Caad12 105 disc vs existing Boardman Team Carbon

joebristol

Hi there, I'm thinking about replacing my current rim braked racer with a disc braked one. Primarily I ride it for a commute to work in all weathers and I'dlike better wet weather braking. I doubt I'll ever ride more than 50 miles in one go on it. I would like to keep a racer as close in weight to my current one (quoted as 8kg) but I think I will have to accept a small weight gain due to discs and maybe cheaper wheels.

My existing bike is a 2010 Boardman Team Carbon. It has 10 speed Sram Rival on it as a groupset and Mavic Aksium wheels (the original Ritchey ones died) with the no name rim brakes upgraded to Sram Apex with Swiss stop pads. The rest of the spec is as standard. It's been totally reliable since I got it in 2011 and gets the power down really well imo. I have read that over time the rear dropouts on thevgrsme can wear out, but mine seem fine so far.

Prior to that I had a caad 9 Cannondale in Liquigas colours which I loved, but the pull of Carbon was too much.

I was aiming to get a Carbon disc braked bike but my budget is £1500 through the cycle to work scheme so I'm quite limited. Looking round at weights of bikes a lot of them are a good bit heavier than the Boardman which I'm not finding ideal. So I want the new bike to be under 9kg as a maximum.

I got looking at Cannondales again and found some sale bikes that I can get via the cycle to work scheme -
a Caad 12 105 and a Synapse 105 both with discs. From what I can make out the Synapse is a fair bit heavier than the caad despite being Carbon - I assume as it's more of an endurance frame (I can't find an exact weight). The Synapse is around £300 more than the Caad.

Has anyone experience of the Boardman vs the Caad12? I'm a little bid hesitating swapping back from Carbon to Aluminium - albeit it's cheap Carbon va premium Aluminium.

The caad also has some weird standards - The fork is post mount but the frame is flat mount for the discs / 25.4mm seat post / bb30a bottom bracket. The Synapse has the same BB and seat post, but both brakes are flat mount.

me-109

I seem to remember a thread or two on here about the different disc caliper standards causing issues with replacements and upgrades as you cannot buy a matching pair. Singularly maybe.

Carbon to aluminium might well seem like a step backwards / downwards. You're probably adding 300-500g by going to discs, and going to aluminium will add what - 500-1000g again? You might well be expecting a lot from your budget to keep the weight down.

w00dster

CAAD all day long.
Heavyish out of the box, but weight isn't everything. I had a CAAD 8 many many moons ago, and pretty sure one day soon I'll buy a CAAD 12 as well. What weight is your boardman, I'd be surprised if there's much in it tbh.
I've had no issues with any of my disc brake bikes when upgrading either wheels or discs. You just have to know axle standards your bike uses and buy a wheel with those standards or adapters. My sentence over complicates it.

londoncommuter

I had a 2009 Boardman Team Carbon, sold it and I still miss it. Lovely bike. Anyway, that's not relevant. I'll shut up.

veronese68

Me-109 wrote:

I seem to remember a thread or two on here about the different disc caliper standards causing issues with replacements and upgrades as you cannot buy a matching pair. Singularly maybe.

Not a problem. If you ever needed to replace the brakes you'd just buy a pair of post mount brakes and use an adaptor to fit the flat mount on the frame.
You loved your old CAAD and I doubt cheap carbon is much better than good ali. Seems like a no brainer to me.

joebristol

The Boardman was a claimed 8kg and I think the caad 12 105 disc is about 8.3kgs so shouldn't be much in it. I believe the caad12 has fairly heavy wheels so if I could be bothered I could probably drop a chunk of weight off there fairly cheaply (maybe £400) in the future. I'm not racing it though, so I doubt I would unless the standard wheels failed.

