The S3 is a better bike unless it's a straight drag race. Lighter, stiffer, handles better.

the better question would be why they didn't ride r5's.....

Best of both worlds? The New S3 is a fantastic bike. Light enough and Aero.

Its not as light as R5 but with 6.8kg UCI limit, it is light enough. Nearly as aero as an S5 (but Jack Bauer might be wishing he had chosen an S5 the other day) and more aero than most of the other bikes in the race.

I like the ride of the S3 better then a S5 (it may only be in my head) and found it comparable to ride quality to the R3-SL (2008 vintage) I replaced.

For me, it was the bike I was hoping Cervelo would make for these reasons. And it handles 25mm Continental GP4000s tires just fine- iffy or a no go on the S5.

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Suffer Well.

Local bike shop manager that deals Cervelo says everyone he knows that has ridden both prefers the S3 any day of the week.

This question comes up every year but in general the riders are free to choose from any of the bikes they wish to ride. It's just that they are lucky enough to have a whole stable of TDF worthy bikes to choose from. S5, S3, R5, RCa, R3 Mud

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

LBS here in NC says that they would not be looking forward to a century ride on an S5. Given the stage lengths of the TdF, I'm assuming that the S3's are more "distance friendly" and are a better choice for the riders?

Seems to me as though the S5 is better for your crit/tri racing and not anything of significant length. But I still want one!

** Edited to include "not" in the first sentence **

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"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."

So far this TdF they have used the S3, R5 (Talansky) and R3 Mud.

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Meant to say "not" in that first sentence...reads differently now!

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"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."

I've been searching for the URL but there was an article out there that basically said that riders have their choice of bike and that they tend to ride the same bike for the majority of the season. Flipping through FB photos you can see the R3, R5, S3 and at some point I'd assume we'll see the P5 :)

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

While we're at it, anyone know why Tony Martin used a Tarmac instead of a Venge for his stage 9 solo TT win?

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The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

#WEW1N > #aeroiseverything

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Suffer Well.

I did a century on an S5, including 15 miles of dirt roads. I have a minimalist saddle too. Felt fine.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

but on a S3 you may have felt even " more fine" ( that is such bad English :-)

I doubt it. I've tried an R3 back to back vs an S5 with the same wheels/tires. Feels exactly the same to me.

I'm pretty immune to feeling frame differences unless it is something remarkably different about the frame. So are most people if you do a blind test!

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

The power of "looks" :-/

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Seeing as how Damon has told us there's only a 1% difference in rear end vertical compliance (dominated by the tire) between an S5 and an R5ca...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

That must be a relatively new thing then. My cousin was on the Garmin team for two seasons and essentially had no say in terms of what bike to ride. He could ride with an R3 (i think?) for the classics but was forced to ride with an S5 in all other races even if he preferred the R3 much better. Also no choice in TT bikes - some got P5's, others got P4's. Riders had nothing to choose.

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_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

I think everyone can agree that being "forced" to ride any of those bikes is a problem worth having.

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"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."

Found the link! http://www.cervelo.com/...-robby-ketchell.html

"It is important to point out that Cervélo is unique in that we don’t tell our pro riders which bike they have to ride. We let them choose."

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Not when you are a pro and are required to ride a bike that doesn't feel the way another bike does. In many other teams riders are allowed to get bikes that fit them better, it is just odd when there are better bikes (subject to interpretation) available but you can only use them a few times per year.

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_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

So it's a new thing then, and different from 2 years ago.

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_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

This is 100% why all this aero shit matters. I have qualified for Kona by 5 seconds, which I thank in large part to reading Tom A for 7 years. Omega from brake, tight one piece suit, latex tubes etc etc etc. It all matters. It's BS and a cop out to say "train" harder. #RantOver

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"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman

Someone (I think jackmott) posted in a thread somewheres that you should be doing both :)

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

 
>Seeing as how Damon has told us there's only a 1% difference in rear end vertical compliance (dominated by the tire) between an S5 and an R5ca...

What are the units and definition of "rear compliance?" Total displacement? Some approximation of a spring constant? (which I seriously doubt would be nice and linear like Hooke's law) What about frequency response? For such a complex system it seems it'd be hard to distill the difference down to a single numbering measuring "rear compliance."