Over the last few years, many bike brands have tried to combine the benefits of their aero bike platform and climbing bikes into an all-arounder. When I managed a Trek store, the brand launched the Madone Gen8. Trek intended it as the next logical step in its road bike lineup by combining the Madone’s speed with the Émonda’s low weight. Other examples of this trend include the Specialized Tarmac and Cannondale’s SuperSix Evo.

Cervélo touts the Soloist as its do-everything road platform. While you’ll see its S5 and R5 at races like the Tour de France, the Soloist probably won’t show up at the starting line of any Grand Tours. That’s because the Cervélo-sponsored Visma-Lease a Bike team doesn’t need a third road bike; it already has race-winning aero bikes and dedicated climbing bikes for its athletes. Most days those riders use the S5, and on the steepest alpine climbs they can go with the R5.

But most of us don’t have the money, space, or desire to own multiple road bikes to choose between depending on the route we’re riding that day. One road bike that flies up climbs, inspires confidence on descents, and holds well in a paceline is the key for many riders. After almost three months of riding, I found Cervélo’s Soloist fits right into that sweet spot.

Pros

• Great balance between aero bike speed and a climbing bike efficiency.
• Clearance for 700x34mm tires.
• One-piece cockpit.

Cons

• Aero bottles can be a hassle to use.
• Swap out stock tires for a better ride feel.
• One-piece cockpit.

The Soloist

The Soloist mixes the pure speed of the S5 with the uphill float of the R5. It sits between both models in weight—about a pound heavier than the R5 and about two pounds lighter than the S5. Visually, the Soloist looks like a midpoint between both bikes. It brings the lines of the R5 while tying in the aero aesthetics of the S5, but the geometry charts paint a different picture. The Soloist leans toward the S5 when looking at the geometry charts for each model. When shopping the Cervélo lineup consider the pricing. The Ultegra Di2 model of the S5 and R5 are both listed at $10,100. The Soloist gives the benefits of each bike, and saves you almost $2,000 for the Ultegra Di2 model.

The Soloist lineup ranges from $6,800 for the SRAM Rival AXS model up to $11,000 for the SRAM Red AXS–equipped bike. I tested the Shimano Ultegra Di2-equipped version, which sells for $8,250. This bike comes stock with a 4iii power meter, an integrated carbon bar and stem, and carbon wheels. My 54cm test bike weighed 15.9 pounds without the bottles or the pedals—pretty respectable for an aero-ish bike with Ultegra components.

Straight out of the box, it was almost ready to roll. Although Cervélo equips this bike with many parts I’d choose for my own bike, I swapped out the stock 700x29c Vittoria Corsa Next TLR G2.0 tires after only a few rides. The rubber was okay on flatter rides, but lacked the grip and ride feel I wanted on twisting descents.

Installing 28mm Pirelli P Zero TLR Race tires was exactly what the Soloist needed to elevate my confidence on descents. The tires made the bike feel locked-in when leaning into turns (I even bagged a couple of Strava trophies on our local descents).

The Soloist ships with aero bottles. Cervélo claims the bottles save 4.3 watts compared to standard round bottles. However, that savings doesn’t matter if you’re wasting energy fumbling with your bottles. The aero ones fit so tight in their cages I almost fell on my first ride trying to remove one.

Even after weeks of testing, I didn’t get used to these bidons. I’ve tried other aero bottle setups and haven’t had the same issue. Plus, the stock aero cages that come with the bike don’t pair as well with traditional round bottles as some brands’ aero cages.

Riding the Soloist

For my first ride, I dove right into the deep end by taking the Soloist up Fiddler’s Elbow. This notorious mile-and-a-half climb gains a little over 700 feet with grades that exceed 20 percent near its summit.

I’ve done this climb at least twenty times on my Trek Madone, with gearing that is a bit more favorable for climbing than the Soloist’s 36x34t lowest gear. But even with taller gearing, the Cervélo floated up the climb. The bike’s geometry put me in a comfortable position, and I appreciated the Soloist’s lower weight on steeper parts of the climb.

But the Soloist didn’t only excel on climbs. The backside of Fiddler’s features a twisting, high-speed descent where maintaining your line is critical, and the bike felt stable. Once I reached the bottom, I had rolling farm roads back to the office, similar to where I did the bulk of my daily rides with this bike.

The Soloist shines on undulating rural roads and group rides. Sometimes our office lunch rides lean toward a spicier pace, with a single or double paceline of up to eight riders. The Soloist is calm, collected, and easy to ride in groups, and its aerodynamics helped when I started to fall off the back and had to catch back to the group.

Lastly, since you don’t always ride on butter-smooth tarmac, I also tested the Soloist on roads outside of its typical scope. The bike felt confident, even on some of the chunky gravel roads. However, I don’t recommend doing this too often with the Soloist; it doesn’t have enough tire clearance for actual gravel tread.

The bike proved easy to ride and live with. I wish I didn’t have to send the Soloist back to Cervélo, as I’d gladly spend more hours on this bike.

Changes on the New Generation

Cervélo Soloist Prior and Current Generations

Bicycling’s Test Editor, Dan Chabanov, felt like the previous model tried to mix the benefits of the R5 and S5, but missed the mark. “I found it pretty unremarkable. Not in a bad way, but compared to other bikes at the time it just kind of split everything down the middle. It wasn’t very aero but it was aero-ish. It wasn’t very light, but it wasn’t overly heavy. It did a lot of stuff well, but it never really wowed me,” says Chabanov.

The new model irons out those wrinkles. Cervélo shaved nearly a pound off the Ultegra model and added more aero features from the S5—notably the integrated handlebar and stem combination.

I’m impressed after a few months using the new-generation Soloist as my primary road bike. It climbs better than other comparable bikes I’ve tried, holds a pocket in a paceline well, and descends like a banshee. Many brands have tried to blend the watt savings of an aero bike and the weight of a climbing bike. Cervélo took a swing with the previous Soloist model, but refined the previous generation to create a well-blended machine.

This bike is the great choice for everyone from the local crit ripper to the Saturday coffee shop ride champion. If you get this bike, then pick up a pair of Pirelli P Zero Race tires or Continental GP 5000 tires to unlock its full potential. This bike is at the top of my list for those of us who want to have one road bike at home that can rip every ride.

Member Exclusive: Check Out Our Top Cycling Stories