The P4 is the eagerly anticipated successor to the current time trial standard, the Cervélo P3. As the P3 is still the fastest bike available three years after its introduction, it is clear that creating its successor was no easy task. After millions in research & development and over two months of intensive testing at the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel, the P4 is the fastest bike ever in the wind tunnel, including both UCI-legal and illegal bikes.

“The P4 is the biggest leap we have ever made in aero bike technology,” said Phil White, co-founder of Cervélo. “The P series has evolved significantly over the last decade, making it a real challenge to keep finding improvements. With the P4, the mandate was to make it significantly faster than the P3 while achieving equivalent or better performance relative to stiffness, power transmission, low weight and comfort. I’m pleased to report that we have met those goals.”

The strengths of the P4 are found in its many fine details, some of which are quite visible but others are difficult to detect at first glance. The key to the performance of the P4 lies in the frameset’s integrated design. This System Engineering approach, which considers the frame, components, wheels, hydration and the rider together, generates substantially reduced drag values in virtual (CFD) and physical wind tunnel testing.

Cervélo invented the aero road frame, and continues to lead the category. Aero road frames are the most difficult frames to design, as they have to be everything in one: aero, light, stiff, comfortable. Cervélo has worked to optimize this balance between the various requirements since its inception 13 years ago.

For the S3, the engineers at vroomen.white.design used the R3 seatstay technology, rotated the stays 90 degrees and gave them a proper Cervélo aero shape. This reduces the weight, increases the vertical compliance and improves the aerodynamics. Sounds simple, but the structural design is extremely complex, which is why only Cervélo has such stays. The chainstays were also redesigned to optimize aerodynamics. Finally, the cable routing system (ICS2) is the first to have cable entries through the top of the toptube without sacrificing shifting performance.