mike_spartan

Hi everyone,

I am new to triathlon and needed your advice as despite the multiple articles I read on the topic, i would be keen to hear the views from practioners and maybe users of the Cannondale Slice 4.

The dilemma is as follows. I am 6.0ft (183cm) and recently did a fitting at a store where the conclusion was that I am a size 56 based ont he abrious measurements taken on the spot.

Now, a friend of mine has offered me to sell me his unused Cannondale Slice 4 at a competitive price of about 1,200usd including equipment such as travel bag by Bikend and other stuff bought and never used. Initially, the Cannondale Slice was the bike I had set my mind on; however, it seems that I would have been a 57/58 based on my measurements. So the dilemma is between having to adjust the bike a little bit to fit me or go for another size which would cost more than twice as much here in Hong Kong and require some time to be shipped.

Now comes my question: the seller, as well as one of the specialised triathlon store that took my measurements, both said that given I felt comfortable on the bike except for the position of my legs which are slightly overstretched with the seatpost at its lowest it would be possible to simply cut the seatpost shorter and shorten the stem to make this bike the right bike for me.

Again, I am not an expert just yet in triathlon so please bear with me. I appreciate the geometry of a bike is key and my gut feeling would be that adjusting these two items might break its geometry but I wanted to seek your expert views? It is worth it in your mind or should I just stay away from that idea? To note the fitter has no interest in this suggestion as they sell Cervelo bikes and he was suggesting for me to buy a Cervelo P2 in size 56 from their store. The seller himself is 6ft3 and told me that at the time he bought the bike, the fitting suggested he would need a 61 but 60 was the largest size produced and fitted a bit tight.

Thanks a lot for your views
Michael