Looking at getting a Cannondale CAAD

[Tank63]

Thinking on getting myself Cannodale CAAD.
I’ve got a brand new Scott scale 960 but never used it, don’t know why I purchased the thing. A fool and his wallet comes to mind.
However been looking at a bike that can cope with canal paths, gravel and some cross country plus being comfy and responsive on the road.
Cannodale seem popular and I’m looking at disc brakes version.
I have heard that they can have trouble with the B.B.
I’m open to other options so advice would be great.

 

[vickster]

Go to Evans and try out the options

Personally I'd go for a Croix de fer because I much prefer steel over alu. Cannondale do nothing for me as a brand (ditto Giant, Spesh, Trek I'd consider).

Mmm https://www.freeborn.co.uk/genesis-croix-de-fer-20-cyclocross-bike-2017-blue

I'd avoid pressfit BB if buying again (my Boardman CX has one and it needed regressing after just 800 or so miles)

What's your budget?

 

[jowwy]

There's issue with bb30 and lots of other bottom brackets too. Caads are very good frames and the BB issues can be sorted easily with plenty of after market fixes. So don't let that put you off buying one. If it's a caad you want then go try them for size and happy purchase

 

[Tank63]

Hi

Thanks for all the advice

 

[John_S]

Hi Tank63,

As vickster says there's no real substitute for getting to some bike shops and trying them out because only you know exactly what you're looking for in terms of feel for the type of riding you want to do.

I must admit that I've not ridden a Cannondale and so I'm sorry but I can't give any personal experience of the CAAD range. Looking at websites and the Cannodale CAAD bikes they seem to cover quite a range including different builds as well as different frames because some seem more road focused whereas there are also cyclocross options in the range. The prices also seem to vary from about £800 or £900 up to about £2,500 and I've no idea which CAAD you're looking at buying or what you're budget is.

You've mentioned that you want a bike that can cope with canal paths, gravel and cross country but also be responsive on the road. I guess that any bike is going to struggle to be perfect at everything and potentially the more able it is off road the more compromised the on road experience is and vice versa.

However just in case you do want some ideas of other bikes to consider against the Cannondale options maybe some of the following would suit. Some of these will be more suited towards off road than road and some others the other way around but the best way to find out if they're right for you is to try them if you can.

If you were looking at the top of the Cannondale CAAD range and money is no object then you could consider one of the Mason Cycles bikes and perhaps the Bokeh with what you have in mind although I'm sure that the Resolution is a very capable bike in many situations as well.

https://masoncycles.cc/shop/categories/bokeh-bikes

The Shand Cycles Stoater or Stooshie

https://www.shandcycles.com

If you want to go for Titanium then there's the Spa Cycles Elan.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s21p3553/SPA-CYCLES-Elan-(105-11-Speed-Hydraulic)

After some advice on here I got a Kona Roadhouse ( http://2016.konaworld.com/roadhouse.cfm &

View: https://youtu.be/ltLN1bOXS10
) the 2016 model and I absolutely love it! I use it mainly on the road but it's the back roads of East Anglia and they're often either dodgy surfaces with loose chipings or covered in mud & dirt which has been dragged off the fields. My bike takes wider tyres and from my own personal standpoint it's a great bike. However I think that I was a bit lucky because I got a 2016 model with a big discount on the RRP which was £1,700 at the time when then 2017 models came out but with the 2017 model they introduced some spec changes and the price jumped to over 3k so I seemed to get lucky and buy at the right time. However there are still some options in the Kona range. The links below are for the 2018 bikes but if you search you might find some current bargains on the 2017 versions of their bikes.

http://www.konaworld.com/wheelhouse.cfm
http://www.konaworld.com/rove_st.cfm
http://www.konaworld.com/rove_nrb.cfm
Introduction to the 2018 Kona Rove range and a focus on their 650b wheel options:-
http://road.cc/content/tech-news/22...rove-adventure-bike-choice-steel-or-aluminium

Something from The Light Blue range of bikes either the Robinson or the Darwin :-

http://www.thelightblue.co.uk/Sport/5LB5RV62O/Robinson-Rival-1x
http://www.thelightblue.co.uk/Sport/5LB5DV12Z/Darwin-One-By
http://road.cc/content/review/174276-light-blue-robinson-rival-1x

The Fairlight Cycles Faran :-

https://fairlightcycles.com/faran/?v=79cba1185463

Wold Cycles Elm :-

http://www.woldcycles.co.uk/bicycles/production

Something from Bomtrack Bicycle Company and they've got a few different build options of their Hook. Although they won't be widely available it depends on where you are as to whether you're close to one of their distributors and according to the distributors website they're available from bike shops in Yorkshire, London, Oxford, Ipswich and Swanage.

http://bombtrack.com
http://bombtrack.com/bikes/hook-1-2/
https://www.lyon.co.uk/outdoor/bombtrack-uk-stockists

Or if you want an aluminium option then there is the Orro Terra range of builds :-

https://www.orrobikes.com/bikes/adventure


Good luck with your bike search and hopefully you can get some test rides on a few bikes to either find the right CAAD for you or something else that suits the type of riding that you have in mind.

John

 

[User33236]

I've owned two CAAD bikes. One a CAAD8 and the other a CAADX. Both were excellent bikes. My son still has the 8 but the X got written off when 'we' were hit by a car.

