Cervélo street bikes have been lust-worthy for many years. Its street fashions have been on the entrance of the professional peloton, garnering prime podium spots on the most prestigious races, just like the Tour de France. Given the model’s lauded historical past, the Cervélo ZFS-5 got here with excessive expectations.
I’m a roadie at coronary heart, so to see the Cervélo identify affixed to its first fat-tire, full-suspension mountain bike was a little bit of a cultural shock. However just a few miles down the path, I knew that every one the information and expertise the model has amassed by constructing a few of the most demanded street bikes is a part of the ZFS-5 DNA.
I examined the Cervélo ZFS-5 for six months on the hardpack, rocky, tight, and ledgy cross-country trails in my Central Texas space. On most of those rides, I used to be on the limits of my cardio health; there have been no informal “cruises.” The bike was the vessel for pretty severe coaching as I readied myself for an occasion within the fall.
In brief: Cervélo didn’t disappoint with its first try at a full-suspension mountain bike. The race-oriented ZFS-5 GX Eagle wolfed up singletrack with a trip that balances pedaling effectivity with suspension motion. The body additionally possesses a energetic really feel that could be a rarity in carbon race bikes. And the platform is ripe for upgrades, making the bike one to maintain as you acquire health, pace, and ability.
Cervélo ZFS-5 GX Eagle Mountain Bike Evaluate
Fundamental Specs of the ZFS-5
My check bike was Cervélo’s entry-level, non-electronic SRAM GX Eagle model of its 100mm race-oriented ZFS-5 choices. It has a part choice that renders an MSRP of $5,000, which is $1,250 lower than the decrease subsequent rung up, which has SRAM GX Eagle AXS Transmission. And the GX Eagle mannequin is lower than half the price of the chart-topping, $10,700 ZFS-5 XX SL AXS. All three fashions function RockShox SID suspension.
The ZFS-5 lineup comprises one 120mm possibility, the ZFS-5 120 XO AXS. As might be guessed, it has SRAM XO Eagle AXS and is the one model with FOX suspension. It sells for an MSRP of $8,700.
Cervélo has 4 body sizes: Small, Medium, Massive, and Additional Massive. The body internally routes cables and hoses by means of the highest bearing of the headset. It has house for a water bottle on the down tube and seat tube.
Astute biking trade followers will notice that the ZFS-5 body seems an terrible lot just like the Santa Cruz Blur body. This isn’t a coincidence; the identical guardian firm owns each manufacturers and thus can share assets. However the ZFS-5 isn’t only a Blur copy.
One vital distinction is the top tube angle is slacker on the ZFS-5. However the Blur was a superb place to start out within the improvement of Cervélo’s full-suspension race rig.
Suspension
A RockShox SID SL Choose fork with two damping settings manages entrance suspension duties. Cervélo makes use of a RockShox SIDLuxe Choose+ to deal with the again finish, and it has three damping settings.
Drivetrain and Wheels
Cervélo places the SRAM GX Eagle mechanical drivetrain aboard the ZFS-5 GX Eagle, with a 32-tooth chainring and a 10-52 tooth cassette.
A threaded backside bracket retains the aluminum crankset spinning, which drives Race Face ARC Offset 27 aluminum alloy wheels. Maxxis Recon Race tires in a 2.4″ width hinted at a soft trip for a race bike.
Brakes and Different Components
Deceleration duties go to the SRAM Degree Bronze Stealth four-piston system. Curiously, Cervélo places a Race Face Aeffect Alloy bar with a Turbine Alloy Stem in a 35mm bar/clamp diameter. This appeared overly beefy for a 100mm bike and visually stood out in opposition to a few of the svelte body tubes.
One other puzzling specification was the shortage of a dropper submit. A Race Face Journey XC seat submit helps a house-branded saddle. The ZFS-5 was the primary mountain bike I’d examined with out a dropper in fairly some time. I used to be somewhat anxious about dropping off sure ledges, no matter how properly I knew them.
Our Cervélo ZFS-5 GX Eagle in a big weighed 26.5 kilos with XTR pedals arrange tubeless.
The Cervélo ZFS-5 on Trails
I anticipated so much from this bike. I’ve all the time considered Cervélo as a efficiency model. It has received numerous skilled street and cyclocross victories, currently underneath the Visma-Lease a Bike squad. And the frames all the time gave me the impression that advertising and marketing angles had been far down the design parameter record.
