MKirk wrote:
Jason N wrote:
MKirk wrote:
Jason N wrote:
To go electronic and get carbon wheels on an R5, you have to step up to their top line DA 9150 that comes with Enve 3.4s. And will cost you $3k more.
It's hard to justify the R5 in mechanical DA ($7000) or mechanical Ultegra ($5000) unless you hate electronic and already have a really nice set of race wheels. Or you really hate Specialized.
This is my pain point with Cervelo.......not offering the R5 or R5d in an Ultegra Di2 option - what are they thinking!?!?
The only work around is to buy frame only and build. Guestimate price going this route would be still be on the high end of a bike build @ over $7k or so depending on spec's.....which make the Tarmac with Ultegra Di2 a more cost effective option at $6k.
It's a little bit of a tough comparison because it's not exactly apples to apples depending on how you look at it. If you consider the R5 as Cervelo's top line frame (ignoring the RCA), then one could make the argument that you need to compare the R5 frame to the S-Works frame. Each frameset retails for about $4000, so maybe comparing an R5 to a non S-Works Tarmac is not a fair comparison. Cervelo has the R3 line, which is pretty close to the R5 in terms of functionality, but uses slightly less quality carbon and less complicated layups sort of like how the Tarmac Pro frame doesn't use the same carbon as the S-Works frame. The R3 does offer an Ultegra Di2 build, so there's that. I know...still not the same...but it's not like Specialized offers the S-Works frame in an Ultegra Di2 build either.
Ah, see that now.......S-works is a 12r carbon while the Pro is a lesser 10r carbon. I didn't see the Pro as being sold frame only so just figured it was the one frame.
S Works and C5 DA Di2 are within $500 retail ($9500/$9000) so your right that building the C5 Ultegra Di2 "should" cost ~ $1500 more than the lower grade frame on the Tarmac Pro. All is right in the world again although I still think it's stupid that Cervelo does not offer a Ultegra Di2 build.
I'm sure they would want to offer Ultegra Di2 on more frames, but because of the split on rim and disc brakes currently, I can understand why they have to limit options. Inventory from the warehouse becomes tougher to manage and local shops don't want to have to order 12 different versions of what is essentially the same bike.
Cannondale is doing the same thing with their Hi-Mod Evo. This year they only offer the rim brake version in 9150 or eTap. Disc brake versions are limited to 9170 and 9070. In the past, you could get the Hi-Mod Evo with Ultegra Di2 or DA mechanical, but that was before the disc brake option became available.
Once everything inevitably moves to disc only, the options on OEM componentry for a given frame should open back up.