I’ve been contemplating a new road bike for 2026. I used to race at a decently high level, but those days are behind me. I still ride as much as the rest of life allows, and like to have at least one Fondo-type event on the calendar to look forward to/train for. I have been riding a rim brake Emonda SLR (H2 head tube) for the last 10 years, and so I am looking for a spiritual successor to that bike, but with disc brakes. Based on geo charts and what is available at my local shops, I am down to two candidates: The Cervelo R5 and the Specialized Aethos 2.
The R5 is the one I’m more drawn to from an intangible standpoint. I run my Emonda (555 stack, 381 reach) with just the headset dust cap and no spacers under the stem, so I could probably ride either the R5 with an extra 10mm of spacers (544.6 stack) or the Aethos 2 slammed (559 stack). I’ve read what reviews are out there for both bikes, and am looking at if I can test ride one or both.
Specialized makes excellent bikes, and I am sure the Aethos 2 is no exception. However, I’m not a fan of their business practices as they’ve been reported here by Escape as well as elsewhere. I’m sure Cervelo is not perfect in that regard either, but they seem to have a better ethical reputation which does matter to me to a degree. Not necessarily enough to dismiss the Aethos 2 immediately, but it’s not not a factor.
Any fellow Escapees that own or at least have ridden either of these? Input appreciated!
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I’ve got a OG Aethos and I bought it for three reasons.
- I got a good discount from the shop (which is mostly a Specialized shop, although I got my P-Series from them as well)
- It didn’t have internal cable routing and I race middle distance triathlon and wanted a road bike to not use my gravel bike as double duty
- The Soloist I was cross shopping with was going take 3 more months to turn up
One of the main benefits of the Aethos is the classic lines and lack of integrated cable routing, the 2 really only has the classic tube shapes as a benefit now.
Personally if I was choosing between them now I’d probably go an R5. If they both have integrated routing then go for the one that has more aero shaping
Aethos 1 owner here. Previous bike was a Look 785 HRS, a light and stiff climber’s bike. Can’t speak to the R5 but it’s a bike I’ve considered in the past.
Reasons for buying the Aethos included light weight, ease of travel, celebrated ride quality. The gen 2 bike is very similar by all accounts and the geo would suit me well as it does you. The stand out feature of my bike is the ride quality. It’s smooth without being dead feeling, agile but not twitchy, responsive to power without being harsh. It’s a very balanced package. I hear you about Specialized as a business but if that’s not a deal breaker for you then give it a test ride. I quite like Cervelo as a brand but their engineering choices and QC have not always been great in the past. What would swing it for me was if the R5 was super stiff or harsh, which you would have to ride it to know.
As an aside, the integration on the Aethos 2 is pretty well executed and would likely allow you to pull the fork for travel if you needed that.
Thanks for the input on the Aethos! I too would prefer external brake hose routing as on the last-gen Aethos or R5, but having given it thought, I would not pick that over the updated Aethos geometry and the UDH update on both platforms.
I did manage to find an Aethos 2 in my size at my LBS that I can test ride, just now need to do it and also hopefully locate an R5 to do the same. Sounds like I also need to do a little digging into Cervelo QC issues to see how much I think that would be a factor for me.