New Cervélo Aspero is designed for fast gravel riding

Cervélo says that its new Aspero gravel bike is aimed at those who want to ride fast over unpaved roads.

Most gravel bikes come with the necessary bolts and bosses for hard-core bikepacking as well as faster rides. But the Aspero is designed for gravel racers and gravel enduro riders, with Cervélo saying it’s built firstly for speed, as well as control on variable surfaces.

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Cervélo says that the Aspero’s frame comes with the stiffness necessary for excellent power transfer, while being light enough for fast acceleration and climbing. Plus, it’s engineered with aero tube profiles for reduced wind resistance. Cervélo isn’t the first company to make a gravel bike aero: it’s a feature seen too on the 3T Exploro, for example.

Another typical gravel feature seen on the Cervélo Aspero is wide clearance for 700c tyres up to 42mm or 650b up to 49mm. But Cervélo has engineered the Aspero’s fork so that its trail can be adjusted to provide more consistent handling when you swap between wheel sizes.

Although Cervélo says that the Aspero is designed for speed, you still get a top tube bag mount and the option to fit a third bottle under the downtube. But to increase your aero efficiency, you can also mount a single bottle cage lower on the downtube, where it’s more shielded from the airflow.

The Aspero offers the expected mix of single ring and two ring groupset options. That starts off with the $2800 (UK prices to be confirmed) Apex 1 configuration and proceeds via Shimano Ultegra and Shimano GRX two-ring options, both with an Easton EA90 47/32 supercompact chainset, to the $6000 SRAM Force eTap AXS single ring build, with a 36 tooth ring and 10-33 cassette, along with DT Swiss GRC 1650 carbon gravel wheelset.

There’s a frameset-only option too, priced at $2500.