Canadian bicycle brand Cervélo is considered by many as the gold standard when it comes to high-performance road bikes. However, it’s interesting to note, that despite its status in the world of cycling, Cervélo’s a bit late to the party when it comes to e-bikes. The brand just recently unveiled its very first electric bicycle, the Rouvida, and it boasts quite a lot of interesting tech, as it should. Is Cervélo’s first e-bike worth the wait? Let’s dive into the specifics.
According to Cervélo, the new Rouvida is two bikes in one: a road bike and a gravel bike. As it would turn out, simply changing the tires of a road bike doesn’t turn it into a gravel bike. There are changes in geometry that need to be taken into account, and Cervélo does this by integrating flip chips on the front and rear dropouts of the Rouvida. Flipping the chips means you can switch between road and gravel geometry in a matter of minutes. Furthermore, according to Cervélo, flipping the Rouvida to its gravel geometry ups the tire clearance allowing riders to beef up their setups for some rugged riding.
More specifically, switching to the gravel configuration slackens the bike’s effective headtube angle by 0.7 degrees, making it more capable of handling off-road terrain. Furthermore, it increases trail from 57.9 millimeters to 62 millimeters, giving the rider a little more leverage to muscle the bike through technical turns and manage ruts and rocks on descents. Across the board, the Rouvida gets a lightweight carbon fiber frame and fork, keeping weight down low and rigidity and durability high.
At the heart of this e-bike is the German-engineered Fazua Ride 60 motor, which is acclaimed for being lightweight, powerful, and delivering a natural-feeling pedal assist. It’s rated at 60 Nm of torque, and peaks out at 450 watts, translating to a real-world top speed of 15.5 miles per hour on pedal assistance. The motor works in tandem with a 432 watt-hour battery pack that’s positioned low in the frame’s downtube. According to Cervélo, the location of the battery saves 25 grams of drag in the wind tunnel, or about 3.25 watts at 30 miles per hour.
From a styling perspective, the Cervélo Rouvida was designed specifically to look and feel like a non-electric bike from the renowned Canadian brand. Its styling is said to be inspired by some of Cervélo’s popular models such as the Áspero and Caledonia, sleek and lightweight road bikes designed for discerning, performance-oriented road cyclists.
When it comes to pricing and availability, the new Cervélo Rouvida commands quite a premium, with its base gravel-focused build carrying a price tag of $6,200 USD. This model gets Shimano GRX RX160 components and Fulcrum wheels. Meanwhile, those looking for the cream of the crop can opt for the Rouvida Red XPLR AXS 1, which, as the name suggests, gets Sram AXS components. This model will set you back a sweet $13,000 USD.