Chassis Really feel
I wished to go quick on this bike, so I went to the paths I’ve ridden essentially the most. Because the mid-’80s, I’ve ridden Austin’s Barton Creek Greenbelt and all its permutations numerous instances.
Ten minutes down the path, I felt remarkably comfy reducing my typical traces on the Cervélo ZFS-5. The bike felt “impartial” to me. I didn’t must compensate away from the way in which I naturally wished to trip a CX-oriented machine.
I felt that I used to be sitting “in” the bike and never “on” the bike and that I had quite a lot of leeway to stay “centered.” It’s so cliché, however the chassis felt like an extension of my physique.
One other attribute of the chassis that was nearly instantly obvious was a much less harsh really feel than on different carbon race bikes I used to be testing on the identical time. It jogged my memory of sure street and gravel bikes, just like the Specialised Aethos and S-Works Crux, which have an unexplainable, mesmerizing really feel. This was particularly felt on the quickest sections of my path networks.
These straight pictures enable me to hammer the tallest gear however are plagued by small, embedded stones. On different bikes, the vibrations might be tremendous harsh, even by means of the pedals. The Cervélo was a tad bit kinder to my bones.
Pedaling Effectivity
Turning each little bit of effort into ahead movement is paramount in a race bike. And the Cervélo ZFS-5 did an admirable job.
The body was laterally and torsionally stiff, as a race bike needs to be. However relative to different high-end race bikes I’ve been testing currently, it felt much less single-minded. Under no circumstances did it really feel like I used to be robbed of any energy; it simply didn’t really feel like pedaling a block of carbon. It had a energetic response to pedaling forces, akin to the much less harsh really feel I described above.
For the only rear suspension designs, the shock was tremendous immune to squatting underneath a tough pedaling. I felt this essentially the most after I was making use of higher-torque, lower-cadence efforts whereas seated. The draw back was that I needed to thread the right line on rougher sections to keep away from rear-wheel hop underneath load, however I really feel that means about most flex-stay bikes.
Cervélo ZFS-5 Suspension and Dealing with
Each ends of the ZFS-5 felt supple within the preliminary journey over a smaller chunk. The tires felt tremendous planted at excessive pace over such terrain, which gave me confidence that they’d stick when required. I particularly felt the SID SL Choose was outstanding right here, given its decrease value relative to different suspension forks I’d ridden.
Because the terrain received rowdier, the fork and shock ramped up at a predictable price and nonetheless felt supple for a 100mm race bike. Crossing dry creek beds strewn with rocks at pace felt as planted as I may count on from such a motorcycle. Mixed with the energetic body really feel, I felt remarkably “mild” by means of these sections. Once more, I used to be impressed, on condition that I used to be aboard essentially the most inexpensive ZFS-5.
Climbing whereas seated was environment friendly so long as I stored my physique positioned accurately. I needed to preserve weight on the rear tire and in addition preserve weight on the entrance to maintain it down and monitoring, the identical as on different short-chainstay race-oriented bikes.
Descending was spectacular for a race rig. The “sit in and never on” feeling this chassis delivered gave me confidence as I navigated twisty descents that required weaving between massive boulders. For a 100mm CX race bike, going downhill on the Cervélo ZFS-5 was a hoot. It felt prefer it had extra suspension journey than it did.
When dropping off the larger ledges, each ends felt admirably supported. Once more, the ramp-up in damping was predictable, and I by no means felt like I needed to stiffen up my physique to be prepared. Resistance to bottoming was good, and if I did backside out, it wasn’t harsh sufficient for me to hassle with cussing.
In the long run, for a race bike, I felt the ZFS-5 had an excellent stability between having an lively suspension motion and offering an environment friendly pedaling platform. There are extra environment friendly bikes, and there are extra lively ones, however this bike hit the candy spot for me.
Different Efficiency Opinions
On condition that our model of the ZFS-5 was the entry-level mannequin, I set my expectations appropriately.
Shifting
First, this was mechanical shifting, and I admit that I hadn’t examined a motorcycle with a derailleur cable for a very long time. So, there was a interval of adjustment of each my shifting habits and my base stage of efficiency expectations.
For a cable-actuated system, I didn’t have a lot to complain about. After the preliminary cable-stretching and rechecking of the B-tension screw (with the SRAM Chain Hole Instrument) and restrict screws, the shifting was crisp and dependable for a mechanical groupset.
