Originally Posted by
bigcicero
Hey everyone, I didn't expect so many helpful replies... thank you so much. This should answer most of the questions:
- I've put about 2,500 miles on the bike. Usually I ride 25-30 miles at a time and not everyday. I'd prob ride more often if I felt more comortable on the bike.
- Seat is in middle of adjustment; I haven't altered it. Maybe it's that simple?
- Nothing 'hurts', per se... Occasionally I do get sore a bit sore in my upper back and neck after a 30 mile ride, but not every time, and I assume that's my own conditioning as opposed to the bike's fit. But I'm in decent athletic shape.
- Part of my issue is that I feel tight, and part is that I wish the ride felt just a little smoother. I think the two can be correlated but not sure: i.e., it's possible that a too-small bike can be causing both a cramped feeling and a harsh feeling due to being too short.
- I guess that leads to a big point: I have this suspicion that my 54 is too small and that a 56 would have felt better. But I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to feel on the Caad, if that makes sense. When I visited the 2nd LBS, he said that the size was "on the small edge"; the look on his face suggested that maybe he was trying to be nice and keep me from having to buy another bike. When I bought the Caad, I test rode a few other bikes at the same time, which were all carbon, all endurance bikes, all more expensive, and all seemingly a little bigger. In fact, I loved the plush feeling of the Roubaix, which felt larger, longer, and less cramped, but I didn't like how HIGH up I was on the hoods. When I tried the Caad and felt more aero, I liked it much better. The guy at LBS suggested that the 'aggressive geometry' would feel tighter overall, so being a newbie I didn't push back when I felt the 54 might be a bit tight. (To be fair, he tried to put me in the same size SuperSix because he thought that I would appreciate the carbon more since I liked the smoothness of the Roubaix, but I didn't want to spend the money.)
I guess it leads to two questions:
1) How am I supposed to feel on the Caad... is it by nature supposed to feel smallish and crammed?
2) Would a carbon make me feel better generally?
Maybe I'm just on the wrong bike for me... it's hard for me to know if it's a matter of incorrect size or of incorrect geometry.
Thank you,
Cicero
The CAAD geometry has a little longer top tube than others. Given the information provided, I don't think the 54cm is too small for you (Ryder Hesjedal of the Garmi-Cannondale team is 6'2 and he rides a 56cm). There are a few places that you can play around to get to a comfortable position. First and the most obvious is the stem length. And second is the fore-aft position of the saddle, and if that's not enough, you can see what kind of setback you may beed for the seatpost.
As to how you should feel on the CAAD, one of the key indicator is the horizontal saddle offset from your bottom bracket. It's the single most important thing beside the saddle height that determines how balanced, i.e. comfortable, you will feel on the bike. Set up correctly, you should feel not much pressure on your hands when you are on the hoods or drops.
I don't think you have ridden enough to know how you want to feel to get a pro fit yet. Play around with the a few things listed above and don't be afraid to exaggerate the adjustment just so you know how it should feel.