2ndGen

Google search for closeout sales. Here's one for $1190./shipped:
https://kozy.com/product/11cannondale...ct-73858-1.htm
Cannondale had (has?) a factory promotion recently.
Believe you me, I was very tempted myself.

cyclezen

weight is secondary
unless you're tawkin scandium or similar , alu frame bikes at $1K will be in the 18+ lbs range
buy for the best wheelset... unless the bike is 3bag ugly... (one for her, one for you and one to keep the dog from howlin...)
of course, buy the middle size for fit range.

BTW - my A-class 298 rear (off the roubaix) just detonated at the bottom of my descent from my tuesday hillclimb, yesterday.
was able to roll home, but barely...
I give thanks it happened at the bottom...
no more A-Class wheels in the garage! I Give Big Thanks!

dayday82

And costs $500.

dayday82

I just saw the sale price. it is a good deal for that price. I do like the CAAD but id still prefer to go euro.

dayday82

I believe CC fluffs up those weights unfortunately. Mine came in 19.75 without pedals and I have the smallest size.

pgjackson

Only sizes 58, 60 and 63. The BMC is $999 in all sizes. But if those are your sizes that CAAD is a great deal.

mazdaspeed

This is what I thought, iirc the bmc frame is fairly heavy. If a 58 is over 20lbs I'd go caad personally. Over 20 is heavier than my nashbar frame bike with 1900g wheels...

phlydude

I just bought a 2011 Felt Z85 from EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) for $899.25...if you are in Virginia on North, EMS may be a great option on price, just don't expect LBS service

bikejrff

+1

I just got a 2011 CAAD 10. Can't think of a word better than AWESOME! First ride was 52 miles. What a rocket. My other road bike is a 2011 6.5 Trek Madone Project One. If I HAD to pick one to keep, I'd pick the CAAD. Am I an idiot?

Rubo

kick ass deal! All 105 group unlike some who throw cheap cranksets. Wow really sweet price!

Rubo

I would not pay lot of attention to weight specially that you will ride it for fitness and not for racing.
Check this out
https://bikecalculator.com/veloUS.html
23lb bike vs 20 lb is pretty close 10sec at 20miles and speed pretty much the same.Even on ascends difference is not that great.
I like my bike at 22.5 LB nothing lacking.

2ndGen

----->Got Cult?<-----

Also, I've heard of guys that race preferring their CAAD10's to SuperSixes.

lisitsa

Is the Trek 1.5 a good bike in its price range? Yes. I went through the same battle 2 weeks ago. Choosing between the Trek 1.5 and the Giant Defy 2, I chose the Defy 2. Why? Well there was nothing wrong with the trek, but there was nothing eye-popping. It's got bottom of the range alloy, not hydroformed just simple oval tubes. They don't smooth down their welds and the decals this year are underwhelmeing. They have tiagra shifters, derailleur but nothing else, own-brand crank, brakes and everything else.

So why the Defy 2? Well the red/black/white colour scheme is beautiful. They use Giant's highest level of alloy material Allux SL. It's hydroformed into a large box shape downtube for power transfer and wide top tube for lateral rigidity, not to mention that these tube dimensions make the bike look hot. They machine the welds, my friend thought it was carbon fibre that's how nice the frame looks. You get all Tiagra components, no iffy bontrager hubs, cranks etc. You get a tiagra crank, tiagra cup and cone hubs etc. You get a press-fit bottom bracket that take hollowtech compatible cranks as opposed to the ancient square taper bottom bracket on the Trek 1.5.

The only bling on the Trek I can think of is the 24 bladed spokes and the radial lacing. Yes... that's nice. a tad expensive to replace though.

Rubo

This manufacturer does not allow us to ship this item. However you can purchase this item and pick it up at our stores.

sonomablue

Again, thanks for all the input (and keep it coming).
I have a question about the Geometry. Is/are there key measurements in the Geometry lists to focus on?
When i look at the brochure and/or websites for different manufacturers, there are many measurements.
I was just wondering if certain measurements are worth focusing on.

As I indicated earlier, I test drove (rode) a Specialized Allez Comp Apex Mid-Compact, and I test drove a Giant Defy 1.I actually preferred the "feel" of the Giant Defy 1, even though some may argue that Specialized are better bikes.
(I used to think of "children's" bikes when i would hear the brand "Giant", so it is a little difficult for me to get that out of my head, so that i can consider it a legit road bike).
But back to my questions about Geometry, the sales guy for the Specialized indicated that the Allez has an "Aggresive" geometry. He indicated that it would tend to make me lean over more, and ride in a hunched position, instead of more upright position.
Which value should i be looking at to compare an "Agressive" bike with an more "Upright" bike?

Below are some values for a 52mm bike

Size 52
Seat-Tube Length, B-B Center to Top 490mm
Top-Tube Length, Horizontal 537mm
B-B Drop 71.5mm
Chain-Stay Length 405mm
Seat-Tube Angle 74°
Head-Tube Angle 73°
Fork Rake 45mm
Trail 57mm
Front-Center 576mm
Wheelbase 970mm
Stand-Over Height 777mm
Head-Tube Length 120mm
Stack 527mm
Reach 385mm
Handle-Bar Width 400mm
Stem Length 90mm
Crank Length 170mm

sonomablue

Here are the values for the Giant. Nice that they use different values (cm, mm, Inches, etc.)

Size Head Angle Seat Angle Top Tube Head Tube Chain Stay Wheel Base Standover Height
Centimeters Degrees Degrees Centimeters Centimeters Centimeters Centimeters Inches

S/46.5 72 74 53 14.5 42 99 29.7
M/50.0 72.5 73.5 54.5 16.5 42 99.5 30.6

sonomablue

For all who have posted and suggested certain bikes, I do hope to test drive as many of them as I can, before i purchase. It is not as easy to find them all in stock, and in my size. I was out of town for Thanksgiving. But am home now, and will continue looking around, and calling around.

pgjackson

By the time you drive all over trying out every bike you can find, you will probably have spent so much in gas that you could have bumped your budget up into the CF range. Seriously, the bikes in the $1000-1200 range really aren't that much different. Pick one that looks the coolest in your opinion and ride the dogsh1t out of it.

DM5

I picked up a CAAD9 5 for $1100 in August of this year at my LBS. Was looking at the CAAD8 and Synapse, and they had a CAAD9 unassembled in the box.

BL4zD

I picked this up https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...&sid=11Secteur last weekend from my LBS in Southern California for $1249. It was a clearance sale with Thanksgiving tax free weekend pricing. A few hundred more than some of the linked bikes but everything is 105 and the geometry seems to be more relaxed than the BMC, which might suit me better as a leisurely rider.

I don't know enough about geometry to give you great advice but I will say that since the differences are by degrees that it's more likely than not that how one's feels will become apparent over longer rides and not so much during a parking lot test spin.

pgjackson

I got a Defy 1 for $999, normally $1300. Was the last one in the size. Sometimes you get lucky. Not sure you could go out today and get a CAAD 9 or Defy 1 for those prices...in your size. CAADs are still overpriced.

sonomablue

Contrary to the argument of trying too many models will raise the cost of buying my bike (cost of gas to drive there), i have discovered that I do NOT like the ride of certain bikes. I am GLAD to be riding more and more models.

I did *not* like the ride of the Specialized Allez Comp Apex Mid-Compac. It felt very stiff.
I *did* like the ride of the Giant Defy 1. Very smooth, very responsive, very enjoyable.
I did *not* like the ride of the Fuji 11 CCR3 (all carbon, normally $2249, on sale for $999, at Performace bikes. It felt like an upright tank).
I *did* like the ride of both the Trek 2.1, and the Trek 5.2 (i only rode the 5.2 because they did not have any less expensive 100% carbon in my size).

I will keep test riding, until i have a strong level of confidence in the model that feels right, and performs to what i want, OK, and is within my price range.

thanks again to all who have responded.

BL4zD

I'm have limited knowledge so hopefully someone with more will address the points I'm about to make if I am out of line. The lists you are generating don't seem to be centered around a particular style of riding. I read (and just re-read) your initial post and the only thing I saw in there was a reference to some centuries a long time ago. I don't remember if you've since outlined what you plan to use the bike for now.

But given that you may not have defined it clearly in this thread, you may not have defined it clearly for yourself, or perhaps not realizing how important it is to do so before just checking out all bikes in your price range. At least, it's my opinion that it's best to start with the question of what does one plan to do with the bike.

I'll give you an example of how this seems to be playing out with your list. The Allez you mentioned that you don't particularly like is one that I would suspect you would not find anything other than stiff. It's a racing geometry and trades comfort for power. The bike I linked, the Secteur, is of a similar family as the Roubaix. This class of frames is oriented more toward the longer riding, comfort spectrum in the specialized family.

The Allez and the Secteur share the same Aluminum E5 material. My bike, however, has inserts in the stays and forks to soak vibrations (according to the marketing spiel) and a different geometry than the Allez. I think someone linked to a BMC for around $1,000. At first I was caught by surprise since I just bought mine about a week ago. Did I mess up? Could I have bought a lot more bike for a couple hundred less? Well, after looking at the geometry and reading riders' experiences it turns out that the BMC is quite a bit more aggressive than my Secteur. For a recreational rider, and for someone who plans on taking longer excursions after working up to them (like around 70-100 miles) I think that mine is the correct frame for the purpose I desire. Similar to when I bought my cyclocross last year for around the same price point as my Secteur: totally different usage pattern to the point where I don't think there's any sense to even compare my old Tricross to my current Secteur. Thing is I never took the cyclocross off road before it was stolen so it was a waste to replace it with this year's model (although I initially left the store with a new cross bike only to return it last week for this Secteur when I realized my needs were distinct from my desires). That is, the days of me banging around in the mud as a weekend warrior are about 20 years past and almost all of my seat time is realistically spent gliding along manicured roads enjoying the scenery with my partner.

sonomablue

BL4zD - thanks for the post.

My style of riding (to use your wording) will be primarily 10-15 miles per day (3x - 4x per week) during weekdays, and 50-70 miles on the weekend, hopefully working my way back into 100 mile rides. I have no dream or intention of winning, but i would like to complete some more centuries. I do (or did, years ago) enjoy drafting very close to bikes in front of me. On the centuries that i rode, i was never in the top 50, but my times were respectable to me, and i improved each time. I would like to work back into respectable times for me. I very much enjoy riding alone, and it is only after 10-15 miles that I feel like I am getting into a groove. At my age, it will take some time on the road, to get back up over 50 on a regular basis. I am probably neurotic when it comes to my pace. I enjoy passing other riders if i am on a good pace. However, i am not so competitive that I have to speed up to catch someone who passes me. Bottomline, i am comfortable at *my* pace. Currently, with my Trek MTB 930 with 1.2, and 1.5 tires, i average about 15-17 mph. I am confident with a new "road" bike, my average mph will increase. But I am no longer a young man, so i have to be realistic also. I hope to complete a few (possibly several) centuries, as i work back into it. If i end up being more comfortable with 100K rides, that is ok too. Does that answer some of your questions?

sonomablue

I am curious about people's thoughts on "Triple" vs "Compact" ?