The Cervelo ZFS 5 review – How much Cervelo is in this mountain bike fully?

The Cervelo ZFS 5 is under pressure in terms of expectation. Why? Because Cervelo was founded as “the most engineer driven bike brand” and has revolutionised road cycling, technically speaking. The most recent successes: Jonas Vingegaard’s double Tour victory. How much of the glory and success of the road is in Cervelo’s first fully?

Even though the ZFS 5 is only the second mountain bike from Cervelo, the brand needs no introduction. Jonas Vingegaard has won the Tour de France the last two years on a bike from the former Canadian company. Wout van Aart thrills millions of fans in cyclocross or the road classics on a Cervelo bike. This already outlines the core of the brand. There is no other company that designs its bikes as consistently to the needs of its racers than Cervelo. Gerad Vroomen founded the brand over 20 years ago with an unconditional will for technical improvement. The successes in racing underpin this: There is more behind this brand than good marketing. But what makes a bike company, that is so used to success, turn away from its usual terrain of the paved road and suddenly start building mountain bikes?

The Cervelo ZFS 5 is a product of racing

It was the athletes from the Jumbo-Visma team who asked Cervelo to build a mountain bike for them. Like the top stars Matthieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock, Milan Vader is not satisfied with just riding a road bike. The former Dutch mountain bike champion wants to get back into the top ten in the World Cup. And Cervelo provides him with the right bike for the job. So much about the background. What interests us more, of course, is: What can the bike do technically?

The Cervelo ZFS 5 is no Santa Cruz Blur

Even before the presentation, comments were buzzing around the net that this bike looks like the Santa Cruz Blur. Yes, a certain resemblance is undeniable and not surprising. After all, Cervelo and Santa Cruz, like many other brands, belong to PON Holding. Such corporate networks are also familiar from the car industry. But just because Audi and VW belong to the same parent company, doesn’t mean that the same car rolls off the production line in Ingolstadt as in Wolfsburg. It’s exactly the same in the bicycle industry. If you take a closer look at the bike here, there are clear differences to the Santa Cruz. The first one is the geometry. The bike has a shorter reach and top tube than its Santa Cruz counterpart. On the other hand, the stem is a little longer, at 80 millimetres. You could almost say that the geometry is somewhat influenced by road bikes. We have created a comparison of the two bikes where you can compare the geometry data in their individual sizes. For the second difference, we completely disassembled the bike.

This is what the frame of the Cervelo ZFS 5 weighs

With 1705 grams in frame size L without shock, Cervelo doesn’t have to hide when it comes to frame weight. It is also almost 100 grams lighter than the Santa Cruz Blur. Our test bike was only covered with a touch of clear lacquer. With carbon, this is always a sign that the highest level of workmanship has been applied. Without a real varnish, no bubbles or wrinkles in the carbon fibre can be covered up. Compared to the ZHT 5, Cervelo’s hardtail, the scales show only about 700 grams more. The Rock Shox Sidluxe shock adds just under 300 grams. The System Fully is therefore only 1 kilogram heavier than the hardtail from the same manufacturer. Without pedals and the bottle cage, the complete bike even remains under 10 kilos. That should make a few competitors’ jaws drop. At bike-test.com we have analysed over 2000 bikes. You can count on one hand the number of Racefullys, that weigh less than 10 kilos. Cube offers a lightweight version of the AMS. The KTM Scarp Fully, which just won the German women’s championship, also manages to break the 10 kilo barrier ex works. And Orbea has an Oiz in its line-up, that remains in the single digits in terms of weight. This makes it clear: Cervelo takes mountain biking seriously.

The cable routing and steering limiters on the Cervelo ZFS 5

The ZFS 5 frame has a cable routing through the headset, as is currently the standard used by many other manufacturers. However, unlike most cable routing concepts, the brake cable and the lockout cable (thanks to Sram’s electronic shifting system, the shift cable no longer exists) do not run through the stem or the spacers. This semi-integration of the cables into the cockpit means that adjusting the height of the handlebars or changing to a different stem length is a breeze. The reduction in complexity is a huge advantage in handling the bike in everyday life. From the rider’s perspective, the two cables for the lockout also remain concealed by the handlebar. It really has to be said: Sram has really cleaned up the look in front of the handlebars. The handlebar steering limiter has fallen victim to the rigorous diet of the ZFS 5. Unfortunately, because this puts the top tube at risk of being affected by the shift or brake lever in the event of a fall. In the worst case, the frame breaks.

