I am surrounded by hills and want a bike that will climb like a mountain goat.  With all the different Cervelo frame types to choose from, which one would be considered the best climbing bike?

Carlos Sastre and the rest of the CSC team changes from the Carbon Soloist to the R3 for the mountain stages, L'Alpe De Huez--so the R3 would be the better choice (presumably because of its lower weight).

 Note: I do not know about the new S3. Good luck!

blackcab:

I am surrounded by hills and want a bike that will climb like a mountain goat.  With all the different Cervelo frame types to choose from, which one would be considered the best climbing bike?

R3SL is the bike you want for heavy long climbs but any of the R3, RS series will climb good.

second all the above, the weight and stiff bottom bracket, equalls a good climbing bike.  Look at the r3/r3sl

 Check out the Tech Presentation - Col de la Tipping Point.  There are links to it on the S3 and S2 pages on the Cervelo site.  It covers the whole concept of where weight makes the ultimate difference.  It is well worth a read.

Cheers

R3-SL with a nice light set of tubular wheels and a compact crank. It will be a joy to ride up the mountain even when the slopes start hitting 10% or more.