beatlebee 

From a 2004 Litespeed Firenze to 2011 Hi mod Supersix.

I felt the Litespeed was a tad too small in the top tube area soon after purchase two years ago, but I made it work. I’m not the type that can go and buy bikes left and right. But I do put more miles on my bike than my car, so I figure it is okay if it costs more too! Anyway, the Firenze has a 54.5 cm tt and the Supersix has a 56 cm tt. It seems like such a small difference but my shakedown ride tells me that this was the right move. Of course, the rest of the bike is scaled up a bit too. I shortened my stem by 1 cm and bumped my seat a tad forward too and it still feels like there is more room (comfortably).

Only got about 5 miles on it this evening to figure out the saddle height, etc.. So my first impressions are mostly about how it feels like it just fits me better. Of course, out of the saddle mashing produced no noticeable flex compared to the old titanium frame, no surprise there. I really hope that this can be both a racer and an all day century bike. Hitting some rougher patches out there tells me it will, though my tires were not fully inflated.

Yes: those are frogs, the joule holder was installed backwards, wrong side of bike for pic (plus crappy cell phone pic), and the protruding ***** will be chopped soon enough...

fstshrk

What size is the crank arm? They look huge.

beatlebee 

172.5

Optical illusion?

fstshrk

Must be. That's the size I ride too on both of my bikes. I think it is the frogs that are making the crank arm look long. Congratulations on the new bike.
I wanted a Cannondale for a long time. Almost got a Six Carbon last year but I wanted a 56 and my LBS had only a 58. I ended up getting a Roubaix SL2 instead.

vermilionx

congrats.

but your bike just re-affirmed my thoughts that a thomson seatpost with a setback doesn't suit my taste.

i need a setback too for my bike.

beatlebee 

I got the setback thomson for the litespeed. I have a regular post as well and may go with that after a few rides and seeing where my saddle ends up.

qcpmsame 

Nice looking C'Dale there, I like the H-Mod Super Six bikes. Good trade and sounds like this one fits your size and needs better.

beatlebee 

Thanks. I’m glad that the bike doesn’t feel “fragile” at all. Being my first carbon bike, even knowing they are strong, I’d hate to feel like I can’t ride this through gravel or the occasional wash crossing (El Tour coming up) and I am confident in making it my everyday commuter to work as well as my weekend racer.

alexaschwanden

Cool bike.

beatlebee 

Update:

Fast group ride this morning. At the risk of sounding heretical, I am not super impressed. Might be that my litespeed was a darn good frame to begin with. The new ride is different with pro’s and cons. On out of the saddle climbs, no flex at all compared to the Ti. But on the flip side of that, small bumps like hitting chip-seal was more noticeable. I guess that should be expected with a race ready bike. Road buzz was attenuated more as well. (Thinking I may go up to wider tires in the future 23 -> 25??)

The ride today was on rollers with not the best of roads. I’ve read that one of the best improvements of newer bikes is the massive headtubes providing better control on fast descents. I will test that out over the next few days as I regularly ride a 6K climb.

cheers


So, I think that the biggest improvement was the size of the frame more than anything else, but it has only been a day and of course I am going to ride the $4i+ out of this frame.

qcpmsame 

Rob,
Give it time and start stretching out the miles on the SuperSix. The 25's might be a good idea on the chip seal roads. Hope things work out for you.

beatlebee 

84 miles with 7200 ft of climbing this morning. okay, i like the frame more today. climbing felt like i was connected to a track with no flex (again) out of the saddle. descending was really nice, very solid feeling 45mph felt very controlled.

I woke up feeling some different soreness than ever before. I imagine it is due to a slightly different riding position causing me to engage muscles differently.

So I am warming up to the supersix. Still felt that my wheel upgrade from Mavic Kysrium to Psimet custom built was much more a night and day comparison than litespeed and the supersix. Though, I am convinced enough now to sell the old frame.

Drag

Im a Thomson fanboy and I too think their setback post just doesn't look "right."

Drag

That IS a valid data point. What are the parts make up of the Psimets?

bianchi10

Love the bike! I am also a thomson fan, but have never liked their setback posts. regaurdless, I dig the bike!

beatlebee 

The wheel set is Kinlin rims, Sapim x-ray spokes, and powertap. Sorry I can’t remember more details than that.

Lol on the setback post.

ducati hyp

Hi, nice bike, I was sold a bike and it was a left over and the LBS fitted me to it and all was good (a 56 synapse) I think they where just trying to push a left over , but then my frame was warranted and I just said when given a choice, I upgraded to evo and said give me a 56 and all is well with that (had a high tech fitting, video ,pc watt. info etc.) and love the bike BUT when I was looking for a back up bike while Cannondale had a sale and asked the LBS for my measurements and what was the best size for me, they told me a 54 would be just right, I asked them why am I in 56 ?? long story short I have a 54 and a 56 and all the measurements are the same in relationship to the seat,crank and bars but I do like the evo better overall but do like the slightly more compact frame of the 54 in my case...

beatlebee 

Not really sure what you are saying there.

If all the measurements are the same, what is the difference?

I pretty much zeroed in over several years by trial and error to a 56 cm top tube being the criteria that I was looking for in a new frame in terms of fit. Seems I was right.

catonec 

nice, even w/the frogs

beatlebee 

I use frogs cause I commute on my bike to work as well and the cleats for the frogs seem to be the only ones small enough that, when wearing my old mtn bike shoes, I can walk in them without hitting the recessed cleats or sliding around. Meh, they seem to do the job too.

ducati hyp

The relationship between the crank , seat and bars are all the same.. Had to go with a longer stem on the 54 .. The TT on the 56 is 1.5cm longer . what I'm saying when I jump on either bike it fits me the same BUT the wheel base and crank height is slightly different = a longer bike by 10mm and higher by about the same , so it may handle slightly different but fits me the same .. Hope that makes cents now ????

RedLeg

Congrats on the new bike!

Will G

Switched tire width from 23's to 25's to dampen out chip-seal. It does work.

beatlebee 

^Running lower pressure?

Last crappy cell phone photo:

ThinLine

Seems as if Cannondale never lost a beat and maintains their cult following since moving completely overseas to China.
Nothing is made in USA anymore except some design and Engineering. Such a shame, especially since their pricing doesn't reflect it.

BTW, very nice bike