Cervelo RCA Frameset

Cervelo RCA Frameset Info

The Cervélo RCA Frameset is the next step, the R5ca of today. Cervélo's "Project California" might still have that name, but it's now a full-time skunk works operation, figuring out how to take their best to the next level. The excuse is that the people here work in conjunction with the pro team to improve the pro bikes. But the reality is that the insights gained eventually go all the way down Cervélo's lineup.
 
The R5ca was the first fruit of this labor. It was better than anything Cervélo had built before. Lighter than everything else on the market. But once it was released to the public, it wasn't good enough anymore. Sure, it won the Giro d'Italia, and kept going. But Cervélo doesn't stand still. They wanted to move forward. Obviously, lighter and stiffer is what everyone wants. But they wanted more.
 
They also wanted aero. Really. They found their Squoval 2 tubing was more aero than some aero road frames. And they realized with Finite Element Analysis and better materials, they could make the bike stiffer and lighter. They also employed Computational Fluid Dynamics to make sure the frame tubes were more aero. So they came up with Squoval 3, and the shapes are tuned depending on their position on the frame. The down tube changes shape over the course of its length to reflect how the down tube interacts with the wind, from being shielded by the head tube at the top, to being fully in the wind at the bottom. And to further the aero, all the cables and housing, be they mechanical or electronic or hydraulic, run internally thanks to Future-Proof routing.
 
In terms of lighter and stiffer they succeeded as well. The average weight of a 54cm RCA is 667g, and that includes paint, hardware, and a molded in magnet for crank-based power meters. To make sure the bike is still strong while being so light they use PowerMetal Nanovate to nickel-coat the steerer tube for added strength and safety while still shaving grams. And they also employ 3M's Powerlux resin system to keep the strength the same while reducing weight. Thanks to their materials and ability to know better and better where stresses are, they were able to build a three percent increase in torsional stiffness and a three percent increase in bottom bracket stiffness. The careful analysis also yielded ComfortPly, which is a way for them to remove unnecessary plies of carbon cloth where they aren't necessary, both making the bike more comfortable to ride and lighter.   They even re-evaluated the dropouts, hollowed them out to bond the stays into the dropouts, not the other way around.
 
Cervélo stuck with their BBright standard and tapered 1 1/8" to 1 3/8" steerer because they both work great and they haven't found anything better. Because they are dealing with the future, they created their Future-Proof internal cable stops. This way, you can run mechanical, electronic, hydraulic, or combinations today, and change tomorrow with no problem. All that is needed for change are different ICS (internal cable stops) and a full set comes with the frame.
 
Cervélo also strongly believes in their sizing methodology based on extensive biomechanical research. The geometry of the RCA matches the rest of the R-series bikes and features the same stack and reach progression that takes traditional frame sizing and makes it much more relevant and precise.
 
And they kept innovating. One of the cooler small touches is the integrated magnet for crank-based power meters that is under the plies just above the bottom bracket.
 
The Cervélo RCA Frameset comes with a seat post clamp, all the fitments for running any cable or hose configuration you can imagine, and an FSA headset. The lightest production frameset on the market is waiting to be built and ridden. Only 325 were built. When they're gone, they won't be built again.