I think I'm more interested in the change to the feel of the ride - as to whether it will feel so direct to get the power down and whether the caad will be harsher on broken / bumpy tarmac.

joebristol

I haven't been able to find the weight of my Boardman frame but the caad 12 is about 1100grams apparently - the supersix Carbon Cannondale is 850grams ish so the caad is pretty light anyway.

joebristol

Also, does anyone know what the Synapse 105 disc carbon weighs? Really struggling to find the weight - both are 2017 bikes.

lostboysaint

Speak to Hargroves and see if they've got a Cube Agree C62 Disc 17 in stock in your size. I did exactly the deal you are looking to do this time last year. Carbon, 105 hydro discs, the right price and doable through Cyclescheme (who they work with)

joebristol

I've found a few online shops with that cube you mention - I think it's a little heavier then the caad12, but not much in it (maybe 300grams). I don't know much about Cube as a brand or how good their racers are - I'll have to find a few reviews and see what the general consensus is on them.

minnnt

I have the 2017 Boardman Road Team Carbon and I also bought the 2017 Boardman Team CX. I much prefer the CX over the RTC mainly due to the disc brakes but also due to the 1x11 gearing. I’ve added a set of Hunt wheels to my CX and the weight is somewhere around the 8kg mark now. I run this bike as a ‘racer’ though with skinny 25mm tyres (will go to 28’s once I need replacements) rather than a CX bike which also helps to cut weight.

Just to add, I bought it second hand for £700 and the wheels were brand new at £300. They’re currently on offer for £900 in Halfords atm and if you have a BC membership (or get one) then you’ll save another 10% off of this price. Add in some lighter wheels and you’re well below budget and within the weight range you wanted.

Just my two penneth

ETA: my RTC just stays on the turbo now and doesn’t come out of the house. Poor thing.

joebristol

I don't really fancy 1x11 on my road bike though - it gets pure road use and no off-road. I have steep hill on one of my routes where I use the lowest gear to crank up it, bit on another ride I'm flat out in the highest gear getting around 40mph.

I've got 1x11 on my enduro gnarpoon and it's great for that, but can't see it working for me in the road. Also got 1x10 on a hardtail which I occasionally use on the road to get to local rides and it fast runs out of gear on the road.

Shame your Team Carbon lives on the turbo :-(

minnnt

Works perfectly for me whether it’s a 9 mile commute or an 80 mile ride out into the Peak District. I love it.

She’s never been off road, she’s purely for the road.

joebristol

Thanks for the further comments. Halfords are listing the Team Cx as weighing 10.1kg so you have to lose a lot of weight to get it down to 8kg. I think the rims on it are mountain bike rims (albeit skinny ones) so I guess that's where you've lost a fair amount of the weight from.

Looks like it has a mountain bike cassette with 10-42 gears paired with a 44t chainring. I can't imagine how that would go up really steep hills with my legs powering it. Whilst I don't have the 42t rear cassette lowest gear, the smaller chainring on my current Team Carbon Boardman is smaller than 44t and it's a real grind up one of the hills I have to go up. Equally I think I'd spin out the 44t x 10t top ratio in a fair few places too.

I like the idea of the CX and it looks nice, but I don't think it would work for me.

itboffin

i've just build up a mech disc CAAD12 with campag chorus its about 8kg with heavy wheelset, nice looking bike and rides well but the frontend is very low, i have a billion spacer on mine which ruins the look

janwal

The 10-42 ,44 is equivalent of about 12-32 so should be fine up hills. What chainset do you run at the moment? I have the cx team and have no trouble with hills around Huddersfield even for my 64 year old legs!

pilot_pete

Me-109 wrote:

You're probably adding 300-500g by going to discs.

You reckon?

PP

minnnt

The gearing is fine on the CX. It’s a doddle when you drop it in 44-42.

The wheels saved about 1kg and I’ve saved some with the tyres and tubes, seat, pedals (spds) and I’m also using a carbon bar.

How about this?

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/pro ... c-9.0.html

joebristol

Having checked out my gearing ratios va the CX Team ones that single cchainring does hit basically the same. Apologies for assuming it would have less range!

That Boardman slr without full ultegra is a great spot - I need to see if I can buy it via C2W or not - if so that would be fantastic.

Unlike the cheaper road carbon pro it has through axles - although it's still post mount front and rear.

arthur_scrimshaw

You don't fancy the idea of getting something you can fit (proper) mudguards to then?

minnnt

Joebristol wrote:

Having checked out my gearing ratios va the CX Team ones that single cchainring does hit basically the same. Apologies for assuming it would have less range!

