ARPRINCE

Pretty much. If you read the very first post.....

The thread for everything CAAD.
Rumors, tips, builds, rants, raves, picture posts...wutevah.

MadDog1999

I love this bike. The colour scheme is crazy too! Does the CAAD12 come in a size suitable for 5ft2 or 3 inches? What size would I get for my height? I am pretty much in love with that bike! Would that bike be suitable for racing? What speed does it have? If I was to buy a CAAD12 I personally would not strip it down because I am only new to road cycling and I would not risk changing anything too major like stripping it down! Without help anyway! But, the bike does look very well indeed and the weight of road bikes is still pretty much surprising me since I have been cycling(more lugging around than cycling) a heavy mountain bike for years which has prompted me to make the change to road cycling! But I only wish I started saving money for longer.

Yep, reading now I definitely understand this thread now! I would say I am a part of this "Cult of CAAD" as you call it! They are beautiful and functional bikes so I will be back to give "Rumors, tips, builds, rants, raves, pictures, posts....wutevah"-ARPRINCE

See You Around,
MadDog1999

blart

Granted, it's 9sp Tiagra. Still, my first CAAD:

spectastic

Nice. 58 cm?

blart

Yup

MadDog1999

The Tiagra is a nice looking bike! Its tidy and I used to like tidy with everything but now I am looking for change!

Bumnah

Both the Caad 12 and the Caad tiagra are great looking bikes! Love the crank on the 12! I've got the same on my 9, except I'm running the slightly heavier Si arms and 36/52 spiders.

MadDog1999

Yep, you are totally right there! What is your average speed on your CAAD9? If the arms are really heavy they might be slowing you down too. If you were to change what would you have in mind?

blart

\

I'm trying to think of ways to make it un-tidy, actually! I think my first upgrade is going to be off of the stock(6, 7 years old?!) Zaffiros to gumwalls...either Masters or Ruffy Tuffys- different use cases but I'm still triyng to figure out if I want to go fast or commute on this thing(or both)....I do also want to get some different wheels than the shimano ones but upgrading all of this stuff that is basically new doesn't make much sense quite yet!

therh

A very nice ride indeed. Curious, how does the Tomson seatpost compare to the stock one?

RH

Bumnah

Right now my average speed is between 15-16 mph. The low average has to do with the rider and not the bike. The weight difference between the si and the sisl2 crank arms is like 60 grams (maybe less) I believe. My setup is all sisl2 minus the arms so it has the hollow sisl2 bolt and the spider.

The only reason I have this crank is because I got it brand new for a ridiculous price, or else I'd be cranking away on my entry level FSA Gossamer still. I just swapped over to new pd-6800 carbon pedals and new shoes with carbon soles.

I think Shimano Ultegra cranks are good bang for the buck (6800 stuff is so cheap right now!) but I wanted to stick with bb30. The cannondale cranks is hands down the best bb30 crank you can get. If I hadn't gotten this deal I would've done the ultegra crank, or an FSA SLK crank made for bb30 - all dependant on pricing.

When I did the spider crank i also went from 34/50 to 36/52 so the semi compact crank really changed the feel of the bike. The shifting was much better too, significantly less flex than my noodle like Gossamer. Truthfully it felt as if I had dropped 1 lbs off the bike after the crank swap. It was noticeably lighter when picking it up. Too bad I don't have the leg strength to do the crank justice.

MadDog1999

Ya, I think know that would be a good endeavour. It might even be interesting in the end. Maybe upgrade the bike and show Cannondale that you can make their bike modern again! If you do it be sure to send a picture, I would love to see it then! How is it to ride right now?

60 grams difference?! Wow, I didn't know it was that small of a difference! I believe that there is nothing worse than a bad crank from what I hear! You could always strengthen your legs by doing g leg exercises if you want to do your new crank justice! Do you have a picture of the bike?

Bumnah

My si arms are hollowgram forged 1 piece. The sisl2 arms are 2 pieces and cannondale goes even more crazy hollowing it out. It really is an impressive display of weight savings and engineering on the sisl2s.

So I've had my bike for a few years but only recently have I really put any miles on the bike. I'm training for Ragbrai. My luck extended to my wheels as well, because I got a stellar deal on some nice wheels as well. With the new wheels I went to 25 mm tires and the lower tire pressure made the ride much better. I've been riding much more with the new setup.

To improve my biking I've been using trainerroad. Its helped me on my technique and the exercises outlined have upped my power output. Slowly getting there. I'm more into long distance riding than criteriums.

Show off my bike? SURE!

therh

Ok, so I have made up my mind, and will soon be an owner of a CAAD 12 105 in berzerk green/black. To all those who are owners of CAAD 12's and CAAD 10's, what were your first upgrades?

To me, the CAAD 12 "out of the box" is a sweet ride, but I will change the Tektro brakes to the 105's for more breaking power.

