caad 7 vs caad 8: differences?

[Climb01742]

i'm thinking about maybe building up a cheap MW-esque climbing bike. on ebay there are always cheapo caads available. anyone know if there is any substantial difference between a caad 7 and 8? merci buckets.

[fstrthnu]

i'm thinking about maybe building up a cheap MW-esque climbing bike. on ebay there are always cheapo caads available. anyone know if there is any substantial difference between a caad 7 and 8? merci buckets.

I think it might have something to do with the tube shaping up by the head tube. The CAAD7 was my last model riding under Cannondale. GREAT bike.

Justin

[rwsaunders]

Climb: Cannondale's website has an archive section for older model years. Perhaps a review of the archives can tell the difference.

[Grant McLean]

There's really not much difference between 7 & 8. Maybe 20 grams.

Cannondale shaped the tubes a little differently, the Caad7 downtube
is squished a little more aero near the headtube, the Caad8 has more
aero seat stays.

Both frames are made from the same 'optimo' Alcoa alloy.
The Caad9 frame isn't much different either. They did increase
the base of the seat tube from 32mm to 35mm, but there doesn't
seem to be much ride difference between any of these frames.

g

[benb]

You'd probably have to look at a cut-away frame to really see the difference.

I just test-rode a Caad 8 frame last weekend. It was stunning.. very sweet frame. Incredibly smooth rear triangle, absolutely no flex in the BB, and scalpel handling... the front end got a little buzzy on me once.. but that was on a road that was horribly broken up.

My LBS has either a Caad 8 or Caad 9 frame cut away on the wall so you can see just how crazy the tube manipulations are.. Cannondale is using every trick in the book on these frames.

Unfortunately the one I rode really didn't fit me right. :(

[jhcakilmer]

My current bike is a CADD8, and my previous bike was a CADD7. I think Cannondale does Al about as well as anyone out there. The Cadd8 does feel lighter, and snappier, but this also could be a placebo effect.

Definitely build up to a light bike. I wasn't really trying to build a light bike, and mine came to 16.9lbs with pedals.

I find that geometry is very neutral, and stable at high speed.....personally, it just fits me well!

Either way you can't go wrong. Here are my two last bikes.
1st - CADD7
2nd - CADD8

[mike p]

I've owned a cadd 7,8, and ridden a 9. There all great bikes. Plenty stiff when you put the hammer down but don't beat you up on 6 hr rides unlike my Sc. ridley. I really don't think there's a lot of diff. between the 3. I think each md. got a little lighter but not enough to matter. I say there the best weekend warrior bike you can get on the cheap and better than many that aren't cheap.

Where's fixed anyway.

Mike

[vaxn8r]

I think it's about 30g between the 7 and 8. The only differnece I know is the ST has about 30g reamed out of it and the SS are flattend at the SS/ST junction creating a better look aesthetically. I don't know if either of these changed the ride.

I own the same 7 as jhcakilmer. It has an AL steerer which I think makes the frame "feel" heavier or less snappy than those 7's and up which have CF steerers. ATMO.

[shinomaster]

I think every cannondale frame weighs about 2.8-3 pounds. The caad 9 has a stiffer front end and slightly different geometry.