Colin reviews the 2024 Cervelo Aspero
The tagline for Cervelo’s Aspero gravel bike since it was launched has been haul ass, not cargo. Debuted in 2019, the bike saw aero tube shapes, dropped seat stays and the bare minimum when it came to mounts. A few years on, the Aspero 5 hit the market, and it was essentially the same bike, but it was a bit lighter and had room for slightly wider tyres.
For 2024, the latest generation of the Aspero very much adheres to the ethos of the clever marketing slogan. Still, the American brand has refined the platform with claims of additional comfort and speed, along with a host of refinements to the finishing of the frame.
Gravel is a quickly evolving format and people are taking curly bar bikes faster, farther and into more technical terrain than even a few years ago. The first-generation Aspero was widely loved and extremely popular. Does the new version meet the high bar set by its predecessor? We’ve been riding this ‘peaches and cream’ coloured second generation Aspero to find out.
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An overview of the 2024 Cervelo Aspero
There is no ambiguity as to how Cervelo sees the Apesero. On the spectrum of gravel bikes, which ranges from skinsuits and counting grams of carbs to carrying everything and the kitchen sink while wearing a flannel shirt, the Aspero is very much on the former.
The brand claims marginal gains in the drag coefficient thanks to the headset cable routing, tube shapes, and dropped seat stays. Beyond the standard bottle bosses, there are mounts for a top tube feed bag and a third water bottle, and Cervelo has not added provisions for newfangled suspension, dampers, or flex pivots. All of that adds weight and further complication.
With that said, there is a decent downtube protector and just enough chainstay protection — though a bit more would not go astray.
Simplicity below the headset
In the interest of simplicity, the bike uses a standard round seatpost with an external clamp and a threaded bottom bracket — albeit a T47A arrangement that mixes internal and external cups. This is an evolution of the BBRight system Cervelo has built its road bikes around for many years with claims of improved stiffness. At the opposite end the stock builds will come the brand’s own alloy ST36 stem which uses a clip to guide the cables and housing into the frame, our tester was sent out with the carbon ST31 stem that hides everything on the inside.
According to Cervelo the seat stays have been dropped further than its predecessor to promote vertical deflection while the brand also says it has reduced the front end stiffness by 10% also in pursuit of making the ride more comfortable.
Between those stays there is 57mm of tyre clearance, meaning there is room for a 45mm tyre with 4mm for mud on all sides — which is the ISO standard. Sporting dropped chainstays on both sides, there is room for up to a 46T 1x chainring or a double crank with up to a 52T big ring using a standard road chain line. With SRAM’s Wide 47.5mm chain line, there is space for a 52mm single ring.
The cherry on top is, of course, the UDH derailleur hanger. As seen at this year’s Unbound Gravel, we saw the next generation of SRAM’s Red XPLR will not only be 13-speed but also based around the T-Type Transmission. However, if you are running a traditional derailleur and have an issue with the hanger, finding a replacement will be easy as pie.
2024 Cervelo Aspero geometry & fit
For 2024 the geometry is just about unchanged from its predecessor, with the only difference being an extra 5mm of chainstay length and a hair more standover height.
Our side 54 tested bike sees a 72° head angle, 73.5° seat angle, 388mm reach and 555mm stack, and the BB drop is 76mm.
Most of these dimensions are pretty similar to other racy gravel bikes like the Scott Addict Gravel, Specialized Crux and Giant Revolt. However, the Cervelo has the lowest frame stack; it’s 10mm shorter than the Addict Gravel, which is an aggressive fit.
The seat tube angle places you squarely over the cranks for the utmost efficiency. At the front, the head angle is only a hair outside of what you expect to see on an endurance road bike.
The trail mixer
Flip chips on gravel bikes are few and far between, and when they do exist, it is often to modify chainstay length. Cervelo went the opposite direction by adding one to the dropout in the fork.