Also I will be changing the bar tape to the Fizik 3mm performance tape, as it just has the right blend of padding and road feel.

Wested

On my 12, first upgrade was wheels. I already had a pair of Ksyrium SLs, so I sold the Aksiums on craigs list for $200. Then the brakes. I hate those Tektros. I got ultegra brakes of Nashbar and then I changed the stock c3 post for a Thomson Elite 25.4. I'll probably swap out the handlebars eventually, and the shifters this summer when I get around to it. But not necessary; the 105 system is really great.

I'll probably, eventually, pick up spidering chainrings and, one day, an sisl2 crankset, but that's a long way off. They're damn expensive, even used.

MadDog1999

Nice bike You are right. The upgrades do look really nice alright. Well done on the bike anyway and what you did to it. Ya I guess for some people crits can get boring going round but I didn't do any crit so I don't really have the experience to know that but it's a well educated guess Ya, I think I would prefer long-distance also rather than crits.

SpeshulEd 

I wouldn't worry about the brakes all that much, unless you really like the 105s...I can't imagine them being all that big of a step-up from the Tektros, might want to watch for a used set of ultegras or dura-ace, coudl probably pick them up for the same price if not less than new 105s.

Personally, if you're not going for weight weenie standards, I stick with the sl2 crankset, the si is nice, but it's a lot more money for a few less grams.

The lowest I've seen the spiderings was $125 for new takeoffs. I've seen them that low once and the guy was selling a compact and standard together for $250. Deals exist, you just have to wait and watch.

MadDog1999

Ya, I think I have decided on the CAAD12 whenever I have enough money. It really is a class bike! Ya from what I was reading it seems to be pretty good out of the box but I think over time I would nearly be making the same upgrades as you, but I am a beginner so I will be holding off on upgrades for a while. Braking power is very important though indeed. How good is the braking power of the bike without upgrading?

Ya, I think we can all agree on changing the wheels. But, I think the wheels it comes it will do me grand for a while, but then again it might improve performance if I do change them. The brakes you got sound good. Ya I am thinking of getting the 12 model with the 105 system fitted because here there are two models one with the 105 fitted and the other model had a different system, I was too tired to remember the name of the system. How expensive are the chainrings and the cranks you wish to get?

theworldisgray

question for you guys. i just got my 2015 caad 10. and in the manual it says the expander plug for the headset is to reinforce the steerer at the bottom. but the question i have is how tight? as i have always just done them just enough to pre load headsets on other bikes. but the other bikee didnt specify that the plug was a reinforcement.

Bumnah

Tektro brakes: The newer calipers are dual pivot like the 105s. The pads are the issue, I used Koolstop Salmon pads and cleaned up the braking surface on my wheels with a green scrubbing pad. The pads made a big improvement on braking. Pads were $7? I'd start there then move up on the calipers. The real draw back on entry level calipers is they made not accept wider wheels. This is more prominent on older bikes than newer bikes.

headset expander: This is how I do it: I expand it until it's a mm smaller in diameter than the steerer tube. I then insert it and expand even more to get the headset tight. My bike uses the headset cap to further tighten the headset down. I tight it until there isn't anymore slop in the headset (test by pulling on the front brakes and rocking the bike front and back. you're feeling for play in the headset). I also make sure the headset rotates left and right smoothly.

Youtube has good videos detailing this.

DosWheelsBtr

I got a '15 CAADX Rival this past november. so far so good. I am thinking of getting another wheelset for road riding. what would be a good pair?

theworldisgray

i have done other expander plug head sets but never one where the plug offers support for the steerer tube. so i was not sure if it needed to be tighter than just enough so it didnt slip like the the normal method

41ants

Selling my Super X frameset & bits to fund CAAD10 build for cirts and travel.. With my first travel coming up in 3 weeks to Southeast Asia. The goal is to have it all built up over the next 2 weeks so that I can get some miles on it and the fit sorted prior to departure. It's funny, kind of coming back to simplicity.. Getting away from di2 and carbon and going back to tried and true metal and mechanical shifting. Fingers crossed that it all comes together and that the airlines are nice to the aluminum frame. I will post some progress pics as things arrive.

nemeseri

I'd get rid of the schwalbe lugano tires and swap them to GP4000 IIs. It's cheaper than a new set of wheels and makes a difference. Upgrading the brakes to 5800 / 6800 would be also a fairly cheap and noticeable upgrade. Just upgrading these two parts will make the bike an amazing value.

For me the next would be probably the wheels to something lighter (WH-9000 C24 CL) (-400g / ~$800) and seatpost / stem / handlebar combo (-200g / $500+), but both of these upgrades are quite expensive for what you get.

Wested

There is a thread not far down about affordable <1600 gram wheel sets. Vuelta lite is a good option, and I just bought a pair of 1485g Cosine 32mm alloy wheels from Wiggle. Not sure yet how durable they are, but not bad for $350 + free shipping.