Watch the vid. The tube is oval, not round, where the fd lives. Personally, I'll take a braze-on any day over a clamp-on.

eff shimano. but if you like them, you can always get a BB30 adapter for your crank.

also, as for the idiots posting things such as government contracts & stuff

I do like the plain look of the 2009... especially the white and red. The 2010 was a bit flashier, but they've backed down a bit on the 2011s.

Overall I like the 09 paint job the best. And yes I'd also like to see other color schemes if anyone finds any.

Looks like they've cheaped out on the welds. My CAAD5 and Rush welds are all ground smooth and cleaned up. The photos here look to me like they just left the bare weld bead without grinding it smooth. Bummer, that's one of the things I always liked about C'dale's AL frames: attention to detail.

I guess this is what Dorel brings to the party.

Yep, you beat me to it. Cannondale bikes are officially cookie-cutter Dorel specials, just like the rest of the junk Dorel puts out. I'm sure the sweatshop cranking them out has lots of practice making Wal Mart bikes. CAAD10 is the brainchild of their marketing department working closely with their Chinese plant. A sad end of an era.

"This bike numba 10!"

when are they gonna make a bike that goes to 11

You people crack me up sometimes. This is the downfall of Cannondale because in an early picture you noticed that the welds don't look as smooth?

Not sure I'd want an Aluminum frame 200g lighter than a CAAD 9. You got to be getting into beer can territory on some parts of that frame to get it 200g lighter.

There's a pretty good argumnet to be made that leaving the weld beads alone, and not grinding them smooth causes attention to detail.

If you grind and fill welds, you can make a bad weld look good.

If you leave the weld beads alone, it will expose a crap weld.

Co-Motion for example doesn't grind the welds on their aluminum bikes, and they are known for the quality of their welding.

So not grinding the welds, may not be as pleasing to your eye, but it may also make for a better frame.

Exactly! If these fanboys actually saw what the C'dale welds looked like from the inside, they'd all shut up. They look like someone just shoved filler between the tubes. They are ugly and full of voids. They grind them to hide the sh*t welds that 'uh-mericans' did at the factory!
The fact that people are actually getting so worked up about this bike is almost sad. Go outside and play people!

Almost sad? I'd say it hit sad pretty quick.

those purdy welds are probably why the mt bike folks have called 'em Crack-n-Fail bikes for years.......

From the video on the cdale website they weld the frames, check the welds. Then they go back and add a filler weld, then smooth out the filler weld.

Not may, it does. All things being equal, a smoothed weld is not as strong as one that's left alone. Since things are rarely 'all equal' the welder who laid the bead that knew it was going to be ground has little incentive to make the weld look nice and even. The way I see it, they've made a couple gains by leaving the welds alone.

Welds at the headtube junctions look kind of chunky now, compared with my CAAD9.

It's called sarcasm. And I know. I've been to the factory in Bedford.

2:20 should clear up your little weld arguments. remember, this is the way they USED TO BE made. say bye bye to attention to detail. get the 9's while you can!


another video to remember a great american company that once was.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Taiwan made CAAD, But like enjoi07 said, The attention to detail thing might not be as good as the CAAD'S made here.

"Incorrect". Ground welds have superior fatigue life (which is what is important in bikes, not static strength).

Most of that weight looks to be shaved by using smaller tubing in the rear triangle. I'm sure plenty of people will appreciate a half pound lighter frame. Cannondale will have no trouble selling boat loads of these as usual.

Not necessarily, it all comes down to the geometry of the cross section of tubing. Not to mention w/ hydro-forming you can do some really interesting things to improve strength in specific areas. If you look at the TT it's not round. It has a somewhat boxed shape to it.

exactly. i have no doubt these chi/tai bikes could take you to the end of the earth and back, just like a wallmart bike can. but as much as you guys repeat that "it's a tool not a jewel" phrase, i call BS. this is coming from a group who who choses components down to the cable, calculates grams in weight savings, and obsesses over perfect bike orientation before snapping a photo. sure some of us don't mind all that, and see a bike as something that gets the job done, but when i ride it's not a job and it's not work. having a nice bike, down to the detail, is something that makes my ride that much more enjoyable.

i just find it really cool that their are companies that can do everything in house, customization. a reason why bill holland is so big around my area. a reason why the new project cali is so damn awesome! all the R&D in house, carbon layups by hand in house, limited because they take time to produce.

Haiku for CAAD:

They will sell lots, but
end of an era indeed.
I hate those chain stays.

Watching that video is very sad. Cannondale was once a great company and their bikes will be missed. The USA made CAAD9 at least let them go out with a bang. The new bike looks like a cookie-cutter Chinese made POS, like most of the other brands who contract production out of China/Taiwan sweatshops.

Hate to say it, but I sort of agree.

The fact that the bike was handmade in the good ol' USA made it special.

The CAAD10 looks hideous.

R.I.P CAAD R.I.P Cannondale

PS: **** Dorel