2013 Caad8 sora with Ultegra groupset followup
slaven.corluka
Posts: 5
Hi guys im new here. I recently did a major bike upgrade so i thought i leave some impressions since i remember how hard it was to find any good info regarding this certain model. So my bike specs before the upgrade can be found on this link http://m.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caad8-7-sora-2013-compact-road-bike-ec042913. The weight of the bike from cannondale pdf link i found is 20.2lbs with no pedals. I have measured it my self and it came about the same weight. I have put about 10000km on the bike and i use it for all my riding. I commute to work with it and do a local tour once a year. One thing i was certain i needed to change was the wheels. I have replaced 5 broken spokes so far and have trued both wheel numerous times. Sora and the rest of the components were pretty pullet proof. Hardly ever needed much adjusting. Square taper bb never even budged and still looks brand new when i took it off.
At first i wanted to just upgrade the wheels but then since i like my bike so much i decided to upgrade the whole thing. I got campy shiroccos and ultegra 6800 groupset (172.5 crank, 11-28 cassette). On top of that i got 3T ergo pro handlebars and 3t stem. For seat i got bontrager and seat post carbon MEC brand. Everything was bought online and installed my self. Im no bike mechanic but most of the stuff went fairly smooth.
After everthing was installed bike weighted 17lbs and 8oz, again without pedals. I used mich pro4 tires (200g each). As you can already guess my biggest reason to upgrade was weight first and quality comp second. I can tell you right now that for the weight saving alone upgrading a alum bike is not worth it. My bike cost about 1100 CAD and this upgrade was around 1200 CAD. For this money you can get a good carbon frame bike with 105s that would hit same weight or better. Frame riding comfort is another story.
Now i knew after installing all this my bike would have nice shifting and maybe nice riding with the new wheels.
I was actually blown away how much more comfortable and faster rolling these wheels made my bike. All the vibrations are much subtle same as hitting big holes. It was a night day difference. Maybe its because of much bigger rim but i dont know. Now as for ultegra components i felt as equally impressed. Crank was super stiff compare to fsa vero and there was no chain rub when pushing hard. Vero wasnt that bad but flex was there. As for shifting its much more instant. Gear shift happens with no delay on either upshift or downshift. Also i like that lever travel is much shorter compare to sora. The best comparison i can give is that sora is like cutting wood with table saw and ultegra is like using cnc. They both do the job but precission is different. Sora works fine just needed some time to get used to.
Now to conclude i know i upgraded for wrong reasons but im glad i did cause my bike now screams quality and looks much better in the process.
Slaven
At first i wanted to just upgrade the wheels but then since i like my bike so much i decided to upgrade the whole thing. I got campy shiroccos and ultegra 6800 groupset (172.5 crank, 11-28 cassette). On top of that i got 3T ergo pro handlebars and 3t stem. For seat i got bontrager and seat post carbon MEC brand. Everything was bought online and installed my self. Im no bike mechanic but most of the stuff went fairly smooth.
After everthing was installed bike weighted 17lbs and 8oz, again without pedals. I used mich pro4 tires (200g each). As you can already guess my biggest reason to upgrade was weight first and quality comp second. I can tell you right now that for the weight saving alone upgrading a alum bike is not worth it. My bike cost about 1100 CAD and this upgrade was around 1200 CAD. For this money you can get a good carbon frame bike with 105s that would hit same weight or better. Frame riding comfort is another story.
Now i knew after installing all this my bike would have nice shifting and maybe nice riding with the new wheels.
I was actually blown away how much more comfortable and faster rolling these wheels made my bike. All the vibrations are much subtle same as hitting big holes. It was a night day difference. Maybe its because of much bigger rim but i dont know. Now as for ultegra components i felt as equally impressed. Crank was super stiff compare to fsa vero and there was no chain rub when pushing hard. Vero wasnt that bad but flex was there. As for shifting its much more instant. Gear shift happens with no delay on either upshift or downshift. Also i like that lever travel is much shorter compare to sora. The best comparison i can give is that sora is like cutting wood with table saw and ultegra is like using cnc. They both do the job but precission is different. Sora works fine just needed some time to get used to.
Now to conclude i know i upgraded for wrong reasons but im glad i did cause my bike now screams quality and looks much better in the process.
Slaven
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Comments
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Thanks for such a detailed first post, always good to hear peoples' experience of upgrading. So if you had the whole 2300 CAD to spend again would you go for a carbon bike with 105 5800, or do the alloy bike / upgrade thing?
Both my bikes were custom builds; I chose the framesets then added components of my choice / budget. So I've not felt the need to change much till it breaks or wears out.
Oh and I did chuckle at this:
"the rest of the components were pretty pullet proof" - you frequently attacked by chickens?0 -
That's a lot of broken spokes, you're not a bit overweight, are you?0
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Thanks for such a detailed first post, always good to hear peoples' experience of upgrading. So if you had the whole 2300 CAD to spend again would you go for a carbon bike with 105 5800, or do the alloy bike / upgrade thing?
Both my bikes were custom builds; I chose the framesets then added components of my choice / budget. So I've not felt the need to change much till it breaks or wears out.
Oh and I did chuckle at this:
"the rest of the components were pretty pullet proof" - you frequently attacked by chickens?
I would most likely get a carbon frame even though i dont regret getting this as my starter bike. It has thought me how to do any sort of maintenance or replacent on it from this upgrade at least. I was misslead by few posts on web people saying going to ultegra from sora would shed over 2lbs. I can confirm its less than 1lbs. Going ultegra from quality of shifting alone is worth it, to save weight not so much.0 -
[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19654649#p19654649]Simon Masterson[/url] wrote:That's a lot of broken spokes, you're not a bit overweight, are you?
Im 5'9" over 180lbs so a bit on heavy side for my height. Bike is 54 frame.0 -
Here is what my bike looks like now. Just need to trim steerer tube.
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