Cervélo Cycles
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Overview
171 E Liberty St Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6KThe Canadian owned Cervélo manufactures bikes for the performance-oriented cyclist. Cervélos can be seen flying up mountains during the Tour de France or racing around the Olympic track and other professional races.
t: view phone(416)425-9517
f: view fax(415)425-6795
Description
Cervélo is the world’s largest manufacturer of time trial and triathlon bikes. The newest Ultralight Frames from Project California weigh as little as 1.5 lbs (700g, 54cm frame). So, if you take your Cervélo to your grocer to buy a half gallon of milk, it will weigh more than your bike! Although at USD $9,600 (€8000) it's unlikely you'll be riding it to the corner store. You might want to keep it stored in bubble wrap instead or locked up at home. You'd have to be a little crazy to spend this much on a bike unless of course you're a Tour de France competitor or have money to burn. And that's ultimately who the Cervélo bikes are for.
Cervélo bikes are all about performance. And what aids them in improving their bikes is their professional cycling team, Cervélo TestTeam. The team is supposed to be available to help with development, and company co-founder, Gérard Vroomen, spends half his time with them and half in the office. When testing is going on with the team he brings the information back direct to the Toronto engineers who both design and manufacture the products. This sort of multi-tasking means everything is controlled by Cervélo and helps promote efficiency and excellence.
Cervélo uses CAD (computational fluid dynamics) to aid their designs. They also take their products to the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center in California for wind tunnel testing. Cervélo are considered the industry leader in strength and stiffness of their frames.
Carlos Sastre is part of the Cervélo TestTeam and won the 2008 Tour de France on a SLC-SL and R3-SL frameset. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 40 athletes rode Cervélo cycles and brought home three Gold, five Silver and two Bronze medals. UK triathlete Chrissie Wellington won the Ford Ironman World Championship in 2007 on a Cervélo P2C with a bike split four minutes faster than anyone else. Of course if we could all afford a Cervélo our times might well improve.
Cervélo Cycles was first launched in 1995 by Toronto based engineers, Phil White and Gérard Vroomen. Their goal was to make a faster Time Trial bike for the market. They were also personally involved in triathlon and road cycling so were able to take their bikes with them to get feedback. Pro cyclists soon approached them who were keen to get leading edge designs focused on time trials and aerodynamics. However bike companies were not ready for the new designs so they decided to start their own company. Their first bike show was in 1996 with two models. But with success where it counted, with consumers on the track and in triathlons, the company soon developed.
Cervélo Cycles remains a small company with just eight engineers and produces a limited range of cycles compared to other companies. However, athletes and consumers have remained loyal to them because their mission "to help our customers win races" is so successful.
Hours of work
Monday - Friday
9am - 5 pm
Additional Information
Standard Frames: Yes
Custom Frames: No
Retrofitting old bikes: No
Year Established: 1995
Products Made In: China and Canada
Availability: independent bike shops and retailers
Types of Bicycles: road, time trial, track
Construction Methods: CAD, computational fluid dynamics
Frame Materials: aluminium and carbon fiber
Photo Gallery
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