General Cycling Discussion - What type of Aluminum does Cannondale use

I was looking at the 2005 Road Warrior 800 and was wondering if the aluminum is 7005 or 6061? I am comparing it to the Felt SR71 which also comes with a Rear Ultrega derailleur and 7005 double butted aluminum frame and carbon fork. Both bikes are about $1,000.00

I'm not sure which they use.
6061 has a longer fatigue life and its a little less brittle but not quite as high in yield strength but that only concerns the engineers who designed it. All you need to know is how much it weighs and how it rides as built(design and build quality has far more to do with it than the type of Al they used) and that it will take slightly longer to fatigue.

I too am considering the Felt SR 71 vs the Cannondales 2004 Road Warrior 1000 HeadShok or the 2005
Road Warrior 1000. My LBS wanted $1500 to order the 2004, so they apparently are not discounting the 2004 models. I also worried if the HeadShok Slice Ultra All-Conditions fork was more gimmick than function. On the 2005 Road Warrior 1000, I was not sure if the Slice Ultra All-Conditions was carbon or not. I couldn't find a price on the C.dale 2005 Road Warrior 1000, however. Do you know the weight of the C.dales? I know the Felt is about 20 lbs & uses top-notch components. I assume the Felt is mfrd overseas, where C.dales are made domestically, if that an issue.

I too am considering the Felt SR 71 vs the Cannondales 2004 Road Warrior 1000 HeadShok or the 2005
Road Warrior 1000. My LBS wanted $1500 to order the 2004, so they apparently are not discounting the 2004 models. I also worried if the HeadShok Slice Ultra All-Conditions fork was more gimmick than function. On the 2005 Road Warrior 1000, I was not sure if the Slice Ultra All-Conditions was carbon or not. I couldn't find a price on the C.dale 2005 Road Warrior 1000, however. Do you know the weight of the C.dales? I know the Felt is about 20 lbs & uses top-notch components. I assume the Felt is mfrd overseas, where C.dales are made domestically, if that an issue.

The 2005 cannondale road warrior 800 is the one that has the specs more closely matched up to the Felt SR71. The Cannondale 1000 has campagnolo veloce components. the Road Warrior 800 is for sale already at $999.00 and I believe the Felt SR71 is either $999 or $1,049.

I don't really know if the 800 has a carbon fork either, or if it is also 7005 aluminum as the SR71 or as light, but one thing I like about the C'dale is the 700x32 continental city contact tires, as opposed to the Felt's 700x28

I'm going to go with really bad aluminum that doesn't last ten years brand aluminum . I mean come on it turns into mush and the test is put one hand on the seat and the other on the bars and then put one foot on the crank then press. The bend is ridiculas.

cannondale used to use 6061, now they have their own proprietary aluminum, optimo. I think its a 7000 series.

Cannodale has used 6061-T6 for years and that is what's most like used on the bike you're considering.

The CAAD-7 bikes use the "optimo" tubing which is probably something along the lines of Trek's ZR9000 where 9000 series numbers designate a special development alloy vs 6061, 7005, etc...

The CAAD-7 bikes use the "optimo" tubing which is probably something along the lines of Trek's ZR9000 where 9000 series numbers designate a special development alloy vs 6061, 7005, etc...

There's no such thing as 9000-series aluminum as far as I know (maybe this has changed?). I believe, the 9 in the first digit of the ASTM four-digit numerical designation system for aluminum is currently unused.

Aluminum designation abide by the following standard.

First digit
No alloy
Copper
Manganese
Silicon
Magnesium
Magnesium and Silicon
Zinc
Some other alloy
Unused


Second digit = purity level

Third and fourth digits = percentage above 99% for 1000 series alloys (unalloyed)

A different meaning is applied in 2000-9000 series because the alloying percentage is often much greater than 1%. For 2000-9000 series alloys, the third and fourth digits are allocated to particular compositions of different alloys. This was done randomly and as new ones are added, they are registered thus there is no particular rhyme or reason to the third and fourth digits to anything but the 1000 series.

There's no such thing as 9000-series aluminum as far as I know (maybe this has changed?).

According to Gary Klein who wrote while explaining his / Trek's ZR9000 alloy....

"The Name ZR9000 was chosen because the small amount of Zirconium addition for controlling the grain size is the key that allowed us to increase the amounts of the other strengthening additives. The 9000 is because new or experimental alloys which have not been assigned industry numbers are designated in the 9000 series."

According to Gary Klein who wrote while explaining his / Trek's ZR9000 alloy....

"The Name ZR9000 was chosen because the small amount of Zirconium addition for controlling the grain size is the key that allowed us to increase the amounts of the other strengthening additives. The 9000 is because new or experimental alloys which have not been assigned industry numbers are designated in the 9000 series."

Well... looks we're both right. :)

What type of Aluminum does Cannondale use?
Foil :roflmao:

I know the Optimo tubing is lightweight & strong, but what about its ability to absorb road vibration?

P.S. Is C.dale's Frame Exchange Program worthwhile?