Interesting point is that the 8 was bought as Sora spec (I didn't like the Tiagra or 105 colour schemes that year) and as a result has a threaded BB. It has since been upgraded to 105 with donations from other bikes I have and remains problem free. The X had the BB30 setup and, whilst it was trouble free for the first year, I eventually swapped it out using a KCNC adapter.

I've used the same KCNC adapter (salvaged from the written off X) on Mrs SG's Synapse and its still problem free.

 

[Tank63]

Hi Tank63,

As vickster says there's no real substitute for getting to some bike shops and trying them out because only you know exactly what you're looking for in terms of feel for the type of riding you want to do.

I must admit that I've not ridden a Cannondale and so I'm sorry but I can't give any personal experience of the CAAD range. Looking at websites and the Cannodale CAAD bikes they seem to cover quite a range including different builds as well as different frames because some seem more road focused whereas there are also cyclocross options in the range. The prices also seem to vary from about £800 or £900 up to about £2,500 and I've no idea which CAAD you're looking at buying or what you're budget is.

You've mentioned that you want a bike that can cope with canal paths, gravel and cross country but also be responsive on the road. I guess that any bike is going to struggle to be perfect at everything and potentially the more able it is off road the more compromised the on road experience is and vice versa.

However just in case you do want some ideas of other bikes to consider against the Cannondale options maybe some of the following would suit. Some of these will be more suited towards off road than road and some others the other way around but the best way to find out if they're right for you is to try them if you can.

If you were looking at the top of the Cannondale CAAD range and money is no object then you could consider one of the Mason Cycles bikes and perhaps the Bokeh with what you have in mind although I'm sure that the Resolution is a very capable bike in many situations as well.

https://masoncycles.cc/shop/categories/bokeh-bikes

The Shand Cycles Stoater or Stooshie

https://www.shandcycles.com

If you want to go for Titanium then there's the Spa Cycles Elan.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s21p3553/SPA-CYCLES-Elan-(105-11-Speed-Hydraulic)

After some advice on here I got a Kona Roadhouse ( http://2016.konaworld.com/roadhouse.cfm &

View: https://youtu.be/ltLN1bOXS10
) the 2016 model and I absolutely love it! I use it mainly on the road but it's the back roads of East Anglia and they're often either dodgy surfaces with loose chipings or covered in mud & dirt which has been dragged off the fields. My bike takes wider tyres and from my own personal standpoint it's a great bike. However I think that I was a bit lucky because I got a 2016 model with a big discount on the RRP which was £1,700 at the time when then 2017 models came out but with the 2017 model they introduced some spec changes and the price jumped to over 3k so I seemed to get lucky and buy at the right time. However there are still some options in the Kona range. The links below are for the 2018 bikes but if you search you might find some current bargains on the 2017 versions of their bikes.

http://www.konaworld.com/wheelhouse.cfm
http://www.konaworld.com/rove_st.cfm
http://www.konaworld.com/rove_nrb.cfm
Introduction to the 2018 Kona Rove range and a focus on their 650b wheel options:-
http://road.cc/content/tech-news/22...rove-adventure-bike-choice-steel-or-aluminium

Something from The Light Blue range of bikes either the Robinson or the Darwin :-

http://www.thelightblue.co.uk/Sport/5LB5RV62O/Robinson-Rival-1x
http://www.thelightblue.co.uk/Sport/5LB5DV12Z/Darwin-One-By
http://road.cc/content/review/174276-light-blue-robinson-rival-1x

The Fairlight Cycles Faran :-

https://fairlightcycles.com/faran/?v=79cba1185463

Wold Cycles Elm :-

http://www.woldcycles.co.uk/bicycles/production

Something from Bomtrack Bicycle Company and they've got a few different build options of their Hook. Although they won't be widely available it depends on where you are as to whether you're close to one of their distributors and according to the distributors website they're available from bike shops in Yorkshire, London, Oxford, Ipswich and Swanage.

http://bombtrack.com
http://bombtrack.com/bikes/hook-1-2/
https://www.lyon.co.uk/outdoor/bombtrack-uk-stockists

Or if you want an aluminium option then there is the Orro Terra range of builds :-

https://www.orrobikes.com/bikes/adventure


Good luck with your bike search and hopefully you can get some test rides on a few bikes to either find the right CAAD for you or something else that suits the type of riding that you have in mind.

John

Thanks for the info John, some nice bikes and the Kona looks great.

 

[vickster]

How about this?
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/whyte-bikes-saxon-cross-2015-ridden-once-£1500-new-£950.224658/

 

[John_S]

Hi again,

If for example the Whyte above doesn't work out also another one to throw into the mix for consideration, although this is an expensive option, is the Condor Bivio Gravel. The frameset is £1,200 but you are getting Columbus steel tubing:-

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/condor-bivio-gravel-frameset

According to this article it's available as a complete build with SRAM Rival 1x groupset and Mavic All Road wheels, at a cost of £2,250 :-

http://road.cc/content/tech-news/220170-condor-bivio-gravel-bike-bespoked

However being a Condor it's available in lots of different build / groupset options and so if it's within someones budget there are plenty of options to spec the build that somebody wants. Perhaps the colour either will or won't appeal but that'll be completely subjective in the eye of the beholder.

http://www.headsetpress.co.uk/condor-bivio-handmade-road-adventure/

Also if for example you've been lucky enough to get the lottery numbers I saw this Breadwinner Cycles limited edition G-Road and it looks really nice but it would set you back a lot of money.

https://breadwinnercycles.com/2017/10/04/limited-edition-g-road/

Happy hunting for your new bike.

John