Cervélo ZFS

The new ZFS-5 is designed specifically for the rigours of cross-country racing

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By Robin Weaver

Published: August 1, 2023 at 8:01 am

Cervélo has launched its first full-suspension MTB, the ZFS-5, marking the Canadian brand’s next move into the world of top-level mountain biking.

We first reported on Cervélo’s ZFS-5 cross-country bike when it was raced earlier in 2023 at the first round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Nové Město.

At that point, details were a little thin on the ground but, after a few months of speculation, Cervélo has pulled back the curtain and it’s a bike unapologetically designed to be ridden fast on XC race tracks, whether it’s pointed uphill or down.

Following in the tyre tracks of the ZHT-5, a hardtail that arrived last year as Cervélo’s first mountain bike, the ZFS-5 is available with 100mm or 120mm of travel and uses a single-pivot, flex-stay suspension design.

Cervélo will offer six builds in total, with prices ranging from £5,499 to £10,499.

The ZFS-5 will be available with 100mm or 120mm of rear suspension. The longer-travel option is achieved by simply switching to a longer-stroke shock (190x40mm versus 190x45mm), meaning the frames are identical in every other aspect.

Rear-wheel travel is delivered via a single-pivot flex-stay design (rather than an additional pivot point near the rear axle), with a link driving the top-tube mounted shock.

Cervélo has opted for this suspension platform – one that’s common in the design of the best XC bikes – because the flex stays help to save weight, increase stiffness and reduce maintenance, according to the brand.

If the design looks familiar, that’s because the silhouette of the ZFS-5 is very similar to that of the Blur from sister brand Santa Cruz.

It’s not quite the same, though, and geometry does differ slightly, with the ZFS-5’s head tube angle a little slacker than that of the Blur.

We’ve also seen a similar flex-stay suspension layout on many of the latest cross-country bikes, including the Pinarello Dogma XC used by Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

In terms of geometry, we’ll start by looking at the headline figures of the shorter-travel, 100mm version of the ZFS-5.

Up front, the 67.8-degree head angle of the ZFS-5 is a shade slacker than the Santa Cruz Blur, but steeper by 1.3 degrees compared to the latest Specialized Epic World Cup.

Like the Blur, the ZFS-5’s seat tube angle slackens slightly as the frame size increases.

In larger sizes, it’s steeper than the Blur, with the size large coming in at a claimed 76.2 degrees, which should help to put the rider in a very efficient pedalling position.

Reach spans from 421mm on the size small through to 496mm on the extra-large.

Chainstays grow as frame size increases, ranging from 432mm up to 440mm across the four sizes.

There’s 42mm of bottom bracket drop to help sink the rider down between the front and rear axles.

Because the 120mm version of the bike uses the same frame (with a different-stroke shock) and is paired with a longer-travel fork, it’s no surprise to see that it has a slacker head angle (66.6 degrees), but also a slacker seat tube angle of 75 degrees (size large).

The bottom bracket drop is also reduced – to 33mm – while the increased stack height reduces reach measurements across the board, with the large measuring in at 457mm.

Cervélo has opted for a floating brake mount at the rear, citing that this design allows for straighter, more structurally efficient stays, not constrained by the brake mount’s inclusion.

It’s said that this system is also very simple and light.

By the looks of the drawing supplied, the mount is keyed and slots into the rear drop-out, concentric to the wheel axle. It’s fixed in place with a single bolt.

Regardless of whether you love or hate internal routing, like many modern designs, Cervélo has decided to run the ZFS-5’s cables and brake hoses through the headset cups in a bid to keep things looking clean and tidy.

What’s interesting here, though, is that Cervélo has come up with a nifty ‘hybrid’ design.

The upper headset cup has the capacity to thread four cables through it, but should you switch to wireless gearing or a wireless dropper, there are swappable inserts that’ll blank off excess holes, leaving you with just the ones you need.

Cervélo has decided to not use carbon sleeves for the cable routing once inside the frame, though, saying this helps to save weight and helps to water and dirt ingress to a minimum.

While it may do that, the stress levels of mechanics might go in the opposite direction.

That said, there’s a tidy little rubber junction box that sits just inside the swingarm, above the bottom bracket, to guide the respective cables/hoses down the driveside and non-driveside chainstays.

Aside from the bigger headline news here, there are a few other nuggets of info worth knowing.

The maximum tyre clearance at the rear is 29×2.9in, while the maximum size chainring you can run is 36t.

The bottom bracket is a BSA 73mm threaded number (that’s one back for the home mechanics out there after the lack of internal cable guides) and the ZFS-5 uses a SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger, so replacements should be easy to source.

Finally, the frame will accept two water bottles – ideal for those looking to compete on the marathon circuit.

There are six bikes in the range – three with 100mm of travel, and three with 120mm of travel – ranging from £5,499 to £10,499 in price.

And if the connection between Santa Cruz and Cervélo wasn’t obvious before, you only need to look and see the use of the carbon Reserve hoops on the high-end ZFS-5 builds.

Technical editor-in-chief

Rob Weaver is BikeRadar's technical editor-in-chief. Rob manages all of the testing here at BikeRadar and across our magazines, Mountain Biking UK and Cycling Plus. Rob first graced the pages of MBUK back in 2001 when working as a freelance writer and went on to start testing bikes for the title in 2007. In 2010 he joined the team full-time and has been keeping a close eye on all things test-related ever since. Rob’s expansive knowledge of bikes comes courtesy of his passion for racing. He cut his teeth racing cross-country mountain bikes in the early 90s before finding his feet in downhill. After many years competing on the UK national circuit (including a year attempting to race UCI DH World Cups), Rob realised his know-how and passion for bike setup, tech and writing clearly outweighed his racing ability. A degree in sports technology and decades of riding experience all help to give Rob a thorough understanding of what’s needed to create a great bike or product. While Rob’s a mountain biker at heart and never happier than when he’s sliding down a Welsh hillside, he’s more than happy to put the miles in on the road or gravel bike, too.

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