Cervelo P5

The new bike arrived at Churchill Cycles a couple of weeks ago, but I held off posting a review until I had it set up, built the way I wanted and also had a few solid rides on it.

You may remember me posting back in December that I'd be riding a P3 this season, well I changed my mind and upgraded after talking to Andrew Budge at Trysport who does my fit. The reality was we didn't know how I would progress with my neck rehab and not getting back to my usual position was a big possibility. Rehab has gone well and I'm lucky to be in a very similar position to that on my Felt B2 Pro before the accident. I have one more fit with Andrew, but I don't imagine there will be any changes.

The first thing I was looking forward to testing on this bike was the Magura Hydraulic brakes. I have never been happy with TT bikes rear brakes. Having a rear brake on this bike that actually stops you makes me happy! In April and September last year I ended going over the handle bars when cars pulled in front of me, having no stopping power on the rear brake I'm sure played a small part in me flipping (the car being the major part!). I walked away from one and broke my neck and back in the other, so any improvements in this area are greatly appreciated by me and this is a step in the right direction.

The brakes are easy to unlock with a lever that releases the brakes when taking wheels off and squeezing the brake relocks it. The screw inside the brake lever on the right also adjusts the width of the brakes if your race wheels are a different width to training wheels or your brakes just need adjusting.

I loved my old Felt B2 Pro, but the P5 steps it up with better performance. Firstly in power transfer, the frame is much stiffer and you can feel the power your putting down propelling the bike forward. The handling of the P5 is a step up as well. It feels very stable too, other TT bikes I've been on feel like my centre of gravity is really high (Felt B2 Pro and Cervelo P2). The P5 doesn't.

I like to keep the front of the bike clean and Cervelo have helped with including mounts for a torpedo mount. I made a couple of changes up front, replacing the tri bars with a 3T S-bend and Sram R2C shifters. I don't have much room for the garmin, so I have used some 3m velcro which hides the garmin behind the bidon. I was a bit worried at first, but it has worked well even on a few rough roads. Xlab stealth pocket is a nice addition and will be full of 32Gi Chews come race day.

This is one area where there could be improvement. The covers over the brakes just aren't the neatest, although with say a Zipp Firecrest wheel that gap would be less. This shot also shows the spacers, there was the option of lowering the base bar and using a riser for the tri bars, but I like the base bar at its current height.

The last thing I added to the bike was the Srm powermeter and a 54 tooth chainring. After a 5 year break from using power, I'm looking forward to the accountability. I won't take too much notice of it at Busselton as I'll use this month just to get used to it again. I'll probably do my first FTP test before Cairns 70.3 in June.

In summary this bike is great! My bike legs might not be up to scratch yet, but I'm really looking forward to the day. It will be fun and fast!
Again a big thanks to Matt Illingsworth down at Churchill Cycles! There are 2 or 3 P5's in stock so get down there a check them out.

Mike