Cervelo Soloist Force AXS 1 Bike

The Cervelo Soloist Force AXS 1 Bike is Cervelo's aero road platform built around a simplified, race-focused drivetrain. Where most Soloist builds run a traditional 2x setup, the Force AXS 1 pairs a single 48-tooth aero chainring with a SRAM Force XPLR AXS 13-speed cassette spanning 10-46 teeth. One derailleur, one shift lever function, and a gear range wide enough to cover flat sprints and punchy climbs without a front shift to think about. It's a drivetrain layout more commonly seen on gravel bikes, applied here to a pure road race machine — fewer moving parts, less to manage when the pace goes hard.

The frame itself carries Cervelo's latest aero updates: a deeper head tube, deeper fork legs, and a bottom bracket junction shaped to shield the rear wheel from turbulence. Cervelo states these changes cut 8.6 watts of drag compared to the outgoing Soloist, with another 4.3 watts available when paired with the bike's aero bottle system — the WB003 bottle and cage included on this build. Small numbers individually, but they stack up over a long breakaway or a solo time trial effort, which is the scenario this bike is built around. The all-carbon fork and carbon frame keep weight in check while the front end stays stiff enough to hold a line at speed.

Stopping power and shifting come from SRAM's Force AXS E1 hydraulic disc groupset, with the crankset integrating a power meter as standard — useful for anyone structuring intervals or racing to numbers rather than feel. SRAM Paceline Centerlock rotors handle braking duty. Rolling stock is Reserve's 42mm front / 49mm rear carbon wheelset on DT Swiss 350 hubs, tubeless compatible and developed through Reserve's Turbulent Aero program, which uses real-world wind data rather than pure wind-tunnel testing to shape rim profiles. Vittoria Corsa N.EXT tubeless tires in 700x29 come mounted stock, a width that balances low rolling resistance with enough air volume for rough pavement and long days in the saddle.

Up front, the Cervelo HB18 one-piece carbon handlebar and stem cleans up cable routing and shaves weight versus a separate bar-and-stem setup, while the SP27 carbon seatpost and Fizik Arione R3 saddle round out a cockpit built for sustained, aggressive positions rather than all-day comfort. Geometry across the six available sizes (48cm to 61cm) keeps a low stack-to-reach ratio typical of a race bike — this is a bike that rewards riders already comfortable low and long, not one designed to ease someone into an aggressive position.

Cervelo built the Soloist for riders who race, whether that's a Tuesday night group ride, a local crit, or a solo breakaway attempt where every watt saved matters. The Force AXS 1 build strips the drivetrain down to its essentials without giving up range, wraps it in a frame shaped to cut drag, and puts it on wheels designed for how air actually moves around a bike on the road — not just in a wind tunnel. This build arrives in the Cloud Burst colorway and is available for in-store pickup through RA Cycles.