Just picked it up last night--photo attached. Out for a quick spin this morning and it rides very nicely, especially with the carbon fork.

wahts the frame material?

Optimo aluminum frame with a carbon fork

Damn, thats a fine looking machine!

Very nice. Why did you select the Cannondale as opposed to a Trek, Bianchi or other?

Just picked it up last night--photo attached. Out for a quick spin this morning and it rides very nicely, especially with the carbon fork.
Wow! That's a real beaty there!

Very nice. Why did you select the Cannondale as opposed to a Trek, Bianchi or other?

I'm affiliated with a shop and get EP on Cannondale stuff so the price can't be beat. Not to mention I am a fan of Cannondale. Price was key though. I have ridden Bianchi, Gunnar, Specialized, Trek, Serotta etc and they all have their high points, but to me, none stand so head and shoulders above the rest, at least for my purposes as predominantly a mountain biker that wants a rig to use for occasional commuting, occasional cross race and dropping on the trainer in the winter.

I'm affiliated with a shop and get EP on Cannondale stuff so the price can't be beat. Not to mention I am a fan of Cannondale. Price was key though. I have ridden Bianchi, Gunnar, Specialized, Trek, Serotta etc and they all have their high points, but to me, none stand so head and shoulders above the rest, at least for my purposes as predominantly a mountain biker that wants a rig to use for occasional commuting, occasional cross race and dropping on the trainer in the winter.
Can you tell us a little more about the bike? Changes from 2004, if any?

Thanks!

Can you tell us a little more about the bike? Changes from 2004, if any?

Thanks!

I think the specs are nearly identical, with the exception of the addition of the Optimo frameset. If you don't know much about Cannondale, take a look at the link below that outlines the optimo process. Granted, its the mountain bike writeup (they don't have it up yet for 05 for the road/cross frams), but you'll get the gist. When I bought one of their 1FG singlespeeds about a year ago I expected it to ride very roughly relative to the steel singlespeed it was replacing. Quite to my surprise, it was super smooth despite being aluminum!

Beyond that, take a look at the 04 spec as I believe it matches identically. Brakes may be Cannondale as opposed to Tektryx or whatever is listed there, but beyond that nothing strikes me as having changed based on my look over the bike. One key change to 04 from 03 was the addition of the carbon fork--nice improvement over the old aluminum fork they offered--its one of their "slice" models and quite nice.

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/innovation/archive/optimo_mtn.html

Looks gorgeous, too bad its a tad too big for me... not that I'm envious...

Will those wheels stand up to CycloCross type riding?

Don't know yet, we'll find out soon enough. :D

Hey do they have a disc version for the 05 cannondale?

Yes they do. I opted not to go disc given they aren't UCI legal for cross racing.

So, what does the disc version look like? Got any more information?

they guys at cannondale said the disc version for the 2005 cross will still be the red color, bummer..

What a shame......I like everything they do EXCEPT the clear red color.

I'm considering buying this bike. Mostly for commuting and one bike choice consideration for me is rack mounting options. I haven't seen the bikes and I'm getting conflicting reports from Cannondale customer support and my LBS about mounting racks on the 2005 Cannodale Cx frames. LBS says it's no problem they do it all the time, Cannondale say "Both Cannondale cyclocross frames are designed for cyclocross racing. Rack installation is not a design consideration, and is very difficult".

So does your 2005 have braze-ons for rack and/or fender mounts?

:) Very beautiful machine.

Just wonder though, how much does it weigh?

I'll have to look and post back for you or drop me a line at bsdavis at kc dot rr dot com to remind me, happy to take a peek.

Weight, uh, not sure, haven't weighed it but its not super light and definitely "heavier" towards the rear of the bike, very apparent when you pick it up.