Dubbed the Trail Mixer, this flip chip debuted on the original Aspero. By altering the fork rake by 5mm, the idea was to maintain a consistent trail figure between 700c and 650b wheels and tyres.
Since 2019 when the Apsero launched, 650b wheels have largely gone out of fashion. That generation of this bike only officially had room for 700x40mm tyres or 650x49mm.
The latest gravel bikes, including the new Aspero, have room for a 700x45mm tyre, meaning you can achieve a similarly high volume tyre without changing the wheel size. But even jumping from a 700x42mm tyre to a 700x45mm tyre sees an 18mm difference in tyre circumference (according to the ISO 5775 standard labelling), which can create a perceivable difference in handling characteristics because of its effect on the trail figure.
By changing the fork rake, the Trail Mixer can compensate for the effect that different diameter tyres or wheels can have on handling or tailor the steering feel to the terrain.
Unfortunately it’s not exactly a trailside adjustment as you need to swap the front brake mount as it’s moving the axle 5mm forward or back relative to the rest of the frame. With a 42mm tyre the trail figure measures 62mm in the front position and 68mm in the rear.
In the real world, that translates to faster, more responsive handling in the forward position and more stability in the rear position. In low-speed technical climbing situations set in the rear position, the additional wheel flop is noticeable and requires a bit more attention.
In reality, I think most folks will play around with it once and then swap it back to the front position in perpetuity. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would have missed the Trail Mixer had Cervelo ditched it for the new Aspero.
2024 Cervelo Aspero price & specs
Ol’ Peaches is an Aspero frame kit that we’ll be using as a test mule for groupsets, among other things, in the coming months. As a baseline, we’ve built it up with the Shimano GRX RX 820 mechanical groupset we’ve previously reviewed, with the new Di2 version having just arrived at Flow HQ to be bolted on.
This is why you won’t find this exact build kit on the Cervelo website, and we won’t be diving into the performance of the parts we supplied. If you’re interested in how the new GRX RX 820 12-speed and the RX880 wheels perform, check out our full GRX 12 speed review.
With that out of the way, the new Apsero is a surprisingly affordable concept among its peers, especially considering the boutique nature of the Cervelo brand.
The top-end build coming in Australia comes with an SRAM Rival AXS build kit and Reserve Carbon wheels and is priced at $8,000 AUD; the Specialized Crux Expert, which has the same drivetrain and Roval carbon hoops, is $900 AUD more. Comparing the framesets of the two, we’re talking $4,800 AUD for the Crux and $3,600 AUD for the Aspero.
For a bit of outside perspective, the new Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0, which also has carbon wheels, takes a step up to a SRAM Force AXS drivetrain and is priced at $8,400 AUD.
You can find full details on the Aspero range in our launch story.
2024 Cervelo Aspero weight
This Cervelo size 54 is built with an own-brand cockpit, Shimano GRX RX 820 1×12-speed groupset, Shimano RX 880 wheels, an Astute Star saddle, and 40mm Continental Terra Trail rubber tipped the Flow Scales Of Truth at 8.70kg.
To put that in perspective, it’s a bit lighter than the Canyon Grail (9.21kg) we just reviewed, a touch heavier than the Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 (8.23kg) that just arrived at FlowHQ, but more than a kilo heavier than the Scott Addict Gravel Tuned built up with most of the exact same parts (7.56kg).
What do we dig about the Cervelo Aspero?
The dimensions of the new Aespero are basically the same as the last one; it’s clear the Cervelo is not interested in mountain-bike-a-fication of some bikes in the category. If that is more your jam, the current Santa Cruz Stigmata — which previously shared similar proportions to the Aspero — is also under the Pon umbrella and fills that slot.
The bike typifies the quick and responsive ride you’d want from something classed as a race bike, and will be well suited to the way a lot of people use gravel bikes in Australia. It’s not a singletrack shredder or a fire road-bashing bruiser, but you can venture onto both. It’s at its best on mixed terrain rides, the type that start on tarmac and head out onto gravel roads with a few bits of singletrack or doubletrack to add some spice.
