Welcome to another bike check, and this time around we're looking at staffer Sara's custom built Cervelo Aspero 5. Replacing her aluminum Specialized Diverge E5 Comp, Sara wanted to move onto something faster, lighter and racier than her old bike, so she built this super sweet Aspero 5. Coming from such a road-focused brand, the Aspero of course inherited a lot of DNA from it's tarmac-going stablemates, and while it has clearance for big tires and stable geometry, it also retains some characteristics that mean it's equally at home on the road, with quick handling and a super stiff frame. Put simply, the Aspero 5 is fast. Really fast.
Sara has never built a bike from the frame-up before, so this was a new experience for her. Hand-picking all of the parts to your exact spec is one of the most satisfying things you can do, so she took the opportunity to build this Aspero exactly the way she wanted. Balancing price with performance, we think Sara did an excellent job of building a great looking, high performance bike without breaking the bank. Before we get into the components though, let's take a look at the details on that stunning frame.
In Cervelo's stunning Purple Sunset colour, the frame shifts from purple to gold depending on the light and the viewing angle. It's hard to disagree that it's an amazing paint job and it's honestly one of our favourites. The small details on the inside of the fork and chainstays just complete the look. We'd be remiss not to mention the fully integrated cabling on the Aspero 5, with all hoses running through the stem and headset, there are no messy cables on show here making for a super tidy looking bike.
Starting at the drivetrain, Sara opted to take advantage of the way Sram drivetrains can be paired in a 'mullet' configuration, with a road brake/shifter up front and a mountain derailleur out back. This allows for drop bars to be used with a wide-rage mountain 1x drivetrain, where in a mechanical setup different cable-pull ratios would prevent this from being possible. Here Sara is running a Sram GX Eagle AXS rear derailleur on a 10-50 tooth GX Eagle cassette paired with a 42 tooth chainring up front, all controlled by Sram Rival AXS shift/brake levers on the standard drop bar setup.
Putting down the power is a set of Shimano XTR pedals mated to a set of Easton EA90 cranks. The cranks are Easton's aluminum offering, rocking the same shape and style of their more expensive carbon counterparts but with a more affordable pricetag. They use a direct mount chainring so can be configured for either a single or double chainring setup. XTR pedals are a popular one for gravel and cyclocross since they allow for the use of a mountain bike shoe which usually have more grip for the inevitable moments you'll need to hop off the bike and hike, and they also have much better mud-clearing ability than a road pedal while being plenty light.
Continuing the Easton theme, Sara chose to go with a set of EA90 AX hoops. The EA90 AX again strikes an a great balance between price and performance, with their high end Vault hubs that have 120 points of engagement and a fat hub shell for a stiff wheel build. These are laced to their assymetrical rims with sapim straight-pull double butted spokes for a strong and light build, and the rims feature a 25mm internal rim bed to spread the load for big tubeless rubber such as the 700x42c Specialized Pathfinder Pro tires Sara is running here.
Sram Rival hydraulic brakes do the stopping with Centerline centerlock 160mm rotors, providing plenty of power and modulation for an off road drop-bar bike, you can't go far wrong, and for the price these brakes look amazing. All in all, Sara has built herself a truly incredible looking bike that'll go pretty much anywhere she points it, happy smashing out rough gravel roads or smooth tarmac kilometres. Enjoy!
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