New Cervelo Aspero promises greater ride comfort and riding confidence in muddy conditions
Cervélo has added a more experiential gravel bike to its range, targeting the brand’s road riders who want more of an all-terrain option.
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With the new Aspero, the product team’s objective was to create a bike with all the vaunted aerodynamic principles Cervelo is renowned for but without the excessive stiffness of a dedicated race bike. Compared to the Aspero 5, the new Aspero is heavier, weighing in at 1,141g for a frame as opposed to 990g. The difference in fork weights between the Aspero 5 and the new Aspero is negligible with the new bike’s front end being slightly lighter: 452g versus 458g.
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Cervelo has made component choices that gravel bike customers value on its new Aspero. There is a T47 standard asymmetric bottom bracket, which is threaded, and sure to reduce long-term creak annoyance. The Clippy Clip feature also makes internal headset cable routing a little less of a chore.
SRAM’s universal derailleur standard, too, while the Aspero also allows for several stem lengths and geometries. By sharing its headset bearing dimensions with other Cervelos, like the R5, Soloist, R5-CX,and Caledonia, riders on the new Aspero can use several stems, depending on their needs.
Adjustable ‘trail’
Geometry changes from the Aspero 5 see longer chainstays and frame angles biased to stability. The size 56 Aspero has 397mm reach, a 425mm chainstay length, 72-degree head tube angle and 75-degree seat tube angle. And yes, those frame angles are more akin to an all-road bike than a gravel bike for hardcore off-road exploration and adventure riding.
2024 cervelo aspero riding 1.jpg, by Liam Mercer
The new Aspero also has adjustable dropouts, using the trail mixer system. These allow for 5mm of fore or aft drop-out movement, which alters fork trail. This trail mixer system can deliver high-speed stability on rougher gravel route surfaces, or quicker handling responses on tighter trails, depending on the setting.
Designing a lightweight gravel bike with adequate mud clearance is challenging, especially when the expectations for frame aesthetics and aerodynamics are true to Cervelo’s brand legacy. The Aspero offers lots of mud clearance, running 700c tyres with a 42mm casing width. Cervelo’s objective was to have 7.4mm of mud clearance when rolling 700 x 42s on the Aspero, which has been achieved.
Several build options
What about the builds for this new experiential gravel bike from Cervelo? The premium build is an Aspero Rival XPLR AXS 1 at £5,200. Cervelo is owned by the same company that counts Santa Cruz in its brand organogram. Therefore the Aspero Rival XPLR AXS 1 rolls the American mountain bike brand’s new Reserve 40 and 44 wheels, with a 0.5mm narrower rim at the rear.
2024 cervelo aspero riding 2.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Priced at £4,400 is the GRX RX820 build, featuring Shimano’s gravel bike groupset and rolling Fulcrum Rapid Red 300 wheels. You can also have those wheels in a slightly cheaper build with the Apex XPLR AXS 1, which changes the Shimano groupset for SRAM AXS. The Apex XPLR AXS 1 is priced at £4,200.
There’s a big saving to be had with the Apex XPLR 1 build. It rolls Alexrims Boondocks 7D wheels and features an Apex XLPR groupset, for only £3,100. You can also have your Aspero with a GRX RX610 build for the same price. The most affordable Aspero is Cervelo’s GRX RX610 1, with a groupset combining Shimano GRX 610 and M7100 bits.
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