CAAD is back! CAAD 14...
 

CAAD 14 is on the shelves...

Three versions, starting at $2500-resonable, up to $7500-insane.

I typically love CAAD's - I like aluminum frames just fine...

But this bike is a bit chunky weight wise. Base model weighs in about 3/4# heavier than my (when stock) similarly equipped Emonda ALR 5. The mid range model comes in at $4k, still has alloy wheels and weighs +/- the same as the Emonda - which is 2k less. The frame on the CAAD is 1/3# heavier in the same size.

The CAAD 1 - $7500. No paint to save weight. 1x drivetrain - I assume for Crit racing and to save some weight - still weighs in at 17.5#.

All three have the same frame/same materials. $7500 for an aluminum bike is a bit nutty IMHO.

Cannondale has certainly made a choice.

I agree. Alloy is supposed to be, or probably should be, a cheaper option than CF bikes. The Canyon Ultimate has models with similar specs, similar prices - CF frame, 1.5#'s +/- lighter at the same price points.

C'dale is asking over $500 more than Trek was for the aluminum frameset - and the C'dale is heavier. (and you can get leftover Emonda ALR frames right now for around $400, but thats a different story)

The CAAD14 1 weighs the same as my 2025 Scott Foil RC10, yet my bike is aero shaped, absorbs vibration better since it's carbon, has a 2x drive train, and retailed for $6600 (I got it for $5048). I really don't know what Cannondale is trying to do other than sucker its most diehard fanboys.

IMHO, An aluminum $2500 bike better have pretty high-end groupset, or something else to recommend it.

Over $2500 and I want carbon in a road bike. Even at $2500, I would consider a left-over or lightly-used last year's carbon bike.

Or maybe a nicer steel one.

Some context is in order.

1- the Emonda ALR doesnt even exist now. It was killed off late last year. So comparing the CAAD14 to a bike that isnt even being produced still is a little silly.
2- the Emonda ALR is limited to 28mm tires.
3- the Emonda ALR 5 is $2499.99 msrp.
4- the Emonda ARL 5 has(had) 105 2x12 MECHANICAL shifting.

Meanwhile, the CAAD14 3 that uses 105 2x12 MECHANICAL shifting costs $2499 msrp.
So its the same price as the Emonda ALR 5 was, when the Emonda ALR 5 existed. Additionally, the CAAD14 can handle 32mm tires
Additionally, the CAAD14 frame reportedly weighs 150g more than the Emonda ALR 5 when fully built in the 105 2x12 spec. I mean yeah that is more, but really now. 20.22# vs 20.5# is an absurd thing to focus on when the bike has a 105 drivetrain, stock aluminum wheels, and OEM tires.


For some reason, you were comparing your discontinued Trek Emonda ALR 5 to the CAAD14 2, which is the one that costs $4000. That one runs a SRAM WIRELESS drivetrain and a wheelset that is significantly lighter and nicer than the stock wheelset on an Emonda ALR 5.

Why are the only options that someone is suckered or doesnt buy the bike?

The Specialized Aethos was released as an unapologetically lightweight bike with relatively traditional looking tubing, at a time when aero everything was being continually pushed. And the Aethos was super popular.
You have to be really jaded to view people as suckers just becasue they buy something they like, despite that thing not being fully optimized in every way for peak performance. Using that view, everyone who buys any road bike that isnt the current leader in speed optimization because they want a different brand or look, is a sucker.

Here is something really funny for ya- Cannondale's SuperSix EVO 2 costs $6500 msrp, so $100 less than your bike, and comes with an Ultegra di2 drivetrain and 45mm deep DT carbon wheels. The SuperSix EVO 2 reportedly weighs almost a half pound less than your Scott bike.
You paid $100 more for a bike that weighs more compared to another carbon(for comfort!) and aero(for speed!) road bike with the same drivetrain. Sucker.**


I put ** there because they are sarcastrisks. I dont actually think you are a sucker. The bikes are slightly different in wheel spec, tire spec, and fit is different too. It is OK to spend more for a bike that weighs more, compared to another aero carbon bike. You may like it more for any number of reasons. That is OK.

I'm gonna stop your twisting in its tracks.

I know the Emonda is discontinued. That has nothing to do with my point.

My point was about weight. Made that pretty clear. The new C'dale is chunky - and I used a compairable bike as an example. It being discontinued has no bearing on the discussion.

I didn't compare the the Emonda to the 14-2 for the sake of equipment - I did it for the sake of weight. All the added equipment and cost - and the bikes weighed +/- the same. You are paying 4k for a chunky bike, that happens to have electronic shifting.

Wanna go like for like - The Canyon Ultimate DI2 Aero vs the CAAD 14-2. Right now $200 price difference - look up the specs. (and one could argue the Canyon is a better machine than the CAAD 14-1, which costs 3k+ more)


My entire point - aside from the 14-3 - the other ones are chunky bikes that really offer nothing more than the CAAD name.

7+ grand for an aluminum road bike - sorry, I can't even understand why there is any argument here.

It is wild that you are using the word 'chunky'. 150g is hardly 'chunky'.

