Took the aluminum plunge... not sure if I like it

[Clancy]

Originally Posted by palincss

I'm sorry, but I don't understand in what way you thought this would be an improvement on a Seven Axiom SL.

Oh, come on. We all stray. Gee, I've even tried Shimano over SRAM. We all do silly, impulsive things.

[EliteVelo]

Originally Posted by doomridesout

For a few years now I've heard people singing the praises of the fungible aluminum road racing bike. It's an ethos that appeals to me-- that some bikes are best treated as a tool. Production alloy bikes like the Cannondale CAAD line, the Specialized Allez, and more exclusive options like Spooky and Rock Lobster are often bandied about as good values that are more or less optimized for their use case (riding fast and hard on skinny tires).

I kept an eye on eBay since money is tight right now, and found a NOS 2015 Specialized Allez Smartweld (the 'nice' Allez that predated the aero seatube version), which I bought and duly swapped components from my Seven Axiom SL onto. Three rides in, and I'm not sold. The apologists say "There's certainly a little more road feedback but the responsiveness is worth it." For me at 140 lbs and much more interested in steadily pushing hard at threshold than following sprints and jumps, it probably isn't. I can tell it's stiffer, but I'm such a noodle-armed little bastard that I don't torque much at the headtube even when sprinting, and my ulnar nerves are feeling the headtube stiffness, even with the same fit as my Seven. Probably a no-brainer, in retrospect, but I had to scratch the itch. Has anybody else tried the new generation of alloy bikes and come away unimpressed?

I'm having one built now. Just awaiting on its arrival. As a carbon and Ti Legend by Bertoletti owner, I'm going to try Aluminum again. Figured it would be a great choice for the occasional crit and short, fast rides.

[sandyrs]

Originally Posted by EliteVelo

I'm having one built now. Just awaiting on its arrival. As a carbon and Ti Legend by Bertoletti owner, I'm going to try Aluminum again. Figured it would be a great choice for the occasional crit and short, fast rides.

WOW

that is nice

[EliteVelo]

Originally Posted by sandyrs

WOW

that is nice

Thank You! Haven't been on an Alu bike since the old 2nd generation Cannondales. Had the privilege of riding a Legend Giau, and while it wasn't built to my specs, I came away impressed.

[54ny77]

That Bertoletti is SHARP!!!!!!

[Ralph]

I ride my CAAD 10 a lot. It fits me good. It's light and responsive. Handles good, etc. How it "rides" mostly depends on which of the two sets of wheels I use with it, the tires I use (brand and 23 or 25's), and how much air pressure I use. Prefer 25's over 23's for this frame. The frame (new) only cost me $590 shipped last year. Don't see any need to spend more for a hi performance frame. Other bike is a custom steel frame, but Aluminum OK with me. Tune the ride with your tires and pressure. Would get a left over CAAD 12, but don't want to deal with BB30A and internal shift cables. BB30 enough to deal with (epoxied in a 68 MM threaded sleeve....made it a standard 68 MM BB). However....nice cranks are available for BB30A....cheap and easy to get. Liked the internal routing of brake cable on CAAD 10.....so my sweat don't drip down on the cable. Don't want internal routing of shift cables like CAAD 12.

[doomridesout]

Rode the bike on a couple more 'race rides' and it's definitely good for that, but I'm really spending a lot more time cruising alone or with a friend than trying to hang on to a big, fast paceline so away it goes. It's in the classifieds now-- mods, if that's an inappropriate plug just let me know and I'll take this post down.

[weisan]

So my point of reference are Cannondale SR600 and R4000Si, the two aluminium bikes that I used to own. Since I sold the last one, I haven't had an alum bike in my collection for more than 10 years. Fast forward to this morning, I rode 40 miles on a Giant Defy 1 2012 model. Yowza! What a world of difference, night and day. I don't like to use superlatives so let's just say that this bike is now potentially my "new" favorite.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=210877

A few things that I really like, other than the supple ride.

- They call it "endurance" geometry, whatever....I like it!
- there's plenty of room for 28 mm tires, might go to 30 even, 32 not so sure. But 28-30 is as big as I ever want to go for this type of riding.
- That dent on the down tube - shows character.