Keegan Swenson is fast on gravel bikes. He is arguably even faster on mountain bikes. This weekend, we’re going to find out how fast the Life Time Grand Prix series leader is on road bikes at the UCI Road World Championships.
With several top American men foregoing worlds for one reason or another, Swenson got the nod from USA Cycling for a roster spot, but there’s one slight problem: he’s sponsored by Santa Cruz — and Santa Cruz doesn’t make a road bike.
So what to do? Turn to a sister brand of Santa Cruz: Cervélo. Both are owned by Pon Holdings, a Dutch company which also counts a few more bike brands among its portfolio.
We got a closer look at his Cervélo S5 aero road bike that he has been testing out on the roads around Wollongong, Australia is the lead-up to Sunday’s race. (Well, Sunday in Australia anyway. Be sure to double check when to watch based on your time zone.)
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Besides the road frame, many of the brands on Swenson’s bike are familiar to his gravel bike. There’s a SRAM Red groupset and Reserve wheels — this time the 52|63 aero road set.
Swenson is running 54/41T chainrings on a power meter crankset.
Swenson’s bike is full of personal touches.
Here’s another personalized decal.
The S5 has one of the most identifiable cockpits of any bike.
The highly streamlined and integrated front end help make the S5 one of the most aerodynamic road bikes available.
Vittoria Corsa Graphene 2.0 tires in size 25c are a fast choice.
Swenson’s Reserve rims are laced to DT Swiss hubs.
Just as on his gravel bike, Swenson turns to a 143mm Prologo Dimension saddle.
Swenson rides 1x on gravel, but will be sporting a front derailleur for this race. He is also making sure no one takes his AXS batteries with those gold initials (if you can call a $ an initial that is).