Cervelo Caledonia-5 Rival AXS

On the fringes of cycling and triathlon, already endurance-oriented sports, there are athletes pushing their bodies and equipment to the limit. Ultra-distance, but ultra-fast. We call these Big, Stupid Rides, and since the introduction of the Caledonia in 2020, athletes around the world have been exploring just how big and just how stupid those rides can be. These athletes reach for the Caledonia-5. It’s built to handle long-distance, high-speed racing—with fit and handling geared toward comfort, but without sacrificing the Cervelo race bike feeling.

For the new Caledonia-5, we focused on improvements that would be meaningful for the people pushing it to its limits. The biggest thing you’ll notice is the addition of the in-frame storage first seen on P-Series. This isn’t designed to fit a burrito—there’s only room for a small multi-tool, tube, and a CO2 canister. Then we looked to comfort: The seat stays are dropped, similar to Aspero, which makes that rear triangle more acute, and more vertically flexible. At the same time, there’s a bit more downtube stiffness to maintain that pro-level responsiveness Caledonia is known for. You can still stuff some big tires (36mm) in there, and every bike comes with fender mounts.