I mentioned that your bike doesnt even exist any longer because when aluminum road bikes are discussed, the conversation frequently hits on comparing one option to another(of the few that still exist). This is because that is one way to determine if a bike is a 'good deal' or not. Discussing bikes that no longer even exist is pretty silly. Lets compare this bike to a 2016 lightweight bike in both price and weight then, if we are referencing bikes that no longer exist.

This response of yours is similar to your initial post- you bounce around between spec levels and price. I dont think anyone has argued that $7k for an aluminum road bike is justifiable/smart/ideal/etc etc...but you seem to have knocked that non-existent argument down, so kudos, I guess.
The article I read said that like 300 of the Cannondale CAAD14 1 will be made. Only 300. It is a very limited edition. Holding it up as evidence of value is silly.

Odd Choice and bad pricing by Crack'n'Fail.

In a market that's already hurting and they want to offer overpriced aluminum road bikes?

Yikes. Good luck with that decision.

Man, people sure get their skivvies in a wedgy around here. It is a bicycle frame, that's all it is. If there is a market for it, then it is legit. As for performance, my guess is there are very few people out there than will lose a race because the frame was made from aluminum, or win a race because the frame is made from carbon. Now, if your name is Tadej, you may have an argument.

Or we just expected more... I'm always hoping for an Aluminum bike priced better and optioned out to compete with a CF bike - because naturally, the CF frame should cost more - or so we are told (and they are typically priced as such)

Much to the chagrin of some other posters - I brought up my current Aluminum frame - which is more of an endurance bike than a pure race/crit bike - and its lighter. 6+ year old design...

None of the CAAD offerings right now are better priced/better optioned than many of the CF offerings out there. They are not better bikes, they won't have better overall performance, they weigh more - yet cost the same.

As a potential customer, one that was hoping for a new CAAD to pop up - I can say in my opinion - Cannondale missed the mark.

I think they did long ago. Surprised they are still in Business. I think a couple of their gravel bikes that are reasonably priced are the only bikes keeping them afloat right now. The rest of their line up kinda sucks and has low interest from the general public.

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.

The whole thing is moot, since no one buys an aluminum-framed bike if weight is a primary concern.

Your "point" is akin to comparing sports cars by their trunk sizes.

And, of course, no one buys Philippe Patek mechanical watches, because they're a step backwards in accuracy from a Casio quartz watch.

Cannondale's management is perfectly aware that people who want the lightest bike for the money will look elsewhere.

In short: they don't care that you're not their market.

But the CAAD14, it's abundantly clear to me at least, will be seen as a reasonably light and speedy traditional-looking bike by some and as a collectible objet d'art by others.

Especially in Europe.

Our own Georges1 is likely far from alone among European racing bike enthusiasts in rating Cannondale's '90's-era bikes extremely highly, with their round frame tubes, level top tubes, and polished welds.

If I were in the market for the brand new version of a bike I lusted after in the '80's or '90's, it would be tough to choose between a Ciocc Mockba 80 and the comparably priced CAAD14.

I might go for the Ciocc, I suppose, but only because I already have a bunch of great aluminum bikes and neither of my remaining steel bikes ('90's 853 Schwinn Peloton and '60's 531 Peugeot track bike) scratches the itch.

Don't speak for everyone. (And as usual, you leave out all the other relevant points in your typical failed attempt to do nothing more than say someone is wrong. Rinse and repeat, over and over and over and over and over.)

Some of us prefer aluminum over CF - Some of us would like a decently outfitted alu bike for a better price than it's CF counterparts... We don't expect the newly touted great bike to be heavier than the last version - by a decent amount, and with not much bang for the buck.

I really do think - and I don't know why - that some of y'all do nothing more than come here to tell people that (you think) - they are wrong. I really don't know the motivation...

Sorry Charlie - no matter how you spin it. 4 grand for an aluminum bike with alloy wheels is just stupid. Is that clear enough for you?

And you also left out all the other points - about price, components, weight - the full picture. The answer I provided you was to point out the weight comparison was not being made vs a CF bike - all ignored.

This is not a luxury bike, not some epic piece of wristwear. Its an aluminum frame made in some factory overseas - to an unknown level of quality or standard... not luxury, not high end, not some precision piece of hand crafted engineering...

They reason they will charge 4 grand for a bike of this nature - because people will defend them charging 4 grand for a bike of this nature... And for whatever reason, purchase said bike. To each his own on that I guess - but some of us will call out the madness.

Yes, I agree that aluminum is often a choice driven at least partly by cost.

If you want a frameset that is as light as cf, then there's an easy solution.

You seem to think that the world owes you a cheap and very competent race bike...Or at least you think it's awful that such things are scarce. Honestly, with all that's going on in the world today, this seems like a sad complaint.

Again - you miss the mark.

I don't want a bike as light as CF. I expect that the latest version of the aluminum race bike - one people have waited some time for - would be similar to the last version in terms of performance/weight, and lighter than the other options - including endurance/non race frames that were built.

I am saying that the extra weight, the poor component choices at the price range (like the wheels) leads you to the "easy solution". They are marketing a bike that competes with nothing. They want you to buy it just because "CAAD".

Missed this bit... and you just can't help yourself.

Okay, I'll address your point, even though I think it's a non-point: you're comparing the prices and specs of bikes that were pre-tariff to one that is post-tariff. Look at the tariffs on bikes, and aluminum in particular, and you might understand why Cannondale had to cut corners on the spec.

will you buy one?