CERVELO R3SL FRAMESET- 2010

The R3SL is the even lighter version of the R3, but without sacrificing anything in stiffness, weight or comfort. With roughly 300 pieces in varying shapes, with different fiber angles and using four different types of carbon (some focused on stiffness, some on strength), the effort to find ways to squeeze more stiffness and strength out of less material never ends, and the R3SL represents the current high-water mark in the industry.

Upgrades from R3

Lighter frame – We don’t like to talk about weights, as many other manufacturers have made a mockery of it with outlandish claims. If weight is important to you, ignore claimed weights, have your retailer weigh the frames and see how light the R3SL is compared to its competitors in the real world.

Feature-Benefit-Experience

The bike industry loves to talk about features (tube shapes, materials, etc). But a feature is useless without a benefit! Ask yourself, would you prefer a poorly engineered frame made of “Ultra High Modulus carbon” (a feature)? Or an intelligently engineered frame that uses the material to create something lighter, stiffer and stronger (real benefits)? Even more than benefits, you want experiences. The aforementioned lightness & stiffness may be benefits, but what you really want is the experience of higher performance, through quicker acceleration and better climbing.

This is why Cervelo lists not only features, but also the accompanying benefits and experiences.

To recap:

Product Feature: “Which innovative shape, material or design solution was used on this frame?”

Technical Benefit: “What is the advantage of this shape, material or solution?”

Rider Experience: “How does this feature & benefit change my riding experience?” This usually involves experiencing higher performance or more comfort. Some features also offer an esthetic experience, and although we would never sacrifice performance or comfort for beauty, sometimes you can have it all.

Product Feature	Technical Benefit	Rider Experience
Squoval™ (Square Oval) tubing	A square shape put lots of material far away from the center plane of the frame to create more lateral stiffness. The slight ovalization makes the shape extremely resistant to denting. The resulting frame is very light, very stiff and very strong.	Higher performance as higher stiffness creates better power transfer and better cornering, lower weight helps with climbing and acceleration while higher strength makes it bomb-proof.
Razor-thin seatstays	Super-small cross-section for seatstays reduce weight and increase vertical compliance for the rear wheel.	Higher performance as lower weight results in better climbing and acceleration, while the vertical compliance assists in providing comfort.
Multi-shape toptube	Each cross section is optimized in shape and lay-up for local loads, creating a shape that handles lateral and torsional loads very well at a very low weight.	Higher performance as lower weight and higher stiffness aides climbing, acceleration and sprinting.
Oversized bottom bracket	Big shape and fluent form aligns the carbon fibers with the complex loads in this area for better lateral stiffness (excellent power transmission).	Higher performance through excellent acceleration and efficient power transfer – no wasted energy.