Cervelo S5 Red AXS 1

Cervelo says the latest S5 is more than 6 watts faster than its predecessor and roughly 124 grams lighter, with most of that gain coming from a reworked front end — deeper fork legs and a taller head tube that grow the frontal profile in a way that reduces drag rather than adding it. The bayonet fork itself extends up alongside a widened head tube and blends directly into the down tube, a shape that's carried the S5's identity across multiple generations even as the tube profiles around it evolved. Further back, asymmetric shaping at the seat tube and rear wheel junction picks up additional aero savings, since a meaningful share of a bike's drag comes from how cleanly air moves around that area. This specific build weighs 6.74kg, light for a bike built primarily around aerodynamics rather than climbing weight.

The drivetrain is where this build breaks from a typical two-ring setup. Sram's Red AXS E1 group runs a single 50t Aero chainring on a Red 1 AXS crank with an integrated power meter, paired with a wide 10-36, 12-speed cassette — there's no front derailleur to shift and no chainring to drop into, which means one fewer moving part in the wind and one less thing to think about mid-sprint. The 10-36 spread still covers real climbing even off a single ring, backed by a SRAM DUB ceramic bottom bracket and Red E1 hydraulic disc brakes on Centerlock rotors. Shifting and braking are both wireless and electronic, so there's no housing routed…