Which Cannondale?

lloydy123

Looking for my first road bike. Thinking of getting a Cannondale as that is what my LBS have as they seem to get good reviews but locally there are also Giant and Trek bikes plus Halfords.

I have a neck problem so a bike with a slightly more relaxed geometry would be helpful.

Can't decide between a CAAD8 Tiagra £800, CAAD8 105 £1000 or CAAD9 Tiagra £1000.

The wheelsets seem to be different in each as well as the chainset.

The CAAD9 would be the choice but isn't it more of a racey geometry than the CAAD8?

so do I go for the CAAD8 then?

any advice appreciated! thanks

prj45

I don't know what racy geometry means but I found my CAAD9 copes perfectly with 50 mile+ rides, an I do at least 35 on it every day.

I flipped the stem so it points up and not down and don't find that I have to bend my neck back too much when riding on the hoods.

[Deleted User]

Ive Just got a CAAD 9 Tiagra, Its just a better frame overall than the CAAD8.

Also the CAAD9 is made in the USA, it rides great probably alongside my Tarmac, so that shows you the value for money, and quality.

Its smooth, stiff, and always want to push on, but make sure you want a egaer bike and not an all day cruiser, which It could do but really it likes too be pushed.

But it dose the main thing I buy a bike for and puts a smile on your face even when it raining.

unixnerd

I have a CAAD5 with 105 and love it, just wish it would stop raining so I can use it!

I believe the CAAD8 is rated for heavier riders than the 9, so it you're a larger rider you might want to check that.

I'd be tempted to get the CAAD9 and fit 105 parts when the Tiagras wear out. Be interesting to see what the difference in wheelset is though.

night_porter

If you intend buying it from a lbs and they have the bikes in stock you will get good advice from the bike shop as to which one would be most suitable. It is in their interest for you to be a happy customer.

But to be honest why not just test ride them and feel the difference for yourself?

Although Tiagra is 9 speed and 105 is 10, speed their operation is almost identical, you click one of the levers and it changes to the next gear....simples!

We all ride for different reasons so when choosing a bike we need to weigh up the pros and cons for our type of riding and get what suits us best (or the one with the nicest colour).

To be perfectly honest you cannot pay £1,000ish for a bike and get one that doesn't make you smile/proud/happy etc. They are all good bikes honest!

lloydy123

Here is the spec of the 3 bikes:

CANNONDALE CAAD8 TIAGRA

CANNONDALE CAAD8 105

CANNONDALE CAAD9 TIAGRA

I'm 95kgs so i assume that would be inside the weight limit?

I was down the other day at my lbs but a test run wasn't mentioned. I'll mention it to them. It will mainly be used for shorter one hour rides but when i have the time eg at weekends I would like to be able to do 60-100mile rides comfortably on it. Would the CAAD9 suit this ok?

flipping the stem would be a good idea.

benno68

Never ridden one but many rave over the Caad 9 frame, I believe the current Caad 9's will be the last of the "Made in USA" frames.

I'd go with the Caad 9 Tiagra and upgrade the components as and when you can, having said that I've used Tiagra for the last 18 months and it's good enough.

Headhuunter

i've definitely heard that the caad 9 has a more aggressive and racy geometry so probably worth trying before buying if you have a neck problem

asprilla

The CAAD9 was, apparently, used as the Mavic Service Bike in the TdF. I reckon that means it's a pretty good frame. It's probably the second best alu frame ever made...

unixnerd

The CAAD9 was, apparently, used as the Mavic Service Bike in the TdF. I reckon that means it's a pretty good frame. It's probably the second best alu frame ever made...

The best being?

You're right about Mavic and Cannondale BTW. I saw a guy at the side of the road up here last year with yellow bike that had Mavic stickers. Must have been a service bike they sold on.

asprilla

unixnerd wrote:

The CAAD9 was, apparently, used as the Mavic Service Bike in the TdF. I reckon that means it's a pretty good frame. It's probably the second best alu frame ever made...