That Boardman slr without full ultegra is a great spot - I need to see if I can buy it via C2W or not - if so that would be fantastic.

Unlike the cheaper road carbon pro it has through axles - although it's still post mount front and rear.

Boardman offers a c2w scheme afaik, whether it’s supported by your employer is another matter.

But seriously, I can’t recommend the Team CX enough. It’s an overlooked underdog of a bike that is super fast, comfortable, has a shed loads of clearance, mudguard mounts and spec. I should have purchased this instead of the RTC but I got swayed by the carbon fibre.

If I had £2k to spend I’d be all over the current top of the range CXR.

joebristol

I mean I wouldn't mind mudguard mounts, but I don't necessarily want to give up lightweight for that as I want to enjoy a bikethat goes like a rocket.

My current bike doesn't have mudguard mounts and I run sks raceblades on the back of it (but not the front as I couldn't get it to fit). They're not perfect and need adjusting quite often, but do a reasonable job.

joebristol

I would ideally keep Carbon as a frame material - the only Aluminium bike I'm tempted by is Caad12.

For some reason I just can't get excited about a CX bike.

minnnt

Just Get the CAAD, it seems to be the one you want so just go with that. It’ll probably make you more happy and that counts a lot.

joebristol

I've been checking all the bikes I've looked at and none have mudguard mounts. Even the 2017 Synapse Carbon disc - although the 2018 one has (out of budget though).

Shortlist at the moment are the 2 x Carbon boardmans with discs (road pro and road slr endurance), the caad 12 disc (2017), the Synapse 105 disc (2017) and he Cube c62 agree (2017). All are within the £1500 budget / sub 9kgs / have hydraulic discs.

None have mudguard mounts. I guess it'll just be sks raceblades if they'll fit or some other kind of bodge as I've done with all 3 of my racers that I've had.

twotoebenny

2nd ride on my cadd12 disc today, like it a lot. I've just got raceblades on rear and they're fine. It seems like a cracking bike for the money.

Willow 15

How tall are you? https://www.startfitness.co.uk/cannonda ... 06m20.html plus another 10% off if you've never signed up before with them. Caad 12 105 for under a grand, whats not to like.

joebristol

That's ridiculously cheap! I'm 5'9 with a 32" leg. Think the 58 might be a touch big but I'm going to pop down to Evans tomorrow for a look at a few cannondales in the metal / Carbon. They definitely have a Synapse but not sure if they've got a caad.

I can't see my Boardman has the size on it - but it measures 54cm from the middle of the BB to the top of the seat tube. I have a feeling my caad 9 was a 54cm too.

minnnt

Have you looked at the Focus Cayo?

joebristol

I haven’t found a Focus Cato at S competitove price and good weight I think. I’m sure I looked.

Went to Evans and Cycle Republic today - ruled out the Synapse Carbon Disc 105 - it felt pretty heavy - although it didn’t look very nice. Evans had it at 9.7kg and even though it was a size 48 it felt a lot heavier than the caad 12 (without discs) next to that was a size 58. Evans website has the caad12 105 down as 8.1kg. Sounds a little too good to be true.

The Boardman Road Pro Disc was actually nicer than I expected - felt pretty light and is a claimed 8.3kg for a medium framed bike.

So I’m down to those 2 bikes plus the Cube Agree C62 Carbon Disc. Although I’ve not been able to see or touch one of those bikes so it would be a real finger in the air job buying one.

Going to order a C2W voucher tomorrow I think - or at least look into how I do it. I’m not sure if you get a generic voucher to spend in any C2W registered bike shop, or if you have to pick your retailer when you order.

minnnt

I’m telling you, Boardmans are so underrated and get a bad rep due to the whole ‘halfords’ thing but they’re spot on imo. I’ve smashed 70 miles in today with 5300ft of climbing and felt quite spritely. The new wheels have made a big difference for climbing.

I saw an ad on FB for the Focus Cayo 105 Carbon and I’m sure it said £1099 but now I can’t find it. If I see it again I’ll give you a shout.