Cervélo has updated its Caledonia-5 endurance road bike. The Caledonia was originally launched in 2020 and Cervélo says that it’s become the tool of preference for many light and fast ultra-endurance cyclists, taking on challenges such as the 1,200km Paris-Brest-Paris Audax ride and the 3,000km-plus Transcontinental race.
We rated the previous generation Caledonia's versatility, ride quality and handling when we had it on long-term review back in 2021. Updates to the new bike are subtle, as with other Cervélo upgrades, such as the latest S5 and the new P5 time trial bike.
As with all of Cervélo‘s bikes, the new Caledonia-5 is claimed to be aero, retaining its aero tube profiles and internal cabling, which is designed with split spacers to allow bar height adjustment without touching the hoses.
Cervélo says that it has increased the bike’s compliance for a more comfortable ride. The added compliance comes from an increased drop to the seatstays, but Cervélo says that it’s also stiffened up the downtube for a responsive ride feel.
Other updates to the Caledonia-5 include in-frame storage. This is an increasingly popular feature of endurance bikes, also seen for example in the Trek Domane, the Canyon Endurace and the new Ribble Allroad. In the Caledonia-5, Cervélo says that it offers stowage for repair tools, including a tube, a CO2 inflator and a small multi-tool.
Cervélo provides clearance for tyres up to 36mm wide, although the bike comes fitted with 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tyres on top-spec bikes and 30mm Vittoria Corsa N.Ext lower down the range. You can also fit mudguards using the included mudguard mounts.
It kits all but the lowest spec bikes out with Reserve 42/49 wheels, which according to Cervélo have “aerodynamic sensibilities”. More tangibly, they include a lifetime warranty and crash replacement.
All bikes include a power meter, either a SRAM in-series model or a 4iiii Precision 3 Pro on Shimano specs.
Shimano spec bikes are equipped with a 52/36t crankset and 11-34t cassette, while SRAM specs have a 48/35t crankset and 10-36t cassette, emphasising the Caledonia’s fast endurance focus.
Cervélo Caledonia-5 specs and prices
There are five spec options for the Caledonia-5, starting at £5,500 / $6,000 / €5,999 for the SRAM Rival AXS equipped bike. This has a Rival single-sided power meter and is fitted with Vision Team i23 alloy wheels, rather than the Reserve carbon wheels found on the higher specs.
Next step up, the Caledonia-5 can be bought equipped with Force AXS with power meter or Ultegra with a 4iiii Precision 3 Pro power meter, in both cases priced at £7,400 / $8,700 / €7,999.
The range tops out with Shimano Dura-Ace priced at £10,500 / $12,000 / €11,999, including a 4iiii Precision 3 Pro power meter and finally SRAM Red AXS with power meter priced at £11,000 / $12,000 / €12,999, complete with a Hammerhead Karoo cycling computer.
There’s also a frameset-only option, costing £4,400 / $5,000 / €4,799.
Sizes available are 48, 51, 54, 56, 58 and 61 and the frame is available in either black or carmine red.
