What are you using the bike for?
Road/training?
Combo of road/offroad?
Rain bike?
What is max tire size you want to use?

These questions will clarify.

The C3 is a nice bike- but it cannot take a really big tire.

Hi,
I would use it for a road bike. I like to put in semi long miles on my rides. I'm planning on doing one of our popular Grand Fondo rides this year, STP Seattle to Portland in one long day. I would likely use 25mm tires, maybe even 27mm if possible.

I currently ride a Cervelo S3. At 50 yrs old I'm finding that rides over 50 miles my back is starting to notice it. Why I'm even considering a C3 is for comfort on longer rides.

I know there are other comfortable rides out there, I guess you can say I'm loyal to Cervelo.

Thanks,
Gene

I rode 28mm on wide rims on my old S2 and now do so on my R3, you can ride 27mm on a C3 just fine. I think the max clearance on a C3 is something like 32mm in dry conditions. That's really not big compared to other adventure or gravel bikes, and certainly not in the era where people are singing the praises of 47mm WTB horizon slicks.

The cheap option would be for you to just run 28s at lower pressure on your S3, but if you want more comfort and stability on longer rides and are fine with paying the Cervelo tax I'm sure you'd like a C3 just fine. I demo'd one and didn't find it remarkably different than my R3 other than being a little less twitchy, but running 30 or 32mm slicks will at lower pressure will probably make a noticeable difference in your perceived comfort.

Thanks! I don't think there's clearance to run anything bigger than a 25mm tire on my 2015 S3. I will re search it out and see.
I might add that I kind of like the disc brake thing on the C3.

Again thanks.
Gene

I was wondering the same thing, for the same reason.

Officially I'm sure the max clearance on a '15 S3 is 25mm. Unofficially, I'm reasonably sure 28mm in the back would be fine, front will be tighter but most likely work depending on the specific tire used. As I said, I've been riding 28mms on wide (26mm flo 30) rims on Cervelo's for years, haven't had an issue with Conti GP 4 seasons.

That's all dry clearance though, mud is a different story.

Thanks boss. I've always ran 23mm maybe it's time to move up in size and see how I like them.

25mm conti GP4K2s on HED jet + wheels was a pretty tight fit on my S3, but was amazingly comfortable at 75 psi.

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A lot depends on the rim/tire combo: my 25mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless grew to over 27mm (27.2mm exactly as measured) at about 100psi on Reynolds Assaults, and they were a tight fit for the S3 with maybe 1-2mm clearance at the chainstays. So I would hazard a guess that the distance between the chainstays at the point where the tire is widest for the S3 is about 30mm.

Comfort- check
Tire size- check
Sounds like you should get one.

O.k., so I am about a year late in writting this, but... I bought a C3 in July and have put about 700 miles on it since then. It is a great bike and a good change from my old Giant TCR2. The geometry is a lot more relaxed, but it is still a very responsive ride. And has plenty of stiffness to transfer power from pedal to wheels. In fact my speeds and times have been faster on the new bike than my Giant.

Also I just got it set up on my Kickr with the thru axle adaptor and it rides great. Definitely worth the price. I was able to get it for about $2999 rather than the 4500 retail price. Seems like that is the standard price for the ultegra version now and it was worth it. Probably would not have considered the higher price.

You'll definitely notice the difference in comfort if you were riding 23C tires like I was. And it's great. As I get older this bike is the perfect fix. My tri bike is a P2C so I knew I'd like the Cervelo feel.

Hope this review helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask.