# CAAD9 vs CAAD10 Review



## Accordion (Mar 27, 2010)

I posted this in another forum but thought I'd post my thoughts here as well in case anybody is contemplating these same points. 


Background - CAAD9-5 for a year and a half. 8000 miles. Mostly 50 mile rides, sometimes 70-80, never did a century. Stock other than Williams System 30 wheels about 5000 miles into my riding. They changed the bike. Hit by a car on August 7th, bike totaled, got a new bike - CAAD10-4 (Rival) and have ridden it for a week.

Here's my take on it:

CAAD9 vs CAAD10? Crap, the 10 kicks the 9's butt. I loved my made-in-the-old USA CAAD9 and would have never given it up had it not been totaled but the 10 is a freakin' scalpel. It's lighter, more agile and quicker. It's not a maybe/possibly/I don't know thing - it's a fact. It's a far better bike. My first 30 mile ride was revelatory.

Shimano vs Rival? Are you kidding me? I've made no bones about the fact that I didn't get along with 105. It's not the norm but I hated mine. Finicky, always needed adjustments, never a crisp shift. This Rival stuff is unreal. Anybody that tells you they have to get used to it is a moron. I have probably 32000 shifts on 105 and I haven't missed a shift on Rival. There was nothing I had to learn. The lever is in the same damn spot as Shimano and you just click it once to upshift. So freaking easy. The shifts are so crisp. Granted this is a brand new bike but my 105 never behaved like this.

Tektro vs Rival brakes? I literally almost flew over the bars my first couple of stops. Tektro sucks. You all told me this but I didn't want to listen. You were right.

Standard vs Compact crank? I had a compact on the CAAD9 and was constantly crosschaining. I couldn't find a gear in the big ring or small ring that I liked other than the extreme crosschained combinations. I figured I'd order a standard crank this time around. My first ride I stayed in the small ring and it was awesome. Until I ran into a hill. I'm a big dude and a terrible climber. Add to that fact that I have gained 20 pounds and been off a bike for two months and you can see that I'm not going to be Contador on the hills. But I was really shocked at how much I had given up on the bottom end of that standard crankset. I could just sit and spin in the 34/28 and I was dying in the smallest combo on this Rival setup. I won't attempt the hills again until I get stronger - I would if I had a compact.

Well that's it. CAAD10 with Rival for the win.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

I agree. I went from a Six to a CAAd10. They really outdid themselves on it. 

You can get a sub 16 lbs bike for $3200 (2011 yr). Great value.


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## Erik_A (Sep 14, 2008)

I have a CAAD9 road bike 63cm as well as a CAAD9 cyclocross 60cm. For a tall big guy these are both great frames. I am 6'-4" and 225 lbs and love the compliant in vibration dampening, but stiff in power transfer. I am coming from steel road bikes (Bianchi and Lemond) and much prefer the ride of the CAAD9. I never thought I would say that being a Reynolds 853 evangelist in the past. Bicycling magazine did a article this month about how frame-builders are returning to aluminum (over carbon) for certain types of road frames. I think that hat Cannondale is doing with hydroformed aluminum tubes is amazing.

I am sure that the CAAD10 is also fantastic. The one thing that I have heard (and has kept me away so far is that the tubing is thinner on the CAAD10 than the CAAD9; so I worry about the frame getting dented in how I store and transport our family's bikes - which is less than ideal).


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## CHL (Jun 24, 2005)

Erik_A said:


> I am sure that the CAAD10 is also fantastic. The one thing that I have heard (and has kept me away so far is that the tubing is thinner on the CAAD10 than the CAAD9; so I worry about the frame getting dented in how I store and transport our family's bikes - which is less than ideal).


Don't think that this started with the CAAD10. This started with the CAAD7 and the Optimo Aluminum tubing. I remember seeing the cross sections of the CAAD8 (the original CAAD8 that Damiano Cunego piloted to his 2004 Giro D'Italia win) and it was razor thin. The Cannondale booth at the then San Francisco Grand Prix had a fully built CAAD8 with DA7800 and it appeared to be around 15lbs (a mid-large size frame, not a small frame). 

Don't let your CAAD9 fall or the frame might be toast. This goes for all modern aluminum or carbon bicycle frame.


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