Who doesn't have a love/hate relationship with the word value? On the one hand it's always a pleasure to save money. But in buying anything that purports to give you lots of bang for the buck it's easy to get fixated on what corners have been cut, and just how deeply the cutting went. It doesn't matter what you're buying -- bike, car, clothing, wristwatch -- once enough sacrifices have been made in performance and quality "value" becomes indistinguishable from "cheap", and who wants that? With the Cervélo S1 you aren't getting mere value, you're committing complete and total highway robbery. Through 2008 this frameset was known as the Soloist Team, but in an effort to unify the naming conventions of their bikes (think of the R3 and the P3) Cervélo re-named this model the S1. All that's changed is the name. Structurally, though, it's identical to the Soloist Team. No similarly priced frame on the market comes anywhere close in terms of raceability, aerodynamics, comfort, and durability. Try to name another barely-more-than-$1000 frameset with its track record: Victories in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris-Nice (twice), Tour of the Med (twice), and Criterium International (twice). All of the races we mention above share one trait: They combine savage climbs with lengthy flat sections. Bikes that are one trick ponies, i.e. all-climb or all-aero, won't cut it. The S1 fits the bill perfectly in situations where versatility is paramount because it's Cervélo's all-everything bike. It's plenty light for the hills, it's perhaps the most aerodynamic design ever ridden in the professional peloton, and its Smartwall 2 aluminum tubeset is more-than-tough enough for the gnarliest conditions of the ProTour racing circuit. The heart and soul of the S1 is its Smartwall 2 tubeset. If you sawed the S1 downtube in half and looked down into it, the first thing you'd note would be its airfoil shape. It looks almost identical to the profile of the wind-cheating Advantage 2 helmets Giro makes for their marquee riders in the time trial stages of the Tour de France. Most importantly, the leading edge of the tube is not round. Rather, it's elliptical. In the end analysis, it's this elliptical leading edge that makes it so aerodynamic. It's impossible to create an elliptical section by starting with a round tube and forming it into shape. Rather, you must extrude the tube into the proper airfoil shape -- a process substantially more difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Cervélo goes to the trouble to extrude their aluminum tubing because they know that "aero" tubes with a round front and a sharp trailing edge (this is the design you see from almost every other manufacturer in the marketplace) offer hardly any aero benefit since the bluntness of the round front deflects the airflow before it reaches the trailing edge. The aero design of the S1 goes beyond the downtube. It has a bulge-butted seat tube and tapered and ovalized top tube to make it even more invisible to the wind. And these tube designs go beyond concerns of aerodynamics -- they increase the frame strength and BB stiffness, they reduce the overall frame weight and add comfort to the ride. It's the secret behind the S1's "un-aluminum" ride quality and exceptional handling. You should think of the S1 as an aero frame fully suitable for TT's or Tri, but since it has road geometry it's equally ideal for road racing. It comes stock with Cervélo's proprietary Aero Carbon seatpost. The post has a reversible design. When you situate its head to the rear it gives the frame a 73 degree effective seat angle, the standard for road riding. When you position the head to the front it converts the frame to a 76 degree effective seat angle, making it ideal for TT's and Tri. Other details show that despite its fantastic price, the S1 is a vital member of the Cervélo line: Its grey anodized finish is substantially lighter than paint, and unlike paint it's nearly impossible to chip or mar. And it uses the same ICS internal cable stops to give the frame an extra measure of aerodynamics and a clean appearance. The S1 is available in 6 sizes between 48cm and 61cm. It's available in a glossy White/Red with subtle Black trim. It comes with a 3T Funda carbon fiber fork, an FSA integrated headset, and a Cervélo Aero Carbon reversible seatpost. It requires an English bottom bracket and a braze-on front derailleur.
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configure/buy Soloist Team
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