CAAD9 as winter bike?

peanut1978

feel a little torn, but not sure I need a seperate winter bike.

Thoughts?

explosifpete

Most of my friend have winter bikes but I just use the same bike year round and clean it once a week or so.
If you main bike is a £5000 super bike I would say fair enough but other wise not

explosifpete

Most of my friend have winter bikes but I just use the same bike year round and clean it once a week or so.
If you main bike is a £5000 super bike I would say fair enough but other wise not

ilm_zero7

of course you should have a winter bike - 3 is the minimum isnt it? winter , best and one spare?

ThatBikeGuy

What is your current bike? I am thinking of building up a Look 586 and retiring my current bike for rainy/winter weather once the build is completed. The CAAD9 is a good choice though if you do decide to get it.

I can imagine you would get a lot of usage out of a winter bike being up in Inverness? What made you come to the idea of getting another bike?

tim_wand

Please no. Last of the great dales made in the USA ally classics.

No mudgaurd mounts, Effective clearance for only up to 23 mm tyres. Please Please Please dont do it to her.

Get a ribble winter frame or an old steel you can fit gaurds to. Youll be covered in Sh*t and chucked off club runs and chaingangs if you use the Dale with no gaurds.

Ride a clunker through the winter and fly on a throughbred come the spring.

peanut1978

most other riders have 2 at least

but current bike (Caad9) should be ok in winter

peanut1978

can use sks raceblades

silverpigeon

I've just finished building up a Principia to use as a winter bike.

Trouble is, I like it so much I've promoted it to summer bike and the Focus Cayo will now be assigned winter duties.

My spare bike is another Principia....I know, it doesn't make any sense.

ThatBikeGuy

Always nice to have a spare, setup for bad weather rather than having to fiddle about getting guards on/off.

Winter bikes such as a Ribble aren't too expensive as Tim pointed out.

peanut1978

2 kids under 2, mortgage, study fees etc

all adds up

seems like the most economical option

just wondered if it was too good a bike for year round use

caad9 frame (black)
ultegra 6600/105 black
kysrium elites

ThatBikeGuy

Just use the CAAD, be sure to keep it clean and well maintained. Should be fine and if not just invest in some rollers or a turbo trainer.

tim_wand

Winters in The Black Isle Inverness must be really mild must be that Gulf Stream

Seriously If I lived there my winter bike would be a Storck. Cos I would sure as hell be indoors on the rollers. No Worries about raceblades then.

Honestly A Caad 9 with Ultegra and Kysrium Elites is a nice bike but at the end of the day it was built to ride, its yours so ride it and enjoy it.

Personally I would transfer the bits over to a cheap ally or steel frame with gaurd fittings and get a set of cheap wheels of Flea Bay. Do it now before september as every man and his dog is looking for cheap frames then for this very purpose.

I ve got a PX kaffenbach for this very reason and many others (Touring Commuting) gives me the added bonus of a bit of CX action in the winter

Pseudonym

one of my team mates rides a Colnago EPS with C Record all year round. Personally, I don't know how he does it - I have an aluminium audax frame with full guards and old Ultegra kit which I ride through the winter sh1t....

unixnerd

I use my tourer as a winter bike. 28mm tyres and proper mudguards. It also has Sora shifters which I find much easier to use with thick gloves.

Buckled_Rims

I used my CAAD9 quite a few times this winter with raceblades, despite my CX bike having full mudguards on. I striped it down and there wasn't really that much dirt in the BB or headset. I do have a garden sprayer that I squirt on the bike after any rainy run, so it's usually clean and never clogs up with grime.

I'll probably do 50-50 this winter between my CAAD and CX bikes.

lemoncurd

Depends on whether you like bikes as objects or whether you consider them to be just tools that get you from A to B.

Love bikes : you have a gem, stick it under the bed
Don't love bikes : stick some mudguards on it and go for it

secretsam

tim wand wrote:

Please no. Last of the great dales made in the USA ally classics.

No mudgaurd mounts, Effective clearance for only up to 23 mm tyres. Please Please Please dont do it to her.

Get a ribble winter frame or an old steel you can fit gaurds to. Youll be covered in Sh*t and chucked off club runs and chaingangs if you use the Dale with no gaurds.

Ride a clunker through the winter and fly on a throughbred come the spring.

+1 - I've got a CAAD8, and there's little clearance for anything other than 23c tyres. I'd take the suggestions of others and get a cheapie from Ribble - loads of roadies I see use them, you can get a Sora equipped version for c.£600, fully 'guarded - sounds like a bargain to me.

Then get the CAAD as Sunday best...I love mine!!

Lagavulin

Bought mine as a winter bike as my Allez was too big.

The reality though is - in Liquigas white with shiny Ultegra 6700 and SLK Light finishing kit and Dura-Ace wheels - that it has been treated with the same degree of care and lack of exposure to crap weather as my Wilier. Consequently still riding the Allez albeit with an inline post etc.

Re the suitability as a winter bike... both my Izoard and CAAD9 have far greater clearances than my 2006 Allez. I've Crud 2s on the Allez and it is as tight as a fish's @r$e with the rear guard between seatpost with a 23c Fortezza Tricomp. I tried to run a 24mm Open-Pave as per front and it was a no no.

whitestar1

I am looking at the CAAD9 too but as a main bike and comparing it with the 8. Not made up my mind yet which way to go.

gingernash

I bought a Ribble as a commuter and will use it through the winter. Got mine off eBay at a great price. There are always a few on there. Have already ridden it a few times and loved it. The slightly older ones might give you better spec as they were a lot cheaper a couple of years ago but the frame is just the same.

gwillis

Im thinking of a cycle cross bke for winter theres some good buys out there. When it's shitty hit tow paths etc and swop wheels for road rides with mates. Kinesis seem pretty reasonable

Bar Shaker

If it's a dry winters day I use my road bike, if it's wet, we go mountain biking.

peanut

no..no..no don't use a CAAD9 for all year round use .sacre bleu
Sell the CAAD9 to me and buy a Ribble frame for the winter and another frame for the summer ... Simples

jonny_trousers

Excuse my ignorance, but as this is the beginner's forum... I don't get it! I can understand not wanting to use quality wheels and groupset in crappy weather, but a few of you seem to be suggesting it is the frame only that needs protecting. Is this really true? Isn't the Cannondale tough enough to handle a little rain? Are the frames alone really that valuable?

jgsi

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Excuse my ignorance, but as this is the beginner's forum... I don't get it! I can understand not wanting to use quality wheels and groupset in crappy weather, but a few of you seem to be suggesting it is the frame only that needs protecting. Is this really true? Isn't the Cannondale tough enough to handle a little rain? Are the frames alone really that valuable?

Quality frames are valuable and will last.
Putting DA or Super Record thru a British winter?
Not really.
My 'winter' Allez gets as much use in the summer as the carbon bike, as I like riding it.

peanut

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Excuse my ignorance, but as this is the beginner's forum... I don't get it! I can understand not wanting to use quality wheels and groupset in crappy weather, but a few of you seem to be suggesting it is the frame only that needs protecting. Is this really true? Isn't the Cannondale tough enough to handle a little rain? Are the frames alone really that valuable?

its simply that the Cannondale CAAD9 frames are such excellent frames. So scarce to buy that they are very sought after and have a fiercely loyal following .
I have been trying to buy a 58 CAAD9 frame for 3 years now and haven't seen a single one for sale other than the Liquigas edition !

Alloy frames are suseptable to oxidation so it would be a shame to subject it to continual wet and muddy conditions in winter. If I had one it would be kept warm and dry in the sitting room lol :roll: