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| P2 |
 
P2 (1996-1997)
| | One of the first three P2s ever built. The second one went to Germany where Hanka Kupfernagel (at that time the #1 ranked female cyclist in the world) won the National TT Champs with it, the third one went to the Olympics with Eric Wohlberg. He rode the same frame for the next three years and the same number of National Championships.
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P2 (1998)
| | The 1998 P2 model got a new Smartwall downtube and seattube, with a slightly more stretched out profile (from 69mm to 75mm) to improve the aerodynamics. Also, the cut-out shape was modified and the horizontal drop-outs were lengthened, to make the P2 more suitable for track use. The geometry on the smaller sizes (50-54) was also slightly changed for better fit.
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P2 (1999) with Commonwealth paint scheme
| | In 1999, Eric Wohlberg finally got a new P2, the 1999 model featuring a lighter toptube than the 1998 version. We custom-painted the frame for him and in his first ride he took the victory at the Commonwealth Games, beating out Stuart O'Grady. After his victory we received so many requests for his red/white/blue paint scheme that we made it the standard color.
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| Eyre Tri |
Eyre Tri (1996-1997)
| | The first model of Eyre Tri. You can note that it still has a seattube extension, a totally useless piece of seattube that is only used to make sure that a 54cm frame actually measures as a 54cm seattube. As it encourages incorrect seatpost installation, we removed the extension from our subsequent frames. We still don't understand why other manufacturers continue to use the seattube extension and thereby risk frame failure.
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Eyre Tri (1998)
| | The 1998 Eyre Tri got the new Smartwall down tube, with a slightly more stretched out profile (from 69mm to 75mm) to improve the aerodynamics. It also uses a lighter top tube. The geometry on the smaller sizes (47-54) was also slightly changed for better fit.
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Eyre Tri (1999)
| | The 1998 model was replaced with the 1999 model which uses a Smartwall seattube instead of the Easton Elite seattube used on the previous model. The Smartwall seattube increases the bottom bracket stiffness by 10.3%.
A note on the origin of the name Eyre, when this model came out most words indicating aerodynamics (like Air, Aero, Airo) were already in use. But in the novel Jane Eyre, Eyre is pronounced "Air" so that fit the bill for us. There was actually a movie Jane Eyre which was just about to come out when we introduced the Eyre and we hoped it would help people realize that Eyre was to be pronounced as "Air". Unfortunately the movie went straight to video and for four years customers and retailers were talking about Eries, Ayres, Erias and everything else except Airs.
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| Eyre Road |
Eyre Road (1996-1997)
| | Our first Eyre Road, really the nucleus of what is now the Soloist family. It is hard to believe now that the Eyre Road was a tough sell because it looked so unconventional. To 21st century eyes, it looks pretty normal. The Eyre Road had external cables, in the case of the 1996 model with standard stops on the downtube. The exact bike shown here went to a triathlete in BC, Stefan Jakobsen, who used it as his training bike for many years.
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Eyre Road (1998)
| | The 1998 model had virtually every tube changed, including the new Smartwall downtube with a slightly more stretched out profile (from 69mm to 75mm) to improve the aerodynamics. The chainstays and seatstays were also lightened up compared to the 1996-1997 model. It also received custom cable stops on the headtube, for a much cleaner cable routing. The bike photographed here is actually not a full 1998 frame, as that frame was not ready in time for the photo shoot. Instead, we took Gerard's personal Eyre Road and repainted it. Unfortunately for him, we then lost track of his frame and he didn't ride for two years. Eventually, we found his
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Eyre Road (1999)
| | The 1998 model was replaced with the 1999 model which obtained the same upgrades as the Eyre Tri, so it uses a Smartwall seattube instead of the Easton Elite seattube used on the previous model. The Smartwall seattube increases the bottom bracket stiffness by 10.3%. The name Eyre was still as bad a choice as it was back in 1996, as explained in the Eyre Tri section.
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| P2K |
P2K (2000)
| | Our goal was simple. Various companies were trying to copy the Eyre Tri (one VERY large US bike company who shall remain anonymous made a blatant copy, its president was even seen at Interbike with a printed copy of our website in his hand). In order to stay ahead, we wanted to offer the performance of the P2 for the price of an Eyre Tri. The result was the P2K, which had the same downtube as the P2, but a narrower seattube and an even narrower seatpost. While the extended seatpost of the P2 looked nice, it was terrible for travel and some people found they couldn't get their seat low enough as each P2 had a minimum saddle height. The new P2K seatpost was both more aero and more user friendly.
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P2K (2001)
| | During the 2001 model year, rolling changes were made to the P2K in two areas. It received the drop-out setscrews that were already in use on the P3, and the internal cable system was changed from running full housing through the frame to the Internal CableStops system as found on the P3.
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P2K (2002-2003)
| | The 2002 P2K saw a large change in manufacturing process. In our research, we had found that although the smooth finished welds that we used had a higher fatigue life than single pass welds, we could improve the fatigue life even more by using a special double pass weld that did not require any post-weld finishing. The big advantage is that the post-weld finishing through filing and sanding - meant to reduce sharp edges on the weld that create stress risers - can actually create strss risers of their own if it is not done 100% right. By using a double pass weld that is smooth without any need to post-weld finishing, we eliminate that risk.
