To accurately explain the CAAD 10's place within the swath of carbon bicycles available in the market today, I would have to draw an analogy to John Henry, the railroad worker of mid 1800's American lore who, despite all odds, raced a newly designed steam powered railroad track laying machine and won. The CAAD 10 is similar to this herculean figure in that it utilizes an antiquated technology to better what most consider the de rigueur material for road bikes, carbon fiber. Cannondale's aluminum technology goes almost 30 years back, and the company continues to prove that aluminum can beat the pants of a huge percentage of the carbon fiber market, while still keeping a large chunk o' change in your pocket. In essence, the CAAD 10 is an aluminum bike starting at under $1900 that will outperform most carbon bikes under $3000, and dare we say a few carbon bikes over the 3K mark. However, unlike John Henry and his untimely end, the CAAD series of bikes shows no sign of expiring.
The Package
Last year's CAAD 9 was quite possibly the best selling road bike we have ever carried in the shop, and its ubiquity abounds in criteriums, grand fondos, centuries and classics across the country. Simply nothing could beat it for the price and our customers knew that from the get go. It was stiff, light, very attractive and inexpensive. Show up at any CRCA race and you will see a large percentage of the field dominated by this bicycle.
We didn't think that the CAAD 9 could be improved upon, but we were delightfully proven wrong. The first thing we noticed is the size of the tubes on the CAAD 10; they're huge! Also, the amount of buttressing and support around the tubes gives us confidence that this bike will transfer every watt of power into the pedals and every movement of your body into accurate control of the bike. At 1150 grams, the CAAD 10 frame is far lighter than it's older brother, the CAAD 9, and if you're a weight nerd, you know that figure comes in under most of the carbon fiber frames on the market.
The CAAD 10 comes in a variety of iterations depending on your skill or budget level. The CAAD 9 1 comes equipped with Shimano Dura Ace shifters, wheels, and deraileurs, with a gigantic SLK carbon crank mated to a BB30 bottom bracket, ready to take center stage at even the most demanding criterium. The CAAD 10 3 comes in right under the 1, equipped with Shimano Ultegra, the functionally identical but somewhat heavier sibling to Dura Ace (essentially the equivalent of takeing the change out of your pocket). The CAAD 10 4 comes equipped with SRAM rival components for the racer on a budget and the CAAD 10 5 comes decked out in Shimano's new 105 group for 2011, which is perfect for the beginning road rider coming into the sport for the first time, and who will upgrade parts later in their career.
The Ride
I'll just go out and say it without a litany of flowery verbiage: This thing climbs like a damn mountain goat. Those gigantic seat stays and chain stays are not there for show, they really keep that rear rear wheel from flexing under load unlike any bike I've ever ridden even close to twice the price of this bike. I get a lot of customers who come in who have purchased CAAD series bikes in the past who claim that it feels like someone is pushing them uphill, and no where is that claim more experienced than on this bike.
The position is not as razor edged as the most aggressive road bikes out there, but it still allows the rider to assume a very aerodynamic position if need be, while giving enough leeway in the adjustments to lift the stem up for a longer ride or for an entry level rider who hasn't acclimated to a road bike position yet. The steep head angle ensures a turn-on-a-dime handling demeanor, perfect for weaving your way through a peloton or into a sharp curve. I especially noticed this when descending. The CAAD 10 was confident and poised even in the hairiest of situations, urging me to push it farther into the corners. Predictability is in my view the most important aspect of any machine's handling, and the CAAD 10 delivers it in spades.
It's readily apparent that this bike was designed to win races and eek out every iota of input that the rider is willing to put out, but it's forgiving enough to allow you to use this bike for a century or long club ride. On our test ride, one of our customers remarked that it was the most comfortable aluminum bike he's ever ridden and he remarked that he wouldn't think twice about taking it on his favorite Montauk century. While this bike was not intended to be a long ride bike, It's incredibly versatile and won't beat you up like an average aluminum road bike would.
Summary
While it may sound like I've lifted this bike up to be the carbon killer, there are still some drawbacks of using aluminum for long periods of time, especially if you're racing. Aluminum tends to fatigue over time. What this means for you is as the bike becomes more and more flexible, it's ability to transfer power to the back wheel is compromised, causing slower handling and slower accelerations.
For most riders this will never come into play, but if you're a racer pounding and flexing that frame day in and day out, that light and responsive aluminum frame you purchased will become flexible and noodly over time (Usually in 10 years, but we've seen some bruisers turn their frames into rubber in 5). Carbon tends to hold it's stiffness much longer than aluminum, so while carbon bikes are more expensive, they tend to maintain their ride characteristics for much longer. Fortunately, cannondale has a frame upgrade program, and will give you a 30% discount on a new frame when you turn yours in.
Also, it's much harder to change the actually physical make up of the aluminum, where as will carbon we can fine tune the ride much more effectivley. A carbon bike will always be more forgiving than an aluminum bike, while still giving you great climbing efficiency. Aluminum bikes are stiff in all the right places, however, they tend to be stiff in the wrong places too. Carbon bikes give you a better all-around ride
I would not recommend this bike to more mature riders, long distance riders, or riders who are just starting an exercise routine on a bike. It's too aggressive and sharp to be a bike to start out on. However, if you're a runner looking to expand or replace your repertoire with cycling, a beginning racer on a budget, or you're just looking for a bike that handles just as well as the finest racing bikes on the planet, the Cannondale CAAD 10 is right up your alley.
