Here at Wheelbase we love road bikes that refuse to be pigeonholed.
Over the last few years road cycling has become increasingly specialised. Need the lightest climbing bike possible? There’s a bike for that. Chasing every aerodynamic gain? There’s a bike for that too. Want something comfortable enough for all-day adventures? Choose and endurance road bike, and so on..
But what if you want one bike that can genuinely do it all?
That’s exactly the question Cervélo set out to answer when they launched the original Soloist. Positioned neatly between the featherweight R5 and the uncompromisingly aero S5, the Soloist quickly became the bike of choice for riders who simply wanted a fast race bike they could ride anywhere, on any road and in any situation.
Today Cervélo officially launch the all-new MY27 Soloist and while at first glance it might almost look like the same outgoing bike, dig a little deeper and you’ll discover a machine that’s significantly faster, lighter and more capable than before.
What’s that disappearing up the road? It’s the all-new Cervélo Soloist.
This fast all-rounder just got faster. The design brief to create a bike which is both lighter and more aerodynamic has always been one of the toughest challenges in road bike design and traditionally, adding aerodynamic tube shaping means adding more material, which in turn means more weight. As we’ve seen time and time again, chasing one performance target often means compromising another.
For the MY27 Soloist Cervélo’s engineers weren’t interested in compromises. Their goal was simple; make the bike significantly faster, reduce overall system weight and maintain the balanced handling characteristics which made the Soloist so popular in the first place, and the numbers they’ve achieved are seriously impressive:
- 8.6 watts faster.
- 267 grams lighter as a complete system.
- Just 6.85kg out of the box for the flagship model.
Aerodynamics without the weight penalty.
Like most modern performance road bikes, the Soloist’s aerodynamic remodeling began with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software. This allowed Cervélo’s engineers to identify areas where airflow could be improved without simply making every tube larger and heavier. The result is a chassis that looks noticeably more purposeful than the previous Soloist while simultaneously reducing weight.
Key changes for improved aerodynamics include:
- A deeper head tube.
- Deeper fork legs.
- Improved bottom bracket and rear wheel interaction.
- Refined overall frame surfacing.
- Improved cable routing integration.
The outcome of all that development is an impressive 8.6 watt reduction in aerodynamic drag over the outgoing Soloist. As we’ve seen with some of the best modern road bikes, meaningful aerodynamic gains aren’t necessarily about making one part dramatically different. Often, it’s the cumulative effect of dozens of small refinements working together and that’s exactly what’s happened here.
The 2027 Soloist is more aero.
Faster AND lighter? Apparently yes.
One of the most interesting aspects of the new Soloist is how Cervélo have managed to reduce weight despite increasing the aerodynamic surface area of both the frame and fork. The frame gains 3% more surface area and the fork gains 8% more, yet the frame and fork are both lighter than the outgoing Soloist; in fact the flagship SRAM RED-equipped Soloist tips the scales at just 6.85kg complete, putting it right on the UCI weight limit straight out of the box.
Rider and machine – faster together.
Another standout feature of the MY27 Soloist is its new HB18 one-piece integrated cockpit. Fully integrated cockpits are quickly becoming standard equipment on premium race bikes, but Cervélo haven’t simply added one for aesthetic reasons. The HB18 bar and stem system is:
- 5.8 watts faster than the previous cockpit.
- 134 grams lighter.
- Cleaner aerodynamically.
Fully integrated for improved cable management.
Importantly, Cervélo also recognise that bike fit matters. A fast cockpit is only useful if it fits the rider. That’s why every Soloist purchaser can request an alternative handlebar and stem size combination free of charge within the first 60 days of ownership; now that’s a genuinely rider-focused approach which deserves a mention.
Aero bottles which actually make sense.
At first glance, aerodynamic water bottles don’t sound particularly exciting, but stick with us, this might be one of the cleverest details on the entire bike. We all know countless hours are spent optimising airflow around a frame, only for riders to immediately bolt two round bottles into the airflow and undo some of those gains. The new Soloist includes specially developed aero bottles and cages which reduce drag by a further 4.3 watts compared with conventional round bottles, and if you prefer, the cages still accept conventional round bottles.
Geometry built for racing.
One of the reasons riders have always loved the Soloist is its versatile ‘real world’ balance. It is:
- Fast enough to race.
- Comfortable enough to train on every day.
- Confident enough to ride all day long.
The new Soloist shares its fit geometry with Cervélo’s R5 race bike creating a familiar position for riders looking for high-performance road handling. Updates include:
- Size-specific seat tube angles.
- Lower bottom bracket position.
- Refined handling characteristics.
- Improved stability with modern wider tyres.
Fast on the climbs. Fast on the flats. Fast everywhere.
The new Soloist boasts future-ready performance; with modern road bikes continuing to evolve around wider tyres and improved real-world capability this versatile road bike embraces that trend with clearance for tyres up to 36mm wide. That’s a substantial increase over traditional race bike standards and opens the door to:
- More comfort.
- More grip.
- Better control.
- Greater versatility across mixed road surfaces.
Race-ready from day one.
Another significant shift with the new Soloist is Cervélo’s approach to specification. Every complete bike now comes equipped with:
- Carbon wheelsets.
- Integrated cockpit.
- Power meter.
- Premium race-focused build kits.
Whether you’re lining up for your first road race, chasing personal bests on your local climb or riding hard in the Tuesday night chain gang, the Soloist doesn’t need immediate upgrades straight out of the box.
The takeaway.
The all-new Cervélo Soloist represents a significant evolution of what was already one of the most versatile performance road bikes available. Our takeaway highlights include:
- 8.6 watts faster than the previous Soloist.
- Up to 267 grams lighter as a complete system.
- 6.85kg flagship build weight.
- New integrated HB18 cockpit.
- Aero bottle system delivering additional drag savings.
- R5-inspired fit geometry.
- 36mm tyre clearance.
- Carbon wheels and power meters across the range.
For riders who don’t want to choose between a climbing bike and an aero bike, between race day and training day, or between performance and practicality, the new Soloist makes a compelling argument that maybe you don’t need to choose at all. Fast, lightweight, beautifully integrated and more versatile than ever before — the all-new Soloist looks set to continue its reputation as one of the best all-round race bikes in cycling. Look out for the all-new Cervélo Soloist arriving at Wheelbase online and in-store soon..
We’ve put together a full Cervelo Soloist Model Breakdown Guide, where we discuss which model has which features. You can read that here.