It’s not too sleepy on smoother surfaces and tarmac. With that said, I wouldn’t go as far as labelling the front end of the Aspero as stable. The handling is fast, and when things get loose, you’ll be leaning on rider skill to keep the rubber side down.
With long chainstays and a low BB, it loves a long sweeping bend where you can lock in and let off the brakes. At the bars, the Aspero is attentive and humbly abides by mid-corner line changes and sharp inputs needed to arrest a slide on a gravelly corner.
While the geometry hasn’t changed much, the tubing that makes those figures sure has. While the old Aspero handled well, it was tough on your body, and the Aspero 5 was arguably worse.
Whatever carbon magic the engineers have worked with on the second-generation Aspero has paid off because it’s an impressively quiet ride. The frame cuts out a significant amount of high-frequency vibration before it reaches the touch points.
And remember that smidge of extra standover height; the knock-on from that is that there is more seatpost sticking out of the frame to deflect when you roll through squared edge-strewn sections of gravel or singletrack. It’s definitely not a plush riding experience, but the level of comfort on offer is a notable improvement over the previous version.
None of these improvements have come at the cost of efficiency. When you need to burn some matches to get up a tricky section of loose singletrack or put on the power out of a corner, the Aspero doesn’t lollygag.
All of this comes together to create a sense of speed that not every bike has. It’s hard to say whether or not this translates to actual speed, but the Apsero feels fast.
What didn’t we like?
In short, the cable routing. To Cervelo’s credit, they’ve adapted existing headset parts and bearing dimensions from the other drop bar bikes in its range, making spares easier to source.
It will be less of an issue for AXS builds and if Cervelo adds a Shimano Di2 build to the list, but replacing cables and housing will be a proper nightmare, and changing that top headset bearing will require disconnecting the brake lines.
If you had to twist my arm, the front end could be a little bit more stable, but for this category of bike, the excitable handing is by no means an outlier.
Flow’s Verdict
Part of what I like about the Cervelo Aspero is that there is no ambiguity about what it is or who it’s for. Everything about it is firmly planted on the side of fast gravel, and it doesn’t bother with any of the me-too bits that some other bikes in this category have, seemingly to bolster their spec sheet.
The embodiment of this is the tyre clearance. While some gravel race bikes boast room for tyres over 50mm, if the riding situations you find yourself in require more than a 45mm casing, you’re probably well beyond where this bike’s relatively fast handling characteristics are comfortable.
With that, the geometry puts the rider into a lower, more aggressive position that will feel comfortable for folks who’ve spent much time ticking over kilometres on the tarmac.
The most significant improvement is the overall comfort on offer, and the threaded BB, round seatpost with an external clamp, and UDH all further tick into the positive column. Really, the only complaint I have is with the cable routing. As time goes on, it’s becoming increasingly hard to find gravel bikes that don’t send the cables through the headset, regardless of how much noise anybody makes.
I definitely wouldn’t call Aspero cheap, but it does present surprising value for a boutique brand when compared against similarly priced bikes available from some competitors. However, given that none of the spec options on offer come with top-tier groupsets— like the one we bolted onto it — I have a sneaking suspicion Cervelo will launch an updated version of the slightly lighter Aspero 5 with all the same updates.
If you’re looking to travel through the countryside at a slower speed, fully loaded with everything you’ll need for many a night under the stars, the ol’ Peaches here will not be your best choice, and we’d point you towards something more like the Focus Atlas.
For those looking for a racy gravel bike for mixed-terrain riding or donning a number plate for events like goodnessgravel, the Devils Cardigan, Gravel Muster or the Great Otway Gravel Grind, the new Aspero will be a dynamite companion.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER - Colin Levitch
Gold Coast, QLD
175cm
Aggressively mediocre
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