Cervelo relies on these standards for its first fully

A look at the frame’s brake mount raises questions. The front post-mount thread is laminated into the chain stay. The rear thread sits in a separate aluminium adapter, that is partly supported on the rear wheel axle and is also fixed to the rear triangle with a bolt. This design of the brake mount saves weight in production and diverts the braking forces into the stable rear wheel axle. The bolted BSA bottom bracket is significantly more complex in frame production and also somewhat heavier than a press-fit standard. This is because an aluminium sleeve has to be worked into the carbon frame for the thread. But it makes maintenance easier afterwards and will therefore please most bikers.

• Bottom bracket: BSA
• Wheel size: 29 inch
• Rear wheel installation dimension: 148×12
• Cable management:through the headset
• Bottle holder: space for two bottles
• Rear derailleur: UDH

Reserve Carbon wheels – lightweight and with lifetime warranty

The weight of the wheels is important, undoubtably. On the one hand, because it is weight that you have to carry up the mountain. On the other hand, you also have rotating mass here, which you have to accelerate with every speed increase. So a lightweight wheelset saves twice as much energy. And the Reserve Carbon wheels with 28 millimetre width are light. This makes the ZFS 5’s acceleration wonderfully light-footed. Perfect conditions for the next cross country race. The rims also come with a lifelong guarantee. We have not broken the rims despite not going easy on them. Should this happen in the course of its life, Reserve will replace them free of charge!

Lets go racing – How does the Cervelo ZFS 5 ride on the trail?

With all the praise for the weight, it must also be clear: This bike is mercilessly trimmed for racing. And that is exactly what becomes unmistakably clear on the first off-road excursion. With the high seatpost and the meagre 100 millimetres of suspension travel, skills are required. Even though the steering angle is 0.5 degrees flatter than on the Santa Cruz Blur, this bike is not a pure descent machine. With its purist orientation, this bike is also a clear counter-design to bikes like the Scott Spark or the Orbea Oiz. These Racefullys come standard with 120 millimetres of suspension travel and a telescopic seat post. This means, that the range of use of these bikes is significantly greater, but the orientation is also somewhat watered down. Die-hard racers often find these bikes a little too heavy. Cervelo fills this gap excellently with its first Fully. Those who actually want to ride more trails or tours and less races should probably take a look at the ZFS 5 in the trail version with 120 millimetres of suspension travel.

Can roadies design rear kinematics?

The rear end perfectly matches the sporty feel of the bike. Even when open, the shock remains relatively quiet. The lockout of the suspension via the grip-shift lever is cool, but we would have liked an intermediate lockout stage. The new generation of SID forks and shocks can finally do this. And this is a feature that is not only nice to have, but also adds real value when riding. On the trail, the rear suspension really does work well, but there are more sensitive models out there. Mondraker’s Zero Suspension rear triangle on the F-Podium recently impressed us. But the bottom line is that the rear suspension characteristics are absolutely right for a race bike.

12 gears, 8 pistons – gears and brakes on the Cervelo ZFS 5

We have tested the revolutionary Sram transmission, which is also installed here, in a separate article. In our video on the Transmission, some users have commented that the new Pod Controller does not meet their visual expectations. We love the thing anyway. It is the first electronic gear shifter that is really easy to operate and has a crisp pressure point. The gear stick has a minimal delay until it changes gears, but it does so even under full load. The real advantage of the transmission lies in its serviceability. If you want to know more, you should read this test report here. Since Sram’s 2-piston brakes are not known as anchors, Cervelo uses the 4-piston version of the Level ex works. In combination with the 160mm discs, this still cannot be called a brake parachute, but it can easily be tuned with larger discs.

All current Cervelo ZFS5 models at a glance incl. prices and availabilities:

The basic prerequisite for this bike is the necessary deep pocket. Without that, there is – typically for Cervelo – not much going on. As usual, we not only provide in-depth insights into the details. Unlike all other media, our innovative and absolutely objective test system allows us to provide you with information on the complete model family. Here you can find out about the right Cervelo ZFS 5 for your budget. By the way, here we have a complete guide for race bikes.

All current Cervelo ZFS5 models at a glance