The best being?

You're right about Mavic and Cannondale BTW. I saw a guy at the side of the road up here last year with yellow bike that had Mavic stickers. Must have been a service bike they sold on.

I ride a Cervelo S1 so I'm biased.

unixnerd

I ride a Cervelo S1 so I'm biased.

The red and black colour scheme on the carbon S2 (or S3?) is SOOOO sexy. I will admit to temptation. Definitely on the lottery win list.

asprilla

unixnerd wrote:

I ride a Cervelo S1 so I'm biased.

The red and black colour scheme on the carbon S2 (or S3?) is SOOOO sexy. I will admit to temptation. Definitely on the lottery win list.

The S1 is red and black, S2 is white with a little red and the S3 is black and grey.

Mine is 09 so it's red and white.

cjcp

lloydy123 wrote:

I'm 95kgs so i assume that would be inside the weight limit?

I was chatting to a chap on the commute last week who rides a CAAD5. He's got two he liked it so much. It does indeed look the absolute nuts.

He's 6ft 9in and a 100kg.

davis

cjcp wrote:

lloydy123 wrote:

I'm 95kgs so i assume that would be inside the weight limit?

I was chatting to a chap on the commute last week who rides a CAAD5. He's got two he liked it so much. It does indeed look the absolute nuts.

He's 6ft 9in and a 100kg.

You were chatting to a guy on the commute and you know his height and weight? You get his phone number too? ;-)

cjcp

davis wrote:

cjcp wrote:

lloydy123 wrote:

I'm 95kgs so i assume that would be inside the weight limit?

I was chatting to a chap on the commute last week who rides a CAAD5. He's got two he liked it so much. It does indeed look the absolute nuts.

He's 6ft 9in and a 100kg.

You were chatting to a guy on the commute and you know his height and weight? You get his phone number too? ;-)

It was, ahem, in the context of him riding carbon wheels/spoke count and whether they were strong enough. Ahem.

lloydy123

OK, I bought a CAAD 9 last thursday and im well happy.

I turned the stem upwards to relax the ride slighly and although i did get some neck pain its bearable. I broke it in with a 75mile hilly ride on sat and it went a dream.

Only thing is there is a creak coming from the direction of the crank with every pedal stroke that gets quite annoying! It is high pitched making me think that it is maybe a loose crank against the frame. Or is this just normal to have creaks in an aluminium frame?

Any other ideas?

thanks

jonginge

lloydy123 wrote:

OK, I bought a CAAD 9 last thursday and im well happy.

I turned the stem upwards to relax the ride slighly and although i did get some neck pain its bearable. I broke it in with a 75mile hilly ride on sat and it went a dream.

Only thing is there is a creak coming from the direction of the crank with every pedal stroke that gets quite annoying! It is high pitched making me think that it is maybe a loose crank against the frame. Or is this just normal to have creaks in an aluminium frame?

Any other ideas?

thanks

Not normal to have a creak like that. Often it's very hard to tell exactly where it's coming from. Likely candidates (no order):
Saddle rails/seatpost clamp
Frame/seapost clamp
BB
loose crank
loose pedal
cleat/shoe interface (normally a squeak rather a creak)

Good luck.

Oh, and congratulations on a new bike

Canny Jock

One of the advantages of buying from an LBS - just wheel it back and get them to fix it.

cjcp

JonGinge wrote:

lloydy123 wrote:

OK, I bought a CAAD 9 last thursday and im well happy.

I turned the stem upwards to relax the ride slighly and although i did get some neck pain its bearable. I broke it in with a 75mile hilly ride on sat and it went a dream.

Only thing is there is a creak coming from the direction of the crank with every pedal stroke that gets quite annoying! It is high pitched making me think that it is maybe a loose crank against the frame. Or is this just normal to have creaks in an aluminium frame?

