We Review the New 2024 Version of Cervelo’s P5

Cervelo does not like to rush things. It’s been five years since the now California-based brand released their huge UCI-legal revision of the P5—a bike that also hadn’t seen a meaningful update in a very long time even before 2019. And while the latest 2024 version of Cervelo’s UCI-legal tri/time-trial machine is far from a revolutionary revamp, it certainly feels like the P5’s final iteration.

2024 Cervelo P5 Review: Stats, Features, and What’s New

What makes our reviews different? Our testers actually use the thing. A lot. Learn more about Triathlete’s gear review process here.

It’s been a good year for new releases: Quintana Roo released what, in my opinion, is the best new long-course bike money can buy in the V-PRi and we saw a great new sub-$4,000 budget pick from Felt, the new IAx. The Cervelo P5 follows suit, and while it might not be a fully integrated autopilot long-course machine (nor something that fits the category of “budget friendly”), it’s an exciting release that does an amazing job of not messing with a good thing.

But what’s new about this version of the Cervelo P5 that took nearly five years to see the light of day? Well, not a ton, if I’m honest, but let’s dig into the details below.

First, it’s worth noting up top that because the P5 is UCI legal—as was the 2019 version— designers are extremely bound by the cycling governing body’s little rule boxes. For triathletes, having the UCI sticker is effectively meaningless, but for a brand that is very invested in their top-tier Team Visma | Lease a Bike Tour De France team, it’s obviously very important. (So important that Cervelo chose to launch this bike to coincide with the first time-trial stage of the 2024 Tour De France, despite the fact that the date is also July 4, American Independence Day.)

So with that “UCI stuff” in mind, Cervelo even admits that there was only room to squeeze about one watt of drag savings out of the frame itself, but that they’ve also been able to work closer on the interaction between the bike and certain wheelsets to get as much as a five watt savings overall (with Reserve’s new 77/88 wheelset and Vittoria’s massive 29mm tires).

Here is also a good time to note that the new P5 can accommodate tires up to a staggering 34mm—why you would need to run a tire that wide is beyond me, but it wasn’t too long ago that we thought 19mm tires were the fastest, so who knows?

Also, unsurprisingly, for a bike with no integrated hydration, it’s worth noting that the new P5 is still the lightest setup in the bunch, even when weighed with the 500mL water bottle attached and the top-tube nutrition storage (in an attempt to somewhat make this apples-to-apples).

Take a look at the various comparable models’ weights below, weighed in person:

Actual 2024 Cervelo P5 weight vs. Quintana Roo V-PRi, Cube Aerium C:68X, Felt IA 2.0, Scott Plasma 6, and more (all actual weights with integrated nutrition installed and same size)

Aside from the minimal watts savings, (still) light weight, and wide tire clearance, most of the other changes are a little more indistinct. From front to back, the latest version of Cervelo’s P5 has a one-piece front end that not only feels more solid (because there are fewer parts), but also allows for 40mm of aerobar height adjustment paired with a base bar that drops by 10mm. More on what that means for the rider, below.

Also on the front end, Cervelo has redesigned the P5’s armrests to have a wider, taller, and thicker pad—certainly following trends that most setups now have. The result is definitely a more comfortable ride that gives less need for aftermarket options (like the previous version).

In another feature seemingly borrowed from the popular S5 road bike, the seatpost/seatstay/top tube junction is far more elegant than the previous model P5. Cervelo claims that this decreases vertical stiffness by 22%—with no change in lateral stiffness.

Finally, the new version of the P5 is a tiny bit longer in reach and a little bit lower in stack than the previous model P5, per size. The rest of the geometry remains roughly the same, but according to Cervelo’s most current stat sheets, they have added a size 61 to the lineup—giving the new P5 six sizes, to the older model’s five.

2024 Cervelo P5: Handling

This is definitely a category in the P5 where no big change is a good thing.

In my opinion, the previous version P5 was the best handling superbike available, and with some front-end work, the new version is even tighter. While the new P5 tracks straight lines just as well as the old one—which is fine, but not exactly autopilot like some other tri-focused frames—it truly shines in tight corners or on descents where confidence can mean free time with no extra effort.

While I felt the last version of the P5 was better than the rest, the new P5 has distanced itself far from the pack when it comes to technical handling—which includes tight u-turns, a ubiquitous staple for even the least-technical bike courses. Leaning fully into a corner on this updated front end gives no end of confidence and allows you to make changes mid-corner without even considering the brakes.

It’s no surprise that the base bar feels crazy solid, and even the aerobar/base bar junction feels glued together, despite the fact that it is still (quite) adjustable. This also translates to an amazing, lively feeling when you stand up to put out power, and I’ve yet to ride a bike that helps ease you over small, punchy rollers as well as this version of the P5 does.

