![]() It’s every inch a match for its supposedly ‘race bike’ rivals. The bike accelerates with a proper punch when you stomp on the pedals. It reminds me of both R-Series and S-Series bikes with its snappy, responsive frame. Thankfully, it feels every inch a sporty Cervélo. The Caledonia’s roadie origins become immediately apparent. The stellar Prologo Dimension saddle is mated to a D-shaped SP24 carbon post. The complete bike, with new 12-speed Shimano Ultegra Di2 and Reserve wheels, weighs 7.95kg (lighter than the equivalent model from 2021). The frame comes in at a claimed 936g and the matched fork 370g (painted, with hardware fitted, and in a size 56cm as tested here). It seems Cervélo, even with the Caledonia, hasn’t abandoned its racing roots. The seat angle of 73 degrees is regular road stuff, but the chainstays run out to 415mm, 5mm longer than their racier road designs.Ĭervélo claims the longer rear centre, lowering the bottom-bracket height and increasing the trail adds up to a bike with quick handling but more stability for the rigours of racing conditions. In its off-the-peg guise with 28mm tyres, the Caledonia 5 might have hit on the happy medium between fast and forgiving handling. To explain that in context, super-fast handling race bikes, such as the Specialized Tarmac, Cannondale SuperSix EVO and the Cervélo R5, have trail figures around 57mm, whereas on more endurance-oriented bikes the trail figure is closer to 60mm – as with the Caledonia running 30mm tyres. A small measure of trail makes for a fast-handling bike, more trail slows down the steering response). This measure shows the tyre’s contact point ‘trailing’ behind the steering axis. It means the Caledonia gets a trail figure of 57mm on a 25mm tyre, rising to 60mm on a 30mm tyre (the trail figure comes from a combination of head-tube angle and the fork offset. ![]() The geometry is classic endurance-bike stuff, with a 72-degree head angle that combines with a 50mm fork offset (the R-Series has a 73-degree head angle and 45mm offset). Regardless of the 34mm tyre clearance, we’re in endurance road bike territory. That means throughout the winter months you can run full-length mudguards. The ST32 stem comes with a faceplate to fit your bike computer in line with the stem, clearing clutter from your bars and maintaining the clean aesthetics.Īt the dropouts, there are removable fender/mudguard mounts that pair with a removable composite bridge for the rear stays. If you’re running two bottles, using the higher position means both bottles sit in line with each other not something that’s usually a major consideration on endurance bikes. If you like to run a single bottle, Cervélo recommends using the lower position because this improves aero. The down tube has two positions for the bottle cage. It all hangs together well, and the Caledonia is a fine-looking bike, with smooth lines, superb integration and details that improve the ride experience. The rear of the bike features low-slung seatstays that look inspired by the gravel Aspéro, while the D-shaped post, with its neatly hidden clamp, comes straight from R-Series territory. ![]() Its smoothly interlocking fork crown blends seamlessly into the aero-shaped head tube, which then flows into the ST32 stem with its aero-shaped headset and spacers, and fully integrated brake routing. The front end looks as though it could come straight from the brand’s aero road designs. The frame design takes much of its inspiration from the R-Series and S-Series, with a smattering of the gravel-oriented Aspéro thrown in for good measure. The Caledonia is much more a pure road-based endurance bike in its outlook (even with its 34mm tyre clearance). Ultegra Di2 has the same motors and circuitry as the new Dura-Ace Di2.
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