Cannondale says about CAAD12: "explosively stiff and impossibly smooth". If truly so smooth, why pay more for a carbon bike, like SuperSix Evo?

If you buy Caad12 you can't say "I have a full carbon bike".

you need to complete the marketing sentence with "for Aluminum"

that's why

Why would you want to?

A better question is "Why don't you test ride best carbon against CAAD 12 and find out for yourself?"

I cannot effectively judge a bike on a short ride.

Because they are both way over priced and I prefer Steel.

That was a helpful contribution.

You need to ask for a least an hour on each bike. That won't tell you how they would feel on a century, no, but it would give you a chance to experience a variety of road conditions, RR tracks, etc. Nobody can tell you what a bike is going to feel like. The most uncomfortable bike I ever owned was described just the opposite by the maker. You need to try them out.

I suspect the "best carbon" would cost about 5-10x more than the CAAD. But yeah, the ride could be better.

Well then, mid carbon. But the point is to know how the two materials in their better or best embodiment feel. No one can tell him.

So basically, I should go to the bike store with my cycling shorts, jersey, and shoes.

Anytime I can be of service.

...and helmet, pedals and I.D.

But yes.

But which one gives you more street cred?

I think you should be really intent on buying if you test ride a bike at the LBS. I'm an online buyer but that's due to not having a decent LBS but if you're going to take up their time and use their resources they should get your business.

Isn't stiff always harsher and frames with more flex smoother? I just always expect there to be a trade off somewhere.

I wanted to buy a caad 12 and called all dealers in my area, nobody had one in stock yet.

The CAAD 12 with 105 is $1600. $8000 - $16,000 is a stretch especially if you are comparing the same 105

I've got a Caad12...really light, goes down the road really well...have a Caad10 and two other carbon bikes...they all feel good. My only impressions after 18 miles are, it feels quiet for AL, feels sharp, has really short/shallow bars which I love, and really grippy bar tape. Happy with it. I won't be any faster on a HiMod Super6. That's it for now.

Good luck with that if a bike shop would let every customer to have a test ride they would be selling used bikes for half the price if I'm the store owner would not do that.

That's a shame. But at least if you can't buy it, you don't have to worry about test riding it yet either.

That's how it's done. And pedals too. Best bet is to ride over there. Then you can leave your bike with them and take the test ride. You will have everything you need.

Of the bikes I have weighed with the same 105 componentry (and size) the Caad10 has been lighter than such carbon bikes as the Specialized Tarmac, Felt, Giant etc. In fact the only bike that had dipped lighter on the scale was the SuperSix, and the Hi-Mod version is lighter still, and that would make sense as they the fork and components are the same but when you make a carbon frame you do not need to leave extra material on the end of the tubes for welding and you can place the carbon where it is needed and take away from where it is not so the carbon frame of the same design should be lighter, also a carbon frame by the nature of the material itself woulf be more comfortable on long rides, so taling an already comfortable aluminum frame and using the same design to build it in carbon should increase comfort - judging by all reviews this is the case. although I would suspect that a Specialized Tarmac with their top end Carbon lay-up would be lighter than the Caad10, but that frameset alone would set you back over twice what a whole Caad10 with 105 would cost. The Caad12 is even further refined and lighter still - I especially like the fork as it gives a look similar to the old-school colongo straight blade forks. I also like the spec on the 105 including Mavic Aksium wheels over the RS11 wheels that came on the Caad10.

So I thought I might try and fine out what might make this bike so special, and came across this description of the frame:

"SmartForm Alloy Construction combines several common aluminum construction types — hydroforming, taper butting, mechanical shaping, 3D forging, double-pass smooth welding, post-weld heat treat — to tailor the ride quality as much as possible. It’s labor-intensive, but Cannondale believes the payoff is worth it for an aluminum frame with what it believes is near-carbon-quality comfort."

Guess maybe I don't know enough about Al frames, but I'm pretty sure the above is not that special. If Cannondale wants to present itself as the leader in Al frame tech, they'll have to do better than that IMO. Perhaps they have some proprietary Al metallurgy not mentioned?


The bike does have lightened, better quality components and I guess that's a good thing in theory. Someone above mentioned the fork is reminiscent of older Colnagos, not to mention the yellow Coppi frame colour.

If I were interested, I'd wait for the prices to drop significantly first of all, because CD bikes are always overpriced, and then check out the durability of the frames based on consumer reports. That might take a couple of years. But, it sure is a beauty to look!!