Cervelo Aspero Rival AXS 1
In stock at 2 shops in New York City and Portland
Prices and stock checked Oct 22.
Where to buy
2 shopsAbout this bike
The Cervelo Aspero Rival AXS 1 Bike is the latest version of the gravel bike that Cervelo says kicked off "a new era of speed in gravel" when the original Aspero launched in 2019. The current Aspero keeps that same brief — a fast, race-bred gravel bike rather than an adventure-touring rig — while cleaning up a handful of details that mattered to the riders who put the first version through Unbound and other long, hard gravel days. The frame gets a threaded bottom bracket, neater cable routing, a derailleur hanger built for Sram's newest drivetrains, and a shape Cervelo describes as more aerodynamically efficient than its predecessor. For Cervelo, that aero work is less about outright speed and more about energy conservation over a long day of gravel racing — the kind of thing you don't notice until the last hour, when a headwind has been chipping away at you for six.
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That threaded bottom bracket is worth pausing on. Cervelo built the Aspero around an asymmetrical T47a threaded shell, a design it first used on the R5-CX cyclocross frame. It gives you the wide-stance stiffness benefits of a press-fit BBRight setup, but in a threaded interface that's simpler to service at home or at a shop. The frame also uses Sram's Universal Derailleur Hanger standard, which keeps the door open for Sram's Transmission drivetrains and later developments without needing a hanger swap. Behind the seat tube, Cervelo dropped the seat stays for a bit more rear-end compliance and opened up extra mud clearance — a detail pulled directly from lessons learned racing the R5-CX through the mud at Unbound. Up front, the company eased off on stiffness slightly, aiming to keep the last hours of a long gravel race from beating up your hands and shoulders.
This Rival AXS 1 build runs a mullet drivetrain — SRAM Rival AXS E1 shifters and a Rival 1 AXS E1 crankset with a 46-tooth chainring, paired to a SRAM GX Eagle AXS rear derailleur and a GX Eagle 10-52T, 12-speed cassette. That combination borrows…
