Cervelo New P2

The new Cervelo P2, perhaps the most economical path to superbike ownership
Last year, we covered Cervelo's grand unveil of the New P3. The New P3 contains virtually all the great design and aerodynamic tech from its big brother the P5, at a substantially lower price. Later in the year, the Canadian powerhouse brand brought the price down even more with the release of the New P2. Aside from a small change in the fork (we'll get to that), the New P2 is identical to the New P3, just cheaper. Under the paint, their frames are identical (same carbon, same layup, everything). Based on available data from Cervelo and other manufacturers alike, we can glean that this frame is very, very fast. It's likely as good as anything you can get anywhere, UCI-legal or otherwise. And at $2500 for a complete bike, it's among the least-expensive offerings around.

Moreover, the P2 is equal parts user-friendly and user-upgradeable. The former point makes it a bike you can live with more easily, and the latter point makes it something you can live with longer. That is, at the top end of the timed bike universe, what separates the wheat from the chaff is all in the details, particularly at the front end. With the right choice of cockpit, storage, and various components, you can make the P2 as fast as a P5, with far less pain at the wallet. If your priority is a low-budget when you buy the bike, you can keep the stock configuration as long as you need, and upgrade components individually until you wind up at more or less the type of build we're going to feature in this article. Thus, this review is partly a look at the bike itself, and partly a look at the path to building it, as many putative P2 owners might want to see.

We'll begin with the frame, and as usual head from the front to the back. Hit the jump and let's dive in.