OK, so this bike has won more time trials and triathlons than any other in history - by a country mile. But more importantly, it is the most used bike at Ironman racing and time trialing ever - by "regular" customers. No wonder it is still the benchmark for the entire bike industry, and the most copied bike in history.

So its popularity remains, because the original is still unmatched (Emma Pooley used her spare bike - a P3 - to win the 2010 TT World Championships). And with the Ultegra spec, the P3 is now in reach for more people than ever.

The P3 is part of the P-series, made for the battle against the clock from prologue to the Race Across America and from sprint triathlon to Ironman.

Characteristics:

• Cervelo's tried and true geometry, putting the rider in a fast and comfortable position.
• Aerodynamic design to reduce drag resistance and increase speed.
• Handling and stiffness characteristics straight from the road models

TECHNOLOGY

P3 Aero Seatstays
- TrueAero shapes in the direction of the airflow (horizontal)

- Minimal legal width (10mm)

- Integrated intersection with the seattube shields the rear brake from the airflow.


TrueAero Shapes
- Long-tail airfoils with a 3:1 ratio or better create the lowest drag

- Truncation can be useful, for example if flow interacts with another object.


Smartwalll for Carbon
- Carbon strength & stiffness depend on the size, shape, material & fiber direction of each of the 300+ pieces of carbon in a frame

- Cervelo's Smartwall lay-ups are based on 15 years experience and the most advanced tools, including in-house developed optimization software

- Smartwall also puts extra carbon on the sides (far from the center plane) to increase stiffness at little extra weight.


Aero Headtube
- The narrow section between the bearings reduces the frontal area and thereby the aero drag (which is linearly related to the frontal area)

- Narrowing this area also improves the headtube's aspect ratio (same gusset length divided by a smaller width renders a higher ratio) to get closer to a 3:1 airfoil.


Internal Cable Stops ICS
- With ICS, Cervelo was the first company to provide a light, smooth-shifting internal cable system for better aerodynamics.

- As the cable runs from outside the frame to inside, the housing is stopped so only bare cable goes inside.

- This gives crisper shifting and saves 200 grams versus the usual solution (running housing inside the frame).


P3 Rear Wheel Cutout
- The P3 was the first bike to extend te rear wheel cutout upward past where a straight seattube could.

- More wheel coverage means lower drag for seattube and rear wheel.

- Covering the top of the wheel is particularly important as it moves forward at twice the riding speed


Integrated Seatpost Clamp
- The integrated clamp is invisible to the airflow

- The seatpost is aerodynamically integrated, but structurally separate.

- This offers:

• Maximum seat height adjustability
• Easier travel and resizing / resale
• Lower weight compared to integrated seatmasts.

Oversized Bottom Bracket Area
- Big volume and fluent form aligns the carbon fibers with the complex loads in this area

- This increases:

• Side-to-Side BB stiffness (better power transmission)
• Torsional stiffness (better handling)

 

 

P3 FRAMESET SPECIFICATIONS