Cervelo has debunked the R7 – a bike that would supersede the range-topping R5 – as rumour, saying the R7 name became the R5 and that no such bike is in development.
Despite being featured on the UCI latest frame approval list, dated 10 April 2015, the Cervelo R7 relates to a name submitted back in 2012. Cervelo's Road Marketing Manager, Janice Tsao, clarifies: "We are not developing a new R7. The R7 name was submitted to the UCI in 2012. It is an older naming convention that was later replaced by the current R5."
So, sadly, there will be no R7 in the foreseeable future.
That said, we would still love to see a full production version of the latest RCa, which was announced in 2013 weighs only 667g . The R5 frame (a copy of the RCa without the high-end carbon) weighs a claimed 808g. While far from being a heavyweight, this isn’t in the same realms of featheriness enjoyed by the Trek Emonda (690g) or Merida’s new 680g Scultura 9000 LTD (680g), which is currently touted as the world’s lightest production bike.
Cervelo only expected to sell 325 RCa frames – due to the high cost, we may never see this as a full production bike
With the might of Derby Cycles now behind the company, could a production RCa become a reality by manufacturing in the far east? Only if costs could be cut significantly – the RCa cost $10,000 for the frameset alone, with Cervelo saying the project wouldn't turn a profit even at that pricetag.