2ndGen

Alright you CAAD10 riders.
You've had the bike long enough.

For those of you who've come off of CAAD9s or
who have experience on CAAD9's, talk to us;

How do they compare?

2ndGen

CAAD9


CAAD10

2ndGen

smallcity Says:
October 3rd, 2010 at 3:47 am

"I would like to add my 2 cents. I graduated from a full-time
welding school (1000+ hrs of instruction) some time ago.
I have been a certified welder for over 25 years,
having passed structural as well as x-ray weld certification.

Having examined the Caad’s (pre-Caad 10’s) already made in Taiwan,
I can tell you that there is no comparison to the weld
quality when compared to the American made Caad’s.

It’s obvious to me that when you look at the American made Caad’s
that they were made by a welder who was a true craftsman.

This may be a precursor to problems down the road."

_______________________________________________________________

Can anybody verify this?

dykim90

arent those 2 statements contradictory of each other?

dykim90

nevermind i see what hes saying.

Velo Gator

More CAAD? Oh my.

dykim90

hahaha please drop the caad9 versus caad10. both great bikes. the differences are probably too minute to even notice. just ride and enjoy that you have a quality american made bike.

2ndGen

Not a "which" is better question, but more like "what are the differences".
For some reason, no one's talking about it.
Curious.

2ndGen

alpha_bravo

Think about how many aluminum frames are already manufactured in Taiwan and China. How many are spontaneously failing at the welds? I have never heard of one. In fact after reading these boards for the past two years, I've seen more threads on Carbon frames developing cracks at joints than aluminum ones. I highly doubt Cannondale would jeopardize what is arguably their trademark frame without doing due diligence on quality. With all due respect to Mr. smallcity, how many guys are heading up to their local crits to race on Specialized Allez's and Trek 2.1's. I don't see them having any issues.

As much as the marketing would have you believe, the changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Tapered head tubes, pencil thin seat stays, 1/3 of a pound lighter. How much does this actually matter? To me not much. The CAAD is the same thing it always was, a high performing budget minded aluminum frame. My '09 CAAD9 is a great frame, but if I should wreck or break it beyond use, I won't hesitate to pick up a CAAD10 and I won't have any fear that Taiwanese welders aren't up to snuff.

As a slight thread jack, 2ndGen, why won't you let your text wrap normally like everyone else? It's kind of tough to read your posts with all the artificial paragraph breaks.

2ndGen

I've read some reviews where people claiming to have had CAAD10's found them to be weak for heavier riders. And right there, we have someone claiming to be what can be considered an expert on welding stating that in his professional opinion, CAAD10 weld quality seems to be inferior to CAAD9's. I pointed this out before with close up pictures and I found the welds of the 10 to not seem as well executed as the CAAD9's. My layman's opinion (as someone with a quarter of a century of experience in construction with some experience in metal work) matches a self-professed expert's opinion. We know that Americans did it well with the CAAD9. Do we know that the CAAD10 is done as well? That is the purpose of this thread. I'm looking for more real-world experiences.

Because I personally find it difficult to read super long sentences so I assumed that others did too. But for you, I ran them the way I think you'd be able to read better.

canthidefromme

I disagree. Anyways what was he examining? I thought all pre-CAAD10 CAADs were made in the US...

Beaker

I appreciate your CAAD enthusiasm OP, but again, why the need to go over this US vs non US stuff? What starts off with a reasonable "how do you like CAAD 10s vs 9s" question turns into the chest beating US is best stuff 3 posts later. What gives?

Oh and FWIW my CAAD10 still kicks ass.

Accordion

2010 CAAD9 with 4500+ miles. Test rode a 58cm CAAD10 just last Thursday. In my 15 minutes on the bike?

Zero difference.

But I'm a fat novice. What do I know.

VT Biker

A) To the first bolded sentence: It is obvious that corporate decision ALWAYS are geared towards quality, regardless of manufacturing costs.

B) To the second bolded sentence: What concerns me about the recent changes to the CAAD model is the durability of the frame. In other words, have they created a fragile bike all in an effort to tackle the weight issue. Given that these are criterium bikes, where crashes can occur (even if the point of the purchase is the lower cost nature of the frames) it still costs money and time to replace a frame. But perhaps the integrity of the aluminum is such that this risk is overstated from my standpoint. But hey - let others be the guinea pigs, and see whether these concerns are without merit.

Beaker

Have you actually seen the seat stays?

Crash716

Here's the deal...the 9's welds were filed down, there's no way they weren't, look around the seat stay/ seattube junction, it's a smooth as most carbon bikes. The 10's to me, appear to be natural and not ground down like the 9's were. And just because a weld job isn't super pretty doesn't mean it's not effective or strong, it just means it doesn't look as nice to the eye. Most people equate smooth welds with super strong welds and having done some welding back in the day on farms trucks and tractors...it doesn't have to be pretty to work.

I have owned and raced on the 9 last year, in about 5 days or so I'll let you guys know what I think about the 10 when mine gets here, but with the new bike placebo I am sure it's better than the 9 already, on top of the fact that I am just another guy on a bike so my opinion doesn't matter much.

roadwarrior

I have.

roadwarrior

No, they weren't filed down. I have been to the factory. I have observed the manufacturing process. Have you?

ahumblecycler

Me too! On my CAAD10, the seat stays are not pencil thin. I consider the 2009 SuperSix HI-MOD to have pencil thin seat stays as well as Cervelo CF bikes (cannot recall the model).

The differences I noted from the 9 to 10 are twofold. Fist, the rear seat stays with the tech incorporated from the Synapse dampens the road without giving a disconnect feeling that I occasionally (not often) felt with the 9. Second, the tapered head tubes delivers a more solid feel that I appreciate when descending curving passes going 40mph and more.

Would I say the 10 is an upgrade over the 9? Yes. Would I say sell the 9 and buy the 10? Only if you want the latest bike. Would someone be happy with the 10 to replace a 9? Likely yes as long as one excepts the bike for what it is.

Me, I love my CAAD10.

2ndGen

Plain and simple.
No secret conspiracy.
I want to know how the C10 compares to the C9.
I don't know why it's so difficult to get a straight answer for such a simple question.

Did you own a C9 before the C10?

2ndGen

Do you have an professional welding experience?

2ndGen

Well thank you Accordian.
At the very least you actually answered the question as directly as you could.

2ndGen

That's what I'm wondering.
Has Dorel sacrificed durability for marketing pitches.
Crit racers seem to prefer durability over weight weeniness.
Hopefully, someone can give us their impressions of the CAAD10 within the context of the original question here.

2ndGen

I have. Thin and straight. Like the Synapse.
Plus, the tubing walls are supposedly thinner at places for weight savings.