And while I don’t typically tout lateral stiffness as a big benefit for a tri bike (it’s not like we’re sprinting to Tour victories on these things), it does increase the fun factor and help “flatten the hills,” if they’re small enough.

2024 Cervelo P5: The Ride

Since not every bike is perfect, it’s worth noting that the P5, even with beefy 29mm tires run at about 80psi, isn’t the softest ride on the block. Non-double-diamond bikes aside (which typically win this contest, hands down), there are a handful of bikes that do a better job of eating up all frequencies of road chatter and bumps better.

And while one could argue that a less-aggressive wheel choice might help, the trick with this setup is that the bike is actually optimized for the Reserve wheelset it comes with. Not that another wheel would hurt this bike, but if you want to squeeze the most aero juice out of it, this is precisely the setup you should be using.

That said, this is not a rough ride by any means, and sits on the smoother end of bouncy. Only someone who has ridden multiple superbikes over the course of a few months would even notice the difference between models, but if I’m going to be the princess-and-the-pea about one thing, it would be this.

This is also something to think about if you see yourself running a full carbon disc wheel on this version of the P5 (or really any version of the P5, in all honesty). If that’s how you race, you may want to consider an ultra-wide tire run at a very low pressure to help take some of the edge off—especially if your key events are full iron-distance and you train and race on rough roads.

2024 Cervelo P5: The “Tri Stuff”

This is a particularly important section because as a triathlete, you need to be realistic about your training and race-day needs. If you know for sure that you’ll be doing long events—70.3 and over—you’ll absolutely need more hydration than the 500mL frame-mounted bottle that comes with this bike. And while some could argue that the best fix is simply refilling this bottle during the race, I can tell you with absolute certainty that due to the size of the bottle opening, you’ll fail. You’ll likely want to use the included bottle for some sort of nutrition concentrate that hopefully you can use (diluted) on the fly with another hydration storage option.

So the next step, of course, is figuring out where you’ll put your bigger (refillable) hydration. All tests point strongly toward hydration between the arms, and fortunately the new version of the P5 allows for that. The 2024 Cervelo P5 also has a rear mount that attaches to the seatpost, and your results may vary, but if you want the fastest, aerodynamically, you’ll be using the front end.

In terms of nutrition storage, however, the new P5 is as good, if not better than the last one, as it has some great integrated space on the top tube that is both long and deep (as well as some bonus space behind the aerobar junction).

Fit wise, the addition of another size is a boon for bigger triathletes, and despite the integrated front end, Cervelo has kept true to its heritage of excellent fit options with a riser that allows for a zero-to-30-degree tilt in five-degree increments—as well as a vast grid of bolt thread options on the arm rests.

2024 Cervelo P5: Final Thoughts

There’s not a whole ton to say about this new version of Cervelo’s already-excellent P5, and that’s because not a lot has changed. Yes, it’s slightly more aesthetically pleasing, slightly faster (with these wheels), and it’s not a design that has taken a step backwards in any way, but would I say, “Sell your circa 2020 P5 and buy this one?” No, I definitely wouldn’t.

The long and short of it is that Cervelo is 100% committed to this bike being UCI legal because their UCI team is a huge investment and part of their brand. Within those tiny little UCI boxes, there’s only so much you can do. With that in mind, Cervelo’s latest P5 is probably about as good as you’re going to get within those constraints, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best tri bike out there for all things.

This version of the P5 (and the last one for that matter) is an absolute short-course killer. This is also the bike you want on technical courses with time-saving (or killing) descents, punchy rollers that sap speed, or when the pavement is like butter and won’t wear you out with road chatter.

Yes, this is a fine long-course bike too, but is it the best choice for a flat-and-fast (and windy) iron-distance event with crappy roads that eat you up over the miles? No, it isn’t. Is this the best bike for storing tons of hydration and nutrition that you might want if you don’t trust on-course options? No, probably not.

The new Cervelo P5 is like a Ferrari—it’s wildly fun and fast, corners on rails, and certainly turns heads in transition—but would you want to take a Ferrari to work Monday through Friday? Would you want to take a five-day road trip with it? Also, probably not.

In an environment where tri bikes are becoming highly specialized, this (very cool) version of the Cervelo P5 is good for plenty of use cases, but because of its UCI badge, it’s not the best for all types of triathletes. There is nothing no-holds-barred about this design—and to be fair Cervelo doesn’t pretend that it is. The 2024 Cervelo P5 is the best version so far of an incredible design, and maybe that’s good enough.