Cervelo Áspero Gravel Bike: "Welcome to the Era of Speed in Gravel"

Cervelo began life way back in 1995, co-founded by Gerard Vroomen and Phil White. It didn't take long before their school basement project expanded significantly, quickly establishing a reputation for cutting edge bike designs. Ultimately, Cervelo bikes would take athletes to victory at the Tour de France, Olympic Games and Ironman Triathlon. This isn't an in-depth history lesson, but sometime in 2011, Cervelo saw a change of ownership. One thing remains the same, Cervelo's road and time trial / triathlon bikes remain a force in aerodynamic efficiency and high performance and have a huge and loyal following the world over.
Cervelo is bringing their concept of speed to gravel cycling - "A new breed of rider is emerging - one who loves the freedom and exploration that gravel culture was founded upon but who has a hunger to ride wild, to go full bore, and to explore not just geography but personal limits. This frontier requires a new kind of gravel machine, one engineered not to roam the trails, but to slay them." - Cervelo
In this video, JOM of the Gravel Cyclist crew runs through the details of Cervelo's entry into the gravel bike market, the Áspero. Later, a comprehensive video review will follow. In the meantime, head over to Gravel Cyclist for more details about this bike including models and pricing information - wp.me/p4V4se-8h3
Cervelo - cervelo.com
Easton EC70 AX Handlebar Review - wp.me/p4V4se-5Lh
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[@roadglide]

Absolute beauty. My my, with getting and staying off the roads full time Gravel is getting mighty tasty.

[@brody5211]

Road Glide where though?

[@KLottGolf]

I road this bike today. This is a race bike, no doubt about it. If you want a really fast/really light gravel bike, this is it! And by the way...it is very comfortable.

[@GravelCyclist]

Agreed, definitely a bike optimized for racing. Tyre pressure is key on this bike.

[@PolyglotBikepacker]

@@GravelCyclist Interesting, thanks for that. But I guess most people around here don't care too much about absolute speed in the trails. It's more about adventure, exploring, dodging traffic, bird chants, the smell of wood and this fuck yeah feeling. But whatever floats your boat right. I have a 2017 Specialized Sequoia that I firest used for a giant trip from Belgium to China in 2017. This year I had it completely refurbished, paint job, full 105, dt swiss wheels, 42mm tires and it has become a terrific bike. At 23 pounds no one will say it's a lightweight, but for me that doesn't matter. No weight weenie can downgrade the epic proportion this bike has for me

[@superstrada6847]

I'm glad I waited. Totally sweet race gravel bike. Was thinking of the new Trek Domane but not anymore!

[@mikelong9048]

Did you get this or the new Domane?

[@AmsterDanTheAmerican]

Have you done a review of the DT Swiss GRC's? Any thoughts on how they stack up against the G23's?

[@tombarton7043]

Now that is a really nice looking bike!

[@purelife1944]

Tom Barton shit colour 👎

[@CowneloAlvaroid]

Does anyone know how to put the fork chip into a road position and how to tell which is the correct positions for road/ trail?

[@TheLarryal21]

@Gravel Cyclist.. which you prefer? look 765 gravel or this cervelo aspero? thanks

[@ontheside5942]

I don't remember the cicadas in Amberly Queensland when I lived there in the 60s. They are loud here in West Virginia.

[@GravelCyclist]

And this is with the audio tweaked... the Cicadas are quite loud in the Central Coast of NSW.

[@darrenelbrow5144]

Thanks for protecting the bottom of the forks 😜

[@joniepancho946]

whats ur height and inseam? i fall between a 51 and 54. cant decide what to get. im 176cm with 84 inseam

[@RyonBeachner]

They us BBright on all their bikes, it’s basically just an external cup on the drive side and internal on the non drive side. Wheels Manufacturing makes a thread together Bottom Bracket for it that’s basically idiot proof.

[@GravelCyclist]

Thank you Ryon, hopefully, they are doing the same on the Aspero.

[@thesheepman220]

Stunning bike and colour too pricey for me probably , I was looking the other day at the cannondale topstone carbon with ultegra RX2 in my local bike shop I’m tempted again a stunning looking bike and probably more in my price range

[@brody5211]

thesheepman220 stay away from them cannondales - terrible build quality

[@ox66123]

Any chances of testing it on the road with road tires something like 28mm ?

[@GravelCyclist]

Unlikely due to time constraints.

[@jonpoon3896]

Not that surprising with Open and 3T

[@PolyglotBikepacker]

it fails on few basic tests for a gravel bike, but it looks nice Just dont get this one if you live in the mountains

[@trevorsgaragemusings]

So much to like yet they decide to run the internal housing inside the triangle of the downtube. This will make a frame bag bulge in that area if you can get one to fit around the cable ... sure it's great for a gravel event, but you just shot yourself in the foot for the crowd looking to be competitive in bikepacking. All they had to do was run the cable to the outside of the downtube but I suspect they wished to prioritize that 1 watt of drag over functional use of the area inside the triangle. Doh!

[@GravelCyclist]

Cervelo never designed this bike with bikepacking in mind.

[@trevorsgaragemusings]

@@GravelCyclist Oh no doubt, but a simple modification could open the market a bit and perhaps that channel will allow the cables to move aside easily and it's a moot point.