Any other ideas?

thanks

Not normal to have a creak like that. Often it's very hard to tell exactly where it's coming from. Likely candidates (no order):
Saddle rails/seatpost clamp
Frame/seapost clamp
BB
loose crank
loose pedal
cleat/shoe interface (normally a squeak rather a creak)

Good luck.

Oh, and congratulations on a new bike

After squeaking my way home on Friday night, I removed the chainset and gave it a good clean, oiled the pedals, the rear mech, adjusted the front mech, swore at the rear mech for good measure (it might be bent a little) and no squeaks so far this morning. I imagine all this will change tonight or once it rains.

You can isolate/rule out the seatpost/saddle rail squeaks by riding out of the saddle.

asprilla

On Sunday I spent three and a half hours tightening, cleaning, greasing and oiling and the bike is now completely silent when it's in gear. It's great. When I change gear it sounds like an anvil in a washing machine, but that's a different story.

I was tidying up the garage and realised I had some dryline lube for dry conditions. Well, that was the most pointless purchase ever.

lloydy123

OK, thanks for the help, pretty sure its coming from the bottom bracket/crank area. Wasn't just sure how to remove the cranks - undo the allen keys on the left side and then what?

I would bring it back to LBS but its nearly impossible to while working as it is a 1hour return trip!

cjcp

You then need one of these: http://www.parker-international.co.uk/3 ... -Tool.html

The cap is removed by the fitting at the thin end of the tool, while the BB cups are removed by slottling the larger end into the grooves on the BB. The BB cups should have an arrow on them telling you which to tighten.

That wasn't very techy, was it?

lloydy123

thanks for that, i have ordered that bad boy up!

prj45

I pretty much have to strip mine down re grease and reinstall every few weeks to stop any creaking sounds coming from the crank area, but then I do over 100 miles a week and put a lot of power down.

I could get away with not doing it, but my bike has to be dead silent or it slows me down (in a sort of something's wrong so must hold off sort of way).

As far as I can tell it's the noise of the teeth that mesh the pedal arm and the crank spindle rubbing together as a little bit of play develops due to the split in the fat end of the pedal arm. Design flaw with the tiagra crankset I reckon.

Remember to follow the instructions when using above tool, tighten nutty thing in middle hand tightish and then do up nuts well (using a little bit of grease on all threads).

lloydy123

My right BB was loose by half a turn. I assume if left the factory that way as i have only done 150miles on it

I tightened it but the creaking remains. Going to grease where the toothed sprocket joins the crank arm, think it may be comming from there.

The noise is horrendous, about 6-8 creaks per crank rotation

that doesn't sound encouraging about the tiagra design flaw

Thninking of getting mudguards now that the weather is wetter. any recommendations?

oscarbudgie

I don't think the creak is anything to do with a Tiagra design flaw - more likely something missed or not done properly when the bike was built up. I'd really reccomend taking it to the LBS (who probably built it up anyway) and getting them to sort it - its what you've paid for after all. Creaks can be really frustrating because of the way sound travels across a bike frame - I had one once which I was sure was the headset (which I took apart about 6 times) but which turned out to be a dry cable stop. Similarly what I though once was a creaking BB was actually a creaking seatpost!

vorsprung

A bike shop that's a 1 hour return trip away is sort of local I suppose

I was doing all my maintenance myself due to the same kind of problem. But since I got a job in a town that actually has a proper bike shop I must admit it is much more convenient

lloydy123

Think i have got rid of the creak, i greased the contact points between the crank arm and the sprocket. Will test it out porperly 2moro on a long run.

it is a tiagra compact ie 2x9, But can i use the 2 small rings together or the 2 big rings together?

lloydy123

can the big gear ring on the front be used in combination with the big ring on the back and the small ring on the front be used with the small ring on the back?

thanks

cjcp

lloydy123 wrote:

can the big gear ring on the front be used in combination with the big ring on the back and the small ring on the front be used with the small ring on the back?

thanks

They can, but it's not great - you get chain rub on the front mech, although I seem to experience it more with small-on-small.