Pegoretti Aluminium ride qualities

[El Chaba]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

I jumped to aluminum when lugged steel was all the rage (Vitus 992) and have raced and trained on AL ever since. I don't think I owned a carbon bike until around 2008, but have always had AL in rotation. I've ridden the best from Vitus, Bianchi, Colnago, team issued CAAD's, and Cyfac. All were excellent. My Cyfac is the smoothest riding bike I've owned. Not steel. Not carbon. The guy who built it, Francis Quillon (I believe he's retired now), is said to have built 80% of the bikes lined up to start the Tour during aluminum's heyday. I would put the ride of this aginst any other AL.

I had an aluminum Cyfac in the early 00s and can vouch for its credentials as a superb all around machine with excellent ride properties. I miss it as it met its demise with a collision with a deer that broke the frame in half and did its level best to do the same to me. I think the 80% number is high, but in that time period around the turn of the century it was still amazing how many teams Quillon outfitted entirely, and there were many individual bikes outside of the normal team structures. He made the Peugeots for Festina, the MBKs for Cofidis, the Cyfac for Jean Delatour just off the top of my head. Unfortunately, Francis Quillon has retired. As an additional note Laurent Brochard’s brother was a frame builder at Cyfac and his sister in law worked in the office.

[skiezo]

Originally Posted by GParkes

OP, you mentioned a custom in your post. I would recommend you look into / speak with Nate Zukas. He seems to have perfected Alu frame construction. And reasonably priced.

I have looked into him a few weeks ago and may contact him soon.
I have been following his work for years and am impressed with what I see.

[texbike]

I’ve had at least one of every CAAD generation from the 7 to 10 and enjoyed them all. I’ve also had a Fina (with an Ouzo Pro on it) and loved that bike. It wasn’t necessarily “better” than the CAADs, but I really liked the aesthetics of the over-sized tubes (especially the chainstays) and the fact that it was designed and built by Dario’s team. For those reasons, I put the Fina above the CAADs.

They’ve all moved onto new homes at this point and the only aluminum bike I have now is a minty Merckx SC. Although there is a reasonably priced CAAD10 disc in the local classifieds that’s my size and calling my name...

Texbike

[El Chaba]

This is my own experience with Cannondale CAADs….It is stiff and handles great in tight situations which makes it a great bike for pack riding or racing( I no longer race). Anybody who says that one of these is a great riding bike has insufficient frame of reference. The only way that I can tolerate the stiff ride as it is involves tubulars. This is not a machine that I would take for any ride over 100 km. As I mentioned, it is a very nice handling and efficient racing bike, though….

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

Anybody who says that one of these is a great riding bike has insufficient frame of reference. The only way that I can tolerate the stiff ride as it is involves tubulars. This is not a machine that I would take for any ride over 100 km. As I mentioned, it is a very nice handling and efficient racing bike, though….

Since I just said that, I will reply your statement which IMHO is ridiculous. I've ridden a ton of bikes, all materials, and there is nothing about a CAAD8 (the originals made in the US with optimo tubing, for example, that make it a bike you cannot ride all day on.

I had that same Saeco edition CAAD5 btw.

It's such an absurd comment, Team Saeco raced every race of a pro tour season on the CAAD's for the better part of a decade. Three grand tours a year. Was Gilberto Simoni crying at the end of every stage? C'mon.

Are there MORE comfortable bikes? Sure, of course, but this concept they are so uncomfortable you can't ride 100km, give me a break. But hey I can't speak for you.

[El Chaba]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

Since I just said that, I will reply your statement which IMHO is ridiculous. I've ridden a ton of bikes, all materials, and there is nothing about a CAAD8 (the originals made in the US with optimo tubing, for example, that make it a bike you cannot ride all day on.

I had that same Saeco edition CAAD5 btw.

It's such an absurd comment, Team Saeco raced every race of a pro tour season on the CAAD's for the better part of a decade. Three grand tours a year. Was Gilberto Simoni crying at the end of every stage? C'mon.

Are there MORE comfortable bikes? Sure, of course, but this concept they are so uncomfortable you can't ride 100km, give me a break. But hey I can't speak for you.

Read again. I didn’t write that one CAN’T take the thing for a long ride at all. My point is that it is not particularly well suited for that use and in my own cases I simply have better choices for that purpose.

[fredd]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

This is my own experience with Cannondale CAADs….It is stiff and handles great in tight situations which makes it a great bike for pack riding or racing( I no longer race). Anybody who says that one of these is a great riding bike has insufficient frame of reference. The only way that I can tolerate the stiff ride as it is involves tubulars. This is not a machine that I would take for any ride over 100 km. As I mentioned, it is a very nice handling and efficient racing bike, though….

Not saying CAAD5 is a good or a bad bike, but it doesn’t feature the hydro formed tubes of the CAAD10/12/13, which is what I would argue sets a modern CAAD apart from a Love.

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

Read again. I didn’t write that one CAN’T take the thing for a long ride at all. My point is that it is not particularly well suited for that use and in my own cases I simply have better choices for that purpose.

Ok. I read this again and it reads the same way as the first time: "Anybody who says that one of these [CAAD's] is a great riding bike has insufficient frame of reference." If that's how YOU feel. Cool.

I said they are great riding bikes. The original MUSA CAAD8, MUSA CAAD9 and the CAAD10 are all great riding bikes. The 8's (and all prior CAAD's) were used in pro tour, no issues every race. They were particularly well suited to win a few Giro D'Italia's of back to back to back 150-200km days.

I tell you what, anyone out there who thinks they have _____ bike that is SO MUCH better than a CAAD10 that I would never ride a CAAD10 100km, or 200km, again in my life, because I'd "seen the light". Send me said bike. If it's true, I'll send it back with 5x the cash in the box that it cost you to ship it to me. If not, you pay for return shipping. You believe it so much, should be easy money, right?

Warning: I've owned my fair shar of bikes, and I've ridden/tested about 10times that amount.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

I had an aluminum Cyfac in the early 00s and can vouch for its credentials as a superb all around machine with excellent ride properties. I miss it as it met its demise with a collision with a deer that broke the frame in half and did its level best to do the same to me. I think the 80% number is high, but in that time period around the turn of the century it was still amazing how many teams Quillon outfitted entirely, and there were many individual bikes outside of the normal team structures. He made the Peugeots for Festina, the MBKs for Cofidis, the Cyfac for Jean Delatour just off the top of my head. Unfortunately, Francis Quillon has retired. As an additional note Laurent Brochard’s brother was a frame builder at Cyfac and his sister in law worked in the office.

I thought that was a bit high too, but that was the number given to me by one of the owners at the time. Here's from the french bike encyclopedia:

https://encycloduvelo.fr/cyfac/

..."almost all French pros from 1980 to 2000, but also Chiappucci, Millar, Frankie VDB, and Pantani, all rode Cyfac bikes." So whether it's 80%, 60%, 50%, it's still pretty impressive.