The Cult of CAAD...
11-30-24 | 10:40 AM
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,194
Likes: 132
From: Durham, NC 27705 USA
Bikes: '18 S-Works Tarmac (white letters), '18 S-Works Tarmac (black letters), '22 Allez Elite, '16 Emonda SL, '12 SS Evo HiMod team, '12 SS Evo HiMod 2, '03 fuel100, '14 adventure3, '19 BMC TeamMachine SLR01
sadly, I have sold all of my CAADs, but I'm happy I replaced them with HiMod SuperSix EVOs. So, I haven't abandoned Cannondales all together
12-02-24 | 12:07 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 935
Likes: 704
From: Santa Rosa, CA
Bikes: More than I have room for.
Rebuilt my old 2000 R300 CAAD3 which I got in 2007 and rode all the way up until 2021. It started life as an 8 speed triple bike with a mix of Tiagra, Sora and lower Cannondale in-house CODA parts. It didn't take me long to upgrade everything to Shimano 105 and that's how I rode it for over a decade.
I retired it when I realized it was actually a bit on the small side for me. That frame is a 58cm and I'm most comfortable on a 61-63cm. So, it got scavenged for parts to build up a different, taller bike. It was collecting dust until a friend was ready to get a decent road bike. The plan was actually not to use this frame but rather a similar sized LeMond I got for cheap from a friend. Well, got that built and realized the head tube and downtube were bent. Didn't notice initially because I bought it without wheels. Whoops. All the components were still good so my friend gave me back half the money to compensate for the bad frame and I swapped everything over to this R300. The LeMond was red, hence the weird red bar tape and cable housing.
Now, the component list is mostly Ultegra with an FSA compact double crank I had laying around and very lightly used Aksium wheelset I got for 100 bucks. Yes, it's got mtb style flats and not clipless. This will be for a friend who will be using it as his one and only do everything bike and isn't into clipless pedals so, flats it is. Bars are some cool NOS Salsa Bell Lap cross bars I got for cheap last year.
I rebuilt every component and did my best to clean out and lube the shifters. All the consumables have been replaced with new parts, so chain, cassette, bar tape, cables, cable housing, brake pads and tires/tubes. I want my friend to have an effectively new bike for a fraction of the cost. All in, I think I've spent around $260. Should last him a long time.
I retired it when I realized it was actually a bit on the small side for me. That frame is a 58cm and I'm most comfortable on a 61-63cm. So, it got scavenged for parts to build up a different, taller bike. It was collecting dust until a friend was ready to get a decent road bike. The plan was actually not to use this frame but rather a similar sized LeMond I got for cheap from a friend. Well, got that built and realized the head tube and downtube were bent. Didn't notice initially because I bought it without wheels. Whoops. All the components were still good so my friend gave me back half the money to compensate for the bad frame and I swapped everything over to this R300. The LeMond was red, hence the weird red bar tape and cable housing.
Now, the component list is mostly Ultegra with an FSA compact double crank I had laying around and very lightly used Aksium wheelset I got for 100 bucks. Yes, it's got mtb style flats and not clipless. This will be for a friend who will be using it as his one and only do everything bike and isn't into clipless pedals so, flats it is. Bars are some cool NOS Salsa Bell Lap cross bars I got for cheap last year.
I rebuilt every component and did my best to clean out and lube the shifters. All the consumables have been replaced with new parts, so chain, cassette, bar tape, cables, cable housing, brake pads and tires/tubes. I want my friend to have an effectively new bike for a fraction of the cost. All in, I think I've spent around $260. Should last him a long time.
12-06-24 | 04:08 PM
Steel is real
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,578
Likes: 2,652
From: Not far from Paris
Bikes: 93GiantTourer,92MeridaAlbon,96Scapin,98KonaKilaueua,93Peugeot Prestige,05CasatiClipper,98Jamis Dragon,95Tange Prestige(to be built),98VettaTeam,95Coppi,93Grandis,Daccordi x3(in build),98Piton(in build),99Trek SLR2300
Rebuilt my old 2000 R300 CAAD3 which I got in 2007 and rode all the way up until 2021. It started life as an 8 speed triple bike with a mix of Tiagra, Sora and lower Cannondale in-house CODA parts. It didn't take me long to upgrade everything to Shimano 105 and that's how I rode it for over a decade.
