Question for yall. I am getting my war replacement TCR Sl frame set back from the shop on Sunday. After stressing through the process of a war frame it got me thinking. If I had to buy a new SL frame set, had they denied my claim, would I want to pay retail, or even crash replacement price for one? I am having to buy a new Caad frame, and that was such an easier pill to swallow then the thought of buying a new SL frame. The original plan for the Caad was strictly for crit races, but I found myself taking it for most of my rides 60 miles or less. So it gets 80% of my time. Im thinking of selling the TCR and spending the money to upgrade the crap out of the Caad. Am I crazy or what?

Right now the plan is to pick the TCR up and see if I fall in love with the new color they sent. If not it might be CL for the Giant....

What type of riding was the Giant being used for?

Mostly Group rides, and longer rides.

What about selling the TCR and buy some nice wide aluminum rims with some 25c tires for those longer rides. That will make the CAAD even smoother. I like the ride better than most carbon frames twice as much with some tubeless tires.

Good news for my taint... My saddle search is over. I tried about 6-7 saddles and finally found the one. I ordered a Specialized Romin Evo Pro in white. Fits like a glove and is fairly light for the price too. I was surprised I don't find a fizik saddle that felt much better than the stock prologo kappa.

Do you guys know if you can order Cannondale frames? e.g. CAAD10 1 frame, but with Ultegra? the DA frame is so much cooler looking!

Your shop would have to take the parts and swap. You can only get what they offer or get the 10-5 frame colors as framesets.

Just clarifying, you can ONLY order the CAAD10-5 frame from Cannondale (the blue/green/white one? or the black/white one?), through your LBS? But if you want any other frame, you'd have to arrange the component swap with your LBS?

I do like the blue/green/white one. No chance of LBS doing a swap from the 10-1 black/grey frame though, as they only stock the 10-6, 10-5, and 10-4.

Wonder how much more it'd cost (than stock 10-3) to get the blue/green/white frame with everything else from the 10-3 setup...

You can only order either the liquigas replica colors or the black/grey for 2012 CAAD 10 framesets. You are correct about the second part. They would have to order the full bike and then strip off the components to sell or swap with a bike they have in stock/etc. Some have had luck with this but I would expect you would have to really know the shop guys or get lucky with a good shop. Most would not do this.

Any idea what it costs to do liquigas frame + ultegra everyhting else? Seems to me that they'd prob charge full retail on Ultegra + wheels + etc, making it WAYYYYYYYY more than just the stock 10-3?

I have no idea. It's always way cheaper to buy a built bike. I have the 10-5 in team colors and it's awesome. Eventually might upgrade the groupset in a few years. The new 105 is more than I need. Eventually it can look like this:

http://i.imgur.com/TXLFn.jpg

It'll look complete once I install these:

http://i.imgur.com/9GljZ.jpg?1

It was bound to happen eventually... :lol:

I was looking at a set on ebay today but I should get wheels first :)

I'll be joining the CAAD cult very soon.

Placed an order for what is supposed to be a anodized black frameset (crossing my fingers after the shop promised me it would be the anodized black). I intend on making it just about 6kg when all is said and done. :)

http://i.imgur.com/b0CCF.png
Can't wait for pics. Pics, right?

Question for you guys...Is rim tape pretty widely used? I put my first ride on my 2012 10-5 last night and walking it up the driveway, the rear wheel hit the 1" bump and went flat after a short (18mi) test run. I had verified the brand new tires/tubes had 105psi (max 110) before riding. I haven't ripped it off to inspect what could have happened, but do LBS's usually put rim tape on to prevent the spokes from coming through? That's the only thing I could think happened. Also, do you guys find discomfort with the kappa prologo seat that comes standard on the 10-5? I 've got it parallel to the ground with maybe a 1-2degree nose down attitude and even with riding shorts that thing is harsh! Pictures soon!

Every ass is different as far as the seat goes. If you don't like it, try a different one. I bought a 10-5 last week and swapped my own saddle on the minute I got it home.

http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/...t=DSCN1054.jpg[IMG]http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/...t=DSCN1050.jpg[/IMG]
http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/...t=DSCN1053.jpg

Here's my new CAAD10-5. I haven't done anything yet other than remove stickers, reflectors and install a wireless computer. The next step is to get a new saddle, that sucker is harsh! On the last pic my dog couldn't stand the bike getting all the attention, so he had to sit-in.

Original link: http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/...t=DSCN1054.jpg

Cute dog!

Yes, you MUST use rim tape, or a strip, or plugs to prevent the tube from flatting on the spoke holes.

This is assuming you have a more-or-less "standard" rim, not tubeless, etc.

I prefer Velox cloth rim tape.

I have the same bike and it's awesome. Mine is a 58cm and yours looks even bigger. What size? For the saddle try tilting it nose up a degree or two from level. Usually tilting it down causes pain for people. I actually liked the kappa more than the demo Fizik saddles (tried all the different shapes). I tried a few others until I found one that worked for me. The specialized(ugh) Romin Evo pro in white. Good thing is that this specific model in white has very minimal specialized markings on it. Makes it tolerable :)

It's a 63cm. (I'm 6'5"). I took it for another ride today after moving the seat forward and downward about 1/2" and boy did it make a world of difference. I'm not as stretched out reaching for the hoods, and not nearly as saddle sore from over-extending with my legs. I even got fitted when I picked up the bike, but I think he was in a hurry as the shop was really busy and did a lame job. The prologo kappa actually felt ok today. Maybe I just need to get used to it. Next I'm going to add Continental GP4000's and am still deciding on what type of tubes I want to stock up on. Any suggestions on tubes under $10? I'm currently running some cheap Avenir tubes and think I could drop probably 100grams just from lighter tubes. The bike is currently weighing 19.5lbs with pedals, cages, comp. I know it won't be a feather since it's a large frame but would like to trim it down, especially in areas that are affordable performance returns. Any suggestions on tubes?

Re: tubes. I use $5.99 Kenda tubes from my LBS that weigh about 100 grams.

I don't know about under $10, but I use Continental Race 28 tubes with my GP4000S's.

Guess they're $9.18/ea @ PBK http://www.probikekit.com/us/tyres-t...x-18-25mm.html

About to join the CAAD family...will post complete pics tomorrow. Preview, with my old bike in the back:

http://i.imgur.com/glm7U.jpg