I didn’t “child” the rear derailleur simply because it wasn’t digital. I shifted with the identical timing as I do with digital methods.
Shifting to a decrease gear ratio didn’t produce any drag between cogs like I anticipated. The ramps within the cogs did a fantastic job of lifting the chain up, even to the huge 52-tooth bailout gear. And shifting underneath load to a bigger cog didn’t create the noise and drag of older methods. These days are gone!
Going as much as a bigger cog didn’t require an inordinate quantity of strain on the shift lever. I simply needed to keep in mind that it was mechanical, and all the pieces was advantageous. No, it’s not the set-it-and-forget-it button push of AXS. And sure, I needed to carry by means of the lever strain till the shift was full. It’s not digital, and in that mild, it handed the check.
Shifts to smaller cogs did produce a louder “clunk” than I’m used to with SRAM AXS, however the accuracy or reliability wasn’t affected. I attempted to discover a purpose to not like mechanical shifting, however I had zero complaints. I used to be impressed, particularly given the way more inexpensive worth of the GX Eagle wares in comparison with any AXS setup.
Braking
I might like to rave in regards to the SRAM Degree Bronze Stealth brakes, however they had been simply enough, in my sincere opinion. If the ZFS-5 GX Eagle had been mine, the brakes could be the very first thing I might improve.
After the bedding-in interval, I anticipated the imprecise preliminary chew to vanish. Though a lot improved, it was nonetheless somewhat imprecise, making the sunshine scrubbing of pace somewhat little bit of a guess. This did enhance as time went on, but it surely nonetheless wasn’t as much as par with different models.
The modulation and progressiveness had been additionally somewhat “mushy.” The lever really feel wasn’t as crisp as on different models, and the rise in energy was much less linear. I adjusted my lever pull because the bike reacted to the brakes greater than typical. I didn’t hit the right lever actuation on the primary attempt a lot of the time, as my notion of pad strain wasn’t as crisp.
However the Degree Bronze Stealth four-piston calipers had nice energy after I actually wanted it. For as a lot energy the calipers had, the lever pull was pleasantly straightforward. And on the longest descent on the Greenbelt, they resisted fading properly.
In the long run, the efficiency for a $165 brake was good. I’m simply spoiled with way more costly models on most of my testers, and I’m fairly delicate to braking.
Aside from the above, the remainder of the bike was unnoticeable, which was a superb factor. The wheels remained true all through the testing interval, and the paths right here ship blows to wheelsets from each angle. The cockpit was advantageous; nothing caught out sufficient to complain. I even fared properly with the house-branded seat.
Weight
I didn’t wish to embrace this part at first, because the ZFS-5 GX Eagle has a decent weight for its worth and stage of componentry. Nonetheless, I did really feel the additional mass in comparison with the opposite bikes. Each motion took somewhat bit extra enter somewhat earlier. That is compared to race bikes that value at the very least $4,000 extra.
And it’s only a feeling. Gentle bikes really feel, properly, mild. They really feel extra agile, speed up a bit faster, and are extra attentive to all the pieces, together with braking. A heavier bike can really feel extra planted and secure at instances, however for racing, these emotions are mixed with effectivity, and when a podium spot is within the sights, mild is correct.
Lastly, I missed having a dropper submit. If I purchased this bike, I wouldn’t depart the shop with out getting one.
Conclusions on the Cervélo ZFS-5 GX Eagle Mountain Bike
Essentially the most vital issues that struck me in regards to the ZFS-5 GX Eagle had been the texture of the body and the worth level. The lively-feeling body struck the best stability between suspension exercise and pedaling effectivity, a welcome rarity in a race bike.
Mix these with the $5,000 MSRP (I’ve seen it on sale this yr for considerably much less), and you’ve got an excellent entry level to a real race machine.
However what’s much more thrilling to me is that this bike is prime for upgrading as a rider’s pace, expertise, and stoke progress. The body is a rock-solid begin, and the effectivity and really feel it possesses are usually not bolt-ons.
Each small grievance I had about this bike was associated to an simply upgradeable part exterior of the spend. This contains the difficulty of weight, as each part improve will drop mass.
In order for you a race-ready chassis which you can keep on with as you rise by means of the ranks, the Cervélo ZFS-5 GX Eagle is a perfect base. Bear in mind, the body is the inspiration and the only largest contributor to efficiency, and this bike has the products to hold you so far as you wish to go.
