?'s for cannondale riders......
 

I have a couple of questions---wanting to build a caad5 or caad7, with campy components, is there much difference between these 2 frames as far as comfort..a guy that works at a bike shop said that he has had both bikes before, and if you are just doing a parking lot test ride that you would not notice any difference, but if you rode one for 6 months and then rode the other one for 6 months, that you could tell...also it may not matter which frame i got i may put on a road susp.seatpost on it anyway(due to a bad back--and don't tell me to get a steel frame either,cause i couldn't tell much diff.anyway)...so can anyone give me some insight into these frames...thanks for your responses.....david

I can't comment on the caad7 as far as the ride, but I'd guess that the guy at the bike shop is right. I suspect that most of the caad7 improvements over the caad5 are weight-related (anyone know what the frames weigh? I have not seen it on cannondale's web site). The caad7 uses the same "hourglass" shaped seat stays, but there's more shaping of the top and down tubes ostensibly to improve frame strength.

What bike are you coming from? I recently purchased a caad5 with campy to replace my 3.0. The difference is amazing - but I guess almost any frame is more forgiving than the 3.0. With carbon bars, seat post, and titanium railed saddle, I think the caad5 is very smooth while still stiff enough to climb and sprint very well.

Not sure it this helps any, but that's my $.02 I'm hoping someone has some more insight on this as I am interested too.

I just got an 04 R1000 which is a CAAD 7 or Optimo. It is amazing so far.It is Ultegrea/Dura Ace. With pedals, cages, and computer the whole bike weighs 18 pounds. Pretty awesome. Don't know much about the CAAD 5. I would if I were you take the CAAD 7. Check this out
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/innovation/caad7/

Hope this helps

I can't imagine the ride quality would differ in a way that would be significant enuf to be noticeable for ya. The CAAD 7 would be a bit lighter, but I would hazard that the CAAD 7 just won't be as durable for the long term. I think they even have some sort of advisory that they are high performance and not intended for years and years of hard service. If you ride hard and ride alot the CAAD 5 would be more of a lifetime bike and less expensive too boot. Personally, I intentionally opted for a CAAD4 R4000 frame when the CAAD6 was the top offering. I intentionally wanted the aluminum expertise, stiffness and tube shaping of Cannondale without an integrated headset and without the proprietary Hollowgram bottombracket, I just think these are questionable "improvements" to an already near perfect product. I like traditional headsets and wanted to be able to use readily available components in these areas.

If you're talking aluminum, C'dale has been doing it longer and better than anybody, but I really think C'dale reached it's apex in the CAAD4. It had the wonderful tube shapes, hourglass seatstays, lightweight, 7005 aluminum, stiff, fast, rugged but tolerably comfortable. The Lion King won 4 stages of the (99?) Tour on his CAAD4. IMO the CAAD 4 was their "high water mark" as a company.
After the CAAD4 they started integrating the headset with the CAAD5 and then the special bottom bracket on the CAAD6 and then to the different aluminum alloy (Optimo?) for the CAAD7. The financial and bankruptcy woes also came along as they counted 5, 6 & 7. Did quality suffer? Did customer service?

Anyway, this long winded post is my way of saying that I'd get the CAAD5.
It's less expensive right? The weight savings is negligible, and I believe it will provide more reliable service for more years. You can also use a conventional bottom bracket rather than C'dale's proprietary one, if I'm not mistaken.

By the way, I love my 'Dale! Despite all the criticism they receive, they make (made? no, MAKE) a good product. My bike is SMOKIN' FAST! and it's beautiful with a fire road fade paintjob and Kysrium SSC wheels. I marvel at how it looks sometimes, it's like a friggin' rally car or something.

Get the CAAD5, you really don't want the "ultralight" (stupid light) aspect of the CAAD 7 unless you're a racer or plan to buy a new bike regularly.

I own a CAAD6, r4000si and my wife a CAAD5. These are essentially the same frame. We have ridden these for about 2 years, and love them. You cannot go wrong with a CAAD5 frame.

if you are not going to race, don't buy the current racing frame.

On my 2004 R3000 CAAD7 (Optimo), the bottom bracket is Dura-Ace 10, not Hollowgram and the headset isn't integrated. My friends who have owned both the CAAD 5 and CAAD 7 say the 7 actually has a better ride. It certainly has a good ride, even compared to my lugged-steel Bianchi. I love this bike.