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P2K (2004)
| | The 2004 P2K frame did not see any modifications, but its proprietary seatpost was upgraded with a carbon fibre shaft. After testing the carbon flippable seatpost with carbon shaft in the 2003 season with Team CSC, it was rolled out on P3 and P2K frames in 2004, saving approximately 100g (depending on the seatpost length).
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P2K (2005)
| | In 2005, the P2K was further updated with a small downtube plate, an 8 gram piece that greatly increased its bottom bracket stiffness and pushed its fatigue life even higher. The headset changed to the NarrowHead pioneered on the Soloist Team frame, meaning that on the outside the headtube was virtually as narrow as the old 1" headtube was, but internally there was room for a 1 1/8" headset with its higher stiffness.
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| P3 |
P3 (2000)
| | The new bike rules from the UCI came into effect in January 2000, and the result was that many time trial bikes were no longer legal. The general consensus was that the new rules killed any chance of developing better bikes, but the P3 proved everybody wrong. The rules left enough opportunities for improvement, and the P3 was a step ahead of the P2. It was also much lighter and a bit stiffer in the bottom bracket. In a year where the other manufacturers either stopped their production of TT bikes or significantly reduced their performance to comply with the rules, the P3 was all of a sudden in a league of its own.
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P3 (2001)
| | The reason the original P3 was black was simple: It was painted the night before the 1999 Interbike show and since it had to be done with a spray can, flat black was the best color option. Any other colors would have clearly shown that Phil and Gerard are not painters by trade, whereas flat black covers up all the flaws nicely. So after seeing the flat black P3 at the show, everybody expected to see the same look in their bike shop, so we stuck with it until we could finally change to yellow for 2001.
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P3 (2002-2003)
| | It's a true testament to the quality of the P3 design and manufacturing that over its six year span, there was very rarely a reason to change anything. In 2002, the P3 was updated with an integrated headset. While there was some resistence to the concept of integrated headsets, we found it the key was in the execution. Even though the headtube is much more complicated now and although it requires much tighter tolerances, we have not encountered any problems. In fact, , when we occasionally get a frame back with a headtube problem, it is without exception a frame with a non-integrated headset and the headset will have damaged the frame. With an integrated headset where we design with one specific headset in mind, that simply doesn't happen.
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P3 (2003-2004)
| | The 2003 P3 was technically unchanged from the 2002, but it was now powered by the riders of Team CSC and so we offered it to our customers in Team CSC colors for 2003 and 2004
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P3 SL (2004-2005)
| | In mid-2004, Team CSC asked us if we should shave a few ounces off the TT bikes. Enter the P3 SL, with the great aerodynamic qualities of the original P3 but at 100g less and with an indestructible anodized finish. We flew the first two frames over to the 2004 Tour de France where they arrived just in time for Phil to build them up for the final time trial. Both Ivan Basso and Carlos Sastre rode very well, and a few months later the P3 SL took over completely from the P3.
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| Rennaissance |
Rennaissance (2000-2003)
| | With the Renaissance we wanted to shake up the steel frame category, and we did so with a frame that was as light as many Aluminum frames, yet retained all the classic qualities of steel. Production was limited to 100 frames to guarantee exclusivity.
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| Prodigy |
Prodigy (2001)
| | With the exposure of the Renaissance, we received many requests for a less expensive steel model that would incorporate many of the same features of the Renaissance. This new bike was the Prodigy. It featured a frame that was the lightest in its class, and with its retail price of US$ 1799 with Ultegra it became in instant success.
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Prodigy (2002)
| | The 2002 Prodigy received a nickel plating (exposed on the rear triangle, under the paint in the front) to protect the steel tubing from environmental influences.
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| SuperProdigy |
SuperProdigy (2003-2004)
| | While the Prodigy was in production, Columbus once supplied us with incorrect tubesets. Instead of a Prodigy tubeset, most of the tubes were drawn according to our Renaissance tubeset spec. At the time we didn't make too much of a fuss about it, and after running the necessary tests we built them into frames and we painted them as normal Prodigies. But word got out that there were a few "SuperProdigies" out there, and those customers who through weighing their frames figured out they were one of the lucky ones gave us great feedback on their frames. So for 2003, we decided to make the "SuperProdigy" an official model. It still offered the great combination of stiffness and handling, not to mention the feel of steel. But while the Prodigy was already the lightest steel frame in its class, the SuperProdigy is simply in a class of its own.
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SuperProdigy (2003-2004)
| | In 2003, Team CSC was the only team to have all riders on steel frames at Paris-Roubaix. All other teams, even those sponsored by traditional bike companies, predominantly used Aluminum and carbon. We thought it was pretty funny that it was up to Cervélo, the newest kid on the block, to represent traditional frame building qualities with our steel frames. To commemorate this, we made a limited run of team edition SuperProdigies available to the public. Technically, these frames were identical to the black and black/chrome SuperProdiogies sold in 2003 and 2004 (in line with our company philosophy to supply the same product to our customers as we supply to our professional athletes). The only difference was the paint.
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