
- Frame sizes** 48, 51, 54, 56, 58, 61 cm
- Seat/top tube/head tube 535/570/156 millimetres
- Stack/Reach/STR*** 580/384 millimetres/1.51
- Wheelbase/caster 995/58 millimetres
Equipment
- Drive/gear shift Shimano 105 (2x11, 52/36, 11-30 t.)
- Brakes Shimano 105 (160/160 millimetres)
- Wheels/tyres (weights)**** Alexrims Boondocks 5/Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 28 millimetres (f./h.: 1446/1992 grams)
Strengthsgood spring comfort, easy to maintain
Weaknessesheavy, moderate aero performance
The Cervélo Soloist received an overall score of 2.6 in the 2023 TOUR test of competition road bikes.
More competition road bikes in the test:
>> Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 7 eTap
>> Benotti Fuoco Aero
>> Cube Litening Aero C:68X Race
>> Giant Propel Advanced 1
>> Lapierre Aircode DRS 5.0
>> Merida Reacto Rival Edition
>> Ridley Noah Disc 105
>> Rose XLite 04 105
>> Storck Aerfast.4 Comp Disc Ultegra
The test results in detail
*Weighed weights.
**Manufacturer's specification, test size bold.
***Stack/reach projected vertical/horizontal dimension from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube
STR (Stack to Reach): 1.36 means a very stretched, 1.60 a very upright sitting position.
****Wheel weights including tyres, cassette, quick release/threaded axles and brake discs if applicable.
Jens Klötzer
Editor