[@schuey999]

If the Aspero is a "serious racing" bike, why do they offer crappy DT Swiss 370 hubs on the $6k offering?

[@GravelCyclist]

I don't make the rules, you best talk to the Cervelo Product Manager...

[@robertdeanwhitehead]

Nice looking bike but I just get the feeling that specific bike manufacturers (in respect of a road heritage) are just jumping on the bandwagon now. I get that manufacturers are embracing the sport. I wouldn't say no to the bike if offered it but equally if I had the money to spend on a bike like this, it wouldn't be Cervelo, Look etc. etc.

[@EthanKavanaugh]

BBRight

[@TimTheMusicMan]

The future is the 'e' road bike.

[@Northernerdownsouth]

I’m torn between this and the stigmata

[@GravelCyclist]

A new version of the Aspero has just been released... check it out on the GravelCyclist.com website.

[@Northernerdownsouth]

@@GravelCyclist that’s awesome thanks

[@chizhang001001]

sram's dub is tech no one is asking for

[@yannickdumont2679]

Nice bike to look at. Not enough tire clearance.

[@brandenr]

700x42 or 650bx49 is not enough?

[@yannickdumont2679]

Ok for gravel, not off-road.

[@ox66123]

@@yannickdumont2679 it is a gravel bike not mountain bike ;)

[@yannickdumont2679]

Some offers 2-2.2 inches clearance: Otso waheela - Kna sutra ltd.

[@Paddyhudson]

I was excited for a second when i saw the 38T chainring but then let down again when the tiny cassette was revealed; these race bike manufacturers just don't know how to gear a gravel bike. it doesn't matter how much power you can put down, on a steep gravel climb it all comes down to traction and if your only choice is to try to power through a climb, you are going to spin out, loose that traction and come to a stop. It often seems like the best gravel bikes come from the companies that know how to make good mountain bikes. Don't fall for the Cervelo brand name, you can purchase a much more capable bike for a lot less money.

[@nicholasthiery9542]

... you can put a bigger cassette on if you need to....

[@fragfarmerCA]

The 10-33 cassette is the widest range that SRAM currently provides in the force group. One could obviously fit an Eagle 10-50 cassette and an axs derailleur to get wider range

[@brandenr]

That's actually a big road cassette and I rarely have problems on steep, loose climbs with 44 x 32. Get more of your weight back over the rear wheel and smooth out your pedal stroke.

[@shibaburn7725]

It's too bad they are saddling this otherwise nice bike with their crap proprietary bottom bracket.

[@LeoInterHyenaem]

They've no idea: they think, consumers aren't interested in mudguards and racks. I hope, they'll all find out soon enough. Since the bike isn't compatible full-size mudguards & racks, I'll call it a glorified race bike. Well-suited for exceptionally short rides exclusively in daytime and only in good weather. I wonder how well this bike will sell compared to proper adventure bikes. I presume, not all that well.

[@brandenr]

This is not and was never intended to be an "adventure bike". It's meant to compete with the likes of the Open UP, 3T Exploro, and Allied Able. Just look at their marketing: "Haul ass, not cargo"

[@LeoInterHyenaem]

@@brandenr Look, I own two gravel bikes - a Salsa WarBird 2019 (carbon) and a Pinnacle Arkose 2020 (aluminium). I like road bikes, but, although I am no gravel riding aficionado (to the contrary, I prefer riding on tarmac all the time if possible), I've had to scoff at the idea of buying a road race bike. Two reasons: - They're too fragile for someone of My unfortunate tendency to gain weight. - They lack the hardware needed for attaching racks, mudguards and panniers, because, unfortunately, most of the world is not as delightfully dry as California, and having toured with a 30kg. backpack, as well as panniers, 10 times out of 10 I'll choose the panniers (also panniers over backpacking hardware)! If road bikes would accommodate racks, full mudguards, 30-35mm tyres and were rated for a load of 140kg. or more - I'd have procured a couple years ago. Most gravel bikes do - therefore, they fit My needs much better than any road bike. I'm fairly sure, this Pinarello will be overlooked by many people who, like Me, don't want a gravel bike so they can ride on bloody gravel, but because they like to tour, but haye the heavy, ugly, upright touring bikes, and instead prefer to combine a light weight (compared to all but road bikes), versatility and hardiness (compared to road bikes) with carbon, good looks. Eliminating mudguard and rack mounts greatly handicaps a bike like this. That all said, as far as racks go, there's a ridiculously pricy, but, apparently, an excellent workaround to compensate for the absence of rack mounts - a beautiful, easy on-off carbon rack, trunk and pannier system called "TailFin X-series" - however, €650,- is a significant investment, and it will not resolve the mudguard issue.

[@osint6372]

too expensive.....nahhhh

[@aarons9198]

Can get one for around $2500. Still too expensive?

[@JogBird]

The 'gravel' market is so saturated now and they all look the same. The BB is a proprietary format and is one reason why i wouldnt consider them.

[@LeoInterHyenaem]

A mighty wrong reason that is. DUB is proprietary for the crankset only, not for the frame. DUB will fit any frame. Only Sram DUB cranks, but any type of bottom bracket - from threaded to various press-fit.