With an explosion of interest in road bikes that can tackle more than perfect pavement, it was only a matter of time before a major brand jumped in with an ultralight bike to push the upper end of the gravel market a notch (or three) higher.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Cervelo is that brand. The all-new Cervelo C3 road bike does just that, albeit disguised as more of a gran fondo racer than pure off-road bike. At just 850g with paint and hardware, it’s definitely on the light end of performance bikes for any type of road, but thanks to revised Squoval 2 tube shapes, it’s both stiff and compliant in all the right ways.

The bike borrows a lot of development tech from their ultralight r5, including the fork. But, the C-series gets a slacker head angle, longer rake and thru axles in a disc brake specific design. It also gets a full 1-1/8″ to 1-1/2″ tapered headtube.

That front end combines with a lower bottom bracket to increase overall effective stack height by up to 22mm (depending on frame size). That means a more stable bike with a lower center of gravity and slightly more upright riding position. Protecting that lower BB is a bolt-on rock guard.

The dropped seatstay/seat tube junction, exaggerated arch design and super thin diameter all contribute to better vertical compliance, making it the most comfortable bike they’ve ever made.