The world of high-end racing bicycles is not difficult to understand. Laypersons and enthusiasts alike will evaluate a particular model based almost solely around the answers to two simple questions: How much does it weigh, and how much does it cost?

In the case of the RCA, the latest offering from the Canadian marque Cervélo, the answers to both questions are accordingly succinct: "Absurdly light," and "absurdly expensive." The RCA's frameset weighs in at a mere 667 grams and costs a nice round $10,000.

As one of just a few hundred limited-edition bikes produced by Cervélo's Project California division, the RCA is a neatly packaged compendium of its creator's two-decades-deep body of engineering knowledge. The high price reflects the research and design efforts that have gone into building the RCA, and the resultant technology developed for this bike will eventually trickle down into Cervélo's "lesser" models.

Cervelo, bike, review Photo: Alex Washburn / Wired Alex Washburn

The RCA's attractive, subdued paint job provides very little stealth when piloting it around Northern California roads, which are famously filled with well-read cycling nerds. In a few hundred miles of testing, I overheard plenty of sarcastic comments from fully-kitted Freds out on their Saturday spin. I casually ignored a man who stared at it, jaw agape, from behind the wheel of a bike rack-equipped Prius. I impressed messenger friends by rattling off details about its electronic gruppo – plus, inevitably, how the whole bike costs about as much as they make in three or four months.

Once I got past the period of adjustment that always comes with using any top-of-the-line bike on public roads, the RCA started to feel really, really nice. The aforementioned electronic gruppo – Shimano's new 11-speed Dura Ace 9070 – was fantastically quick and smooth, despite some initial dexterous ambiguity when using long-fingered gloves. The Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR wheels, while not intended for a featherweight build, were stiff and handled crosswinds amiably. Plus they produced a fun noise when braking, a feature that my riding buddies loved.

Cervelo, bike, review Photo: Alex Washburn / Wired Alex Washburn

And the frame? It's as good as any road bike I've ever ridden. Though the aerodynamic benefits were certainly hard to quantify, the RCA's ride quality matched that which I have come to expect of Cervélo's entire "classic road" line. It managed to be stiff enough for sprints while maintaining comfort during long hours in the saddle over rough northern California terrain (including some roads that could not be accurately described as "pavement"). For a piece that weighs about 30 percent less than many most off-the-shelf carbon fiber frames, the RCA is nothing short of a resounding success for the lab technicians down in Garden Grove.

Resounding – and repeated – success is precisely what Cervélo was betting on this month, too, as Canadian champion Ryder Hesjedal returned to the streets of Italy aboard an RCA to defend his 2012 title in the Giro d'Italia. Hesjedal took the win last year while riding an R5ca, the RCA's older brother. While his prospects this time around have been suddenly rendered nil with his withdrawal from the event, one thing is clear: if racing was truly all about the bike, the RCA would've been on top of the podium come May 26.

Cervelo, bike, review Photo: Alex Washburn / Wired Alex Washburn