I retired it when I realized it was actually a bit on the small side for me. That frame is a 58cm and I'm most comfortable on a 61-63cm. So, it got scavenged for parts to build up a different, taller bike. It was collecting dust until a friend was ready to get a decent road bike. The plan was actually not to use this frame but rather a similar sized LeMond I got for cheap from a friend. Well, got that built and realized the head tube and downtube were bent. Didn't notice initially because I bought it without wheels. Whoops. All the components were still good so my friend gave me back half the money to compensate for the bad frame and I swapped everything over to this R300. The LeMond was red, hence the weird red bar tape and cable housing.
Now, the component list is mostly Ultegra with an FSA compact double crank I had laying around and very lightly used Aksium wheelset I got for 100 bucks. Yes, it's got mtb style flats and not clipless. This will be for a friend who will be using it as his one and only do everything bike and isn't into clipless pedals so, flats it is. Bars are some cool NOS Salsa Bell Lap cross bars I got for cheap last year.
I rebuilt every component and did my best to clean out and lube the shifters. All the consumables have been replaced with new parts, so chain, cassette, bar tape, cables, cable housing, brake pads and tires/tubes. I want my friend to have an effectively new bike for a fraction of the cost. All in, I think I've spent around $260. Should last him a long time.
I retired it when I realized it was actually a bit on the small side for me. That frame is a 58cm and I'm most comfortable on a 61-63cm. So, it got scavenged for parts to build up a different, taller bike. It was collecting dust until a friend was ready to get a decent road bike. The plan was actually not to use this frame but rather a similar sized LeMond I got for cheap from a friend. Well, got that built and realized the head tube and downtube were bent. Didn't notice initially because I bought it without wheels. Whoops. All the components were still good so my friend gave me back half the money to compensate for the bad frame and I swapped everything over to this R300. The LeMond was red, hence the weird red bar tape and cable housing.
Now, the component list is mostly Ultegra with an FSA compact double crank I had laying around and very lightly used Aksium wheelset I got for 100 bucks. Yes, it's got mtb style flats and not clipless. This will be for a friend who will be using it as his one and only do everything bike and isn't into clipless pedals so, flats it is. Bars are some cool NOS Salsa Bell Lap cross bars I got for cheap last year.
I rebuilt every component and did my best to clean out and lube the shifters. All the consumables have been replaced with new parts, so chain, cassette, bar tape, cables, cable housing, brake pads and tires/tubes. I want my friend to have an effectively new bike for a fraction of the cost. All in, I think I've spent around $260. Should last him a long time.
12-06-24 | 05:45 PM
Disco Infiltrator
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 15,350
Likes: 3,551
From: Folsom CA
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
Nice. Did you clear coat it or anything?
__________________
Genesis 49:16-17
"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently. "A good cyclist does not need a high road. The moor is intersected with paths and the moon is at the full."
Genesis 49:16-17
"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently. "A good cyclist does not need a high road. The moor is intersected with paths and the moon is at the full."
04-17-26 | 01:56 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 802
Likes: 318
From: Westchester, NY
Bikes: Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod 2, Specialized Tarmac SL8 Fact 10r, XDS RS5
I think that's not only the best colorway since the raw finish is such a limited edition and not offered as a frameset. IMO this is it for mainstream alloy bikes, in this is the pinnacle. Unless Trek relaunches the Emonda ALR, yeah I think this 1250g-1410g range is really the best we are going to see for a modern alloy disc road race bike. The only disappointment for me is if you are not going to give us a 1000g frame, then at least give us 35mm tire clearance. I think a SRAM E1 XPLR 1X with 48T and some Reserves with some fast GP5000 S TR 35mm with the new SystemBar would have made an insane build.
