Originally Posted by
Trakhak
As far as I can remember, nobody on this site has ever ridiculed any of the traditional brands of high-end Italian bikes for producing limited editions of modern lugged steel bikes whose frames are far heavier than the CAAD14.
Ironically, the only reason this thread has people cackling around the pickle barrel is that, unlike those weighty Italian bikes, the CAAD 14 would make a fully competitive choice for racing in the pro peloton. Or would, if it didn't weigh those bloated 150 grams more than whatever carbon bike it's being compared to.
My guess is that Cannondale will have no trouble selling all 300 of those bikes to collectors.
Probably mostly in Europe, where I believe Cannondale is still a highly respected marque. (As far back as the mid-1990's, after he quit racing and Pinarello made him give back his bikes, Miguel Indurain bought himself a Cannondale. The sales rep in our area told me, "We'd have given him a bike if he'd asked!")
I have to admire the audacity of the people at Cannondale's U.S. headquarters. This move is fully in keeping with the kind of wild ideas the company came up with during their first three decades.
Just for clarity - because this how threads wander. The bloated comparison I made -the 150g difference - wasn't vs a CF frame. It was made against a last gen, endurance based (not race based), aluminum frame.
My aluminum bike is considered heavy at just sub 20 pounds (19.8) stock. I've been told many times that its heavy. The like for like CAAD14-3 is 20.5 pounds stock. My bike is an endurance bike, the CAAD 14 is more of a race bike. Newer, and heavier.
The CF comparison - Canyon Ultimate CF 7, essentially a like for like bike as the CAAD14-3 in terms of specs and price - is 2#'s lighter. Not 150 grams.
We will leave out the CAAD14-1 (because of the limited edition - I can't find this 300 number? But they have full stock on the website, all sizes... shall see how long that lasts)
The CAAD14-2 - the 4k+/- range. Vs the Ultimate CF7 DI2 (a few hundred bucks more) $4,199 right now
19.5#'s, electronic shifting, alloy wheels
Vs
17.5#'s, electronic shifting, 50mm deep CF DT Swiss wheels
The priced the CAAD aluminum bike right up there with other CF offerings that are better equipped right out of the gate.
I'm in the market for a new bike - I'm a CAAD fan... But I have to ask myself why would I spend 4 grand on the 14-2 when there are much better equipped and lighter bikes for similar prices?
For reference:
CAAD 12 Disc Frame 1094 grams
CAAD 14 Frame 1400 grams
They went backwards.