So the tube shaping is "marketing" to you?
The ride quality is "marketing" to you?
Your love for it is "marketing" to you?

So I made a possible mistake, which would is kind of embarrassing.

I had a fitting done, and apparently, my awesome CAAD9 is just slightly too big for me. I have a 52, should've gone with a 50 [technically, I should ride a 51.5cm frame. Funny world.] After some tweaks and adjustments, it fits fine, although it looks somewhat aesthetically unpleasing. Rides fabulous, but pretty much resigned to a 80mm stem [which I'm used to.] and maybe getting a Compact handlebar. Alas, there is smidgen of seatpost showing albeit with adequate saddle to handlebar drop.

Well, folks. Grin and deal with it? It's not that big of an issue, but I'm a very neurotic type when it comes to sizing.
Anyway, the frame is amazing. Super stiff, you want to go, and it follows suit. Awesome stuff, the CAAD9.

Mine was too small; lesson learned for both of us. I ended up with a Specialized Allez Comp 61cm frameset. A CAAD10 60cm frame would've been borderline too small as well. I'm getting a 61cm Synapse Carbon 5 in June and should be set for years - two good bikes that fit. And yes, I know that the number of bikes you need is N+1. ;)

If it's too small for you, you were fitted wrong. That is the LBS's responsibility.
I wouldn't settle for it. Get your proper size. It's not only the right thing for them to do,
but your physical conditioning depends on it. You shouldn't have to concede to the bike.
It should fit you.

damnn skippy!! I wouldn't settle.

I don't think you get what I'm saying. Follow along now:

The tube shaping is neat. What most people believe about it, and about the superiority/inferiority of given shapes is pure marketing. No ifs/ands/buts about it. Please take a moment to sit back and observe that everything that Cannondale says is so obviously superior about the CAAD10 was once a set of properties that made similar bikes inferior to the CAAD9. Now, the "superior" traits of the CAAD9 had to be "re-thought" or "abandoned" in order to create a better CAAD...a CAAD which once upon a time Cannondale marketing would have disparaged for all the reasons they now tout it.

The ride "quality" is because it's a good bike. Some of the pseudo-mystical things that people here believe about it are because they have imbibed heavily of the marketing. The bike "rides" as well as a whole lot of other nice bikes. It "performs" as well as all other good bikes (actually, bikes don't really "perform", people perform). It's a good bike. It's not really that different from a whole lot of other good bikes. I like it, but I would like a number of other bikes as well.

My love for it is because it's been a good, reliable bike that has done everything I've asked. It fits, it looks nice, it rides well. It is more bike than I can actually utilize. So were a lot of others. The Cannondale happened to have a price tag that was competitive, and the aesthetics of "upper-end" aluminum were appealing to me as a unique factor among all its CF competitors.

It's a good bike. I hope it continues to be good for many years. I used to recommend it highly to others. But people believe things of it, and now of the CAAD10, that are just plain marketing. At a minimum, please compare what Cannondale said about "shaped" tubing in the era of each bike. Compare what Cannondale used to say about CF in various parts of the bike, and what they say now. Look at the various reasons for putting CF in various parts of the Six13 (it changed several times) and why each iteration was the "best".

The BF crowd tends to regard marketing as scientific fact.

ding ding….not to hurt anyone's feeling but if i didn't know better i would say that 2ndgen is a marketing/sales rep for Cannondale. S**T, our district rep Steve Kwait doesn't even push them as hard as he does.

that being said, it's marginally better, in my opinion, than the Caad9 and not as good as several carbon bikes i've owned.

i race it because like Banzai says, it fills a need for a cheap, good racing bike that i consider disposable.

CAAD 9, made in America, all Dura Ace
 

just picked up last night, and it's awesome

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=199542

Sweet ride, friend!

RF- thanks-- picked up Monday night, and crit'd Tuesday night, training wheels and all--the thing is a revelation. loved it.

^^^ shrinkboy, what's your average speed on the Caad9 when you're doing a crit? Just curious.

Whats a crit?

i need some wheels for my caad 10 any recommendation? budget 7bills

probably the exact same speed it would be on any other bike.

"Crit" is short for a "criterium" race. Think of circuit racing for bikes as opposed to Tour de France-type stage races or open road races.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium
Video I put together from watching a local crit race in 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnJJCfQD6BY

Unless he won, it was slower than someone else. :D

I'm in pretty much the same position. Bought a 60cm CAAD9-5 as a leftover from 2010. They had a 58, but were positive that the 60 was the right choice (he actually said he wouldn't let me walk out the door with a 58, even if that was all he had). I'm tall, but my legs are not proportional to my torso (90cm inseam). My stats on some of the bike fit sites indicate that the 60cm frame (C-T) is correct for me (wrenchscience.com). To attain the proper reach I currently have a 70mm stem intalled. Wrench science even spec'ed a 60cm frame and 67cm of reach. With the 70mm stem I'm currently at 66cm reach. After my conditioning improves, I expect to move to an 80 or 90mm stem.

Honest question, I don't pretend to be an expert in these matters, but why is it incorrect to use a shorter stem? I haven't noticed "twitchy" steering at all. I am having some knee pain, but I think that's more related to my knee than to any specific set up issues. If I ice it after a ride, it's better. I bought a computer with cadence to make sure I'm spinning enough. But I do live in an area with lots of hills, so even in my lowest gear, I'm sometimes mashing up a steep.

I think that if I were to move to a 58cm frame that my seat would be so high that I'd have way too much drop to the handlebars. With the 60 there's already "quite a bit" of seat post extended (I haven't measured). So if I need a 70mm stem (until my flexibility improves?), why is that bad?

I've hesitated to post pictures of my bike, because I've read enough of this forum to know that the "stem police" will call out my short stem. I have stem inadequacy syndrome! if it's so "bad" why do they make them?

I've rectified the frame size in my mind, given my specific proportions. But some of these blanket statements that the short stem is BAD, make me wonder if I'm missing something. Of course, the answer for me may be a different brand bike (blasphemer!) or a custom frame...

They are nice bikes. The CAAD 9 may not be the smoothest riding frame there is, but a guy I ride with sometimes switches bikes with me for a few miles on long flats and the thing is smoother than my steel bikes. It feels surprisingly gentle and easier to pedal even after 60mi. I want to get an 8 or 9 soon. Size 56 if anyone is reading who like nice steel bikes and wants to trade.

i came directly from riding steel, and this bike feels every bit as smooth, if not actually smoother...i felt none of 'harshness' -- but then, i put 190 lbs on the bike...just did a brisk 30 miler this morning and it felt great.

I've looked around at all the other variables, and for the price I'm intending to stay in (getting a new bike for the stable in January) I can't see a "better" option than the CAAD10-1 at $,3150. I've looked at titanium (and love Lynskey), as well as a plethora of carbon framed bikes, and when it all comes down to it - they're cutting every single corner on components to give me a frame that is going to be minimal in improvements over an aluminum one.

With that said, I look at things beyond just a frame. Wheels has been my biggest concern, being that I still have a set of RS10s floating around and had to deal with them day in and day out. I don't want to explain to my wife why I wanted a $3k bike only to have to invest another $2k in components and then another $2k in wheels to do exactly what I could on the CAAD10.

Scott Addict R2.

W.Kentucky to Central Ill to pick up my 2nd CAAD.
CAAD9 6-D white. FYI 1st is CAAD9 4-C black.
I fooled around & missed out on one @ Bikesmith...
I'm STOKED!!

4-c & 6-d :50:

Can I ask how much you paid for that?

Really? Non-drive side photos?