Worth the extra £300?

Lagavulin

Exhibit A and B.

I'd probably opt for the 105 in Red or the Ultegra in Luiqigas (bike it would replace is a black/silver).

Am I just being a "puff" (not my words) when thinking carbon steerers aren't necessarily a benefit on our sh!tty UK roads? That continental tarmac looks lovely on the TV but I'm always a bit nervous of potholes and depressions in the road on my Wilier with its full carbon fork; and that was before the ice recently went to town on them.

Ultegra 6700 over 105 and a chainset upgrade but I'm not so sure of the wheels. I have a set of Racing 7s for my Allez already and consider them inferior to my older and probably weightier Aksiums.

Part of me quite fancies the 105 in red and a set of white Cosmic Carbone SLs in white. :roll:

Chip \'oyler

I'm a fat get and happily ride with carbon steerers. But I draw the line at full carbon stems, handlebars and seatposts.

redddraggon

I have a carbon stem, carbon bars, carbon seat post, and 100% carbon fork and they are fine for me. The "weakness" of carbon is overrated - carbon stems for a start are generally overbuilt compared to their alloy counterparts so are stiffer and more reliable, but actually heavier.

I reckon I'd go for the Ultegra bike.

(carbon = shorthand for CFRP)

LazyLoki

Id go for the Ultegra model. Brand new groupset that's not a million miles away from Dura Ace and the chanset is the FSA SL-K Lite which takes advantage of the CAAD9s BB30 fitting.

ScottieP

I've read on other forums that the Premium fork makes a big difference to the CAAD9 and in the UK you only get that on the Ultegra version of the bike. In the US they also do a Rival version with the Premium fork - but for some reason it hasn't made it to here. If I was buying and I had the budget - I'd go for the Ultegra one too - but only if the budget can stretch.

gabriel959

I would go for the Ultegra one.

The wheels are the weak spot of that build but you could always sell those for £100 and get something like these

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/mountain- ... -pair.html

or these

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/mountain- ... -pair.html

and you would have a killer of a build for under 2 grand.

Lagavulin

Thank you. Appreciate the replies.

As previously mentioned, a little nervous when I encounter a heavily rutted road or pot-holed lane on my full carbon Izoard but the new 6700 Ultegra does appeal.

Could be wrong but I think the 105 also takes advantage of BB30 and it is only the 9-speed Tiagra that requires a sleeve/adapter. :?:

One of the sticking points is the wheels. Might seem like a minor gripe but £1600 for a bike with Racing 7s when you have the opinion I do of Racing 7s isn't a plus regards selling points.

The Ultegra C verson appears to have disappeared entirely from Evans' site so I might drop Wheelbase a line and see if they're still selling the Ultegra version.
I have a set of Racing 3s for my Wilier. Rather impressed and £300 looks a very good deal.

LazyLoki

I stand corrected on the BB30 crank for the 105 model but I'd still take Ultegra. And as for the wheels, yeah you could sell them but you won't get much for them. Better off just keeping them for a spare/training/winter set I reckon.

And regarding your fears about the fork, carbon nowadays is pretty damn strong. Some people still think it needs to be handled with kid gloves but while that was maybe true a few years back I think it's mostly past that now. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that any pothole or bump that cracked a carbon fork would probably do in a alloy one too. And the Cannondale Premium fork, while lighter than the beefy Ultra (alloy steerer) is still by no means a super lightweight when compared to something like the Easton EA90 SLX.