# Looking at a SystemSix



## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

So I went to a LBS today to check out the CAAD9-4. Sitting there in my size was a 2007 SystemSix 3 (naked carbon/Al, Ultegra w/Dura-Ace RD). I rode both of them and although I liked the CAAD, I was lusting after the System. It was listed at $3400 but after some asking the guy brought it down to $2500.

The bike itself is in great shape. They have never sold it, it only has whatever "demo miles" previous people have put on it. Personally I would ditch the 6600 and put some Sram on it, but that is besides the point. The frame fits, looks great, and rides great. I just have two questions:

First, is does $2500 sound pretty reasonable? Should I try and deal some more? I'm a little hesitant given he dropped it $900 after barely being prompted to look into it. I guess this is keeping in mind I'd probably keep the frameset and wheels (ksyrium elite) and put a new bar and gruppo on it (likely Sram Force).

Second, and possibly more important, this could be a dumb question but _ALL_ SystemSix frames were BB30, right? It makes way more sense to me that they would make the same frame and just use some press-in adapters to fit the Shimano external cups. The guy at the shop didn't seem to know much about this, but I convinced myself that this must be the case. Can anyone (STARNUT?) confirm this?

Thanks. Not telling which shop this is just in case anybody tries to snatch this up before I do


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## zamboni (Sep 11, 2003)

I've seen a few system six came with regular BB, perhaps the Ultegra model but you need to see the one at your LBS. I think $2100 to $2300 is a fair deal. Sell the Shimano grouppo and install Campy gear you will have an excellent bike.


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## bending guide (Jun 21, 2010)

For that price why not build your own and get all the specs you wanted? Yes press in adapters will work with shimano BB thats what I have with my caad 9.


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## Sebastionmerckx (Mar 6, 2008)

2,500 is just a bit high.I say that because there are three different shops I know of that have left over System Sixes from 2007 near me and they are all selling for 1,999-2,200. Also,you can most likely buy a barely used 2007 frame and fork on the Bay for under 800 and just build it up the way you want it and still be under 2,500.


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## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

So the real question is - were all SystemSix frames BB30 or did some come with a standard one?


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## ping771 (Apr 10, 2006)

aengbretson said:


> So the real question is - were all SystemSix frames BB30 or did some come with a standard one?


All System Six frames are bb30, but can use non bb30 cranks through the use of an adapter in the bb. The "official" policy line from Cannondale is that once you put the adapter in the bb shell, it is not recommended that you try to remove it in order to avoid damaging the frame, but I know bike shops do it all the time without damaging the frame.


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## JSWhaler (Nov 25, 2009)

As for the adapter. A certified bike shop will remove an adapter as long as they do it, which will also cover warranty issues. As for the cost of the bike, I agree it seems a bit high. I would try asking for another $300 off + Sram parts installed (they keep the DA). This way you get the bike setup the way you want and have a nice Cannondale warranty to boot.


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## Devastator (May 11, 2009)

aengbretson said:


> So the real question is - were all SystemSix frames BB30 or did some come with a standard one?


The anwser is no not all are BB30, I think all 07 which were SI were BB30. For 08 it was only the team and 1 that were BB30, the 3 and 4 were standard. My 08 which was a Systemsix 3 was standard, had a ultegra crank no insert.


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## AvantDale (Dec 26, 2008)

I can't wait to get my System together! :8:

My frame is a BB30...I'm pretty sure its an 08-1.


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## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. From what I can tell it is a 2007 model (based on the colors), so I'm guessing it does have the BB30 bottom bracket and they went and put in adapters. The 07 C'dale catalogue shows that bike having the SI carbon crankset so I think I'll ask for less given the 6600 crank retails for less than the SI one (wouldn't get carbon, would try and eBay one of the silver aluminum ones).

Again thanks to everyone for the input. I don't need the price to come down to buy it, but I may still make the purchase contingent upon seeing the crank pulled out so I can inspect the BB and see if it is BB30.


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## Sebastionmerckx (Mar 6, 2008)

aengbretson said:


> Thanks for the replies. From what I can tell it is a 2007 model (based on the colors), so I'm guessing it does have the BB30 bottom bracket and they went and put in adapters. The 07 C'dale catalogue shows that bike having the SI carbon crankset so I think I'll ask for less given the 6600 crank retails for less than the SI one (wouldn't get carbon, would try and eBay one of the silver aluminum ones).
> 
> Again thanks to everyone for the input. I don't need the price to come down to buy it, but I may still make the purchase contingent upon seeing the crank pulled out so I can inspect the BB and see if it is BB30.


You don't need to have the cranks pulled to tell it's bb30,it's very obvious...Just look at the bottom bracket.I installed a sleeve in mine to run Shimano and I'm pretty sure most Shimano spec System Sixes in 2007 used the same type of sleeve. If you look,you'll notice that the bottom bracket is bigger around than the bb cups:


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## AvantDale (Dec 26, 2008)

Can't you just measure the BB shell?


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## Sebastionmerckx (Mar 6, 2008)

AvantDale said:


> Can't you just measure the BB shell?


That works too of course.


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## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

Searching the q's asked of BRAD (from the C'dale website), he says all 2007 SystemSix frames had bb30, even the ones with threaded cups.

Looks like I'll be the proud owner of one very, very soon


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## -dustin (Jan 11, 2009)

Geeze, already $900 off....I wouldve snagged that up on the spot. Never looks good when a salesperson takes off a chunk of change only to have the customer say "let me think about it" and walk out. Then again, I don't know how much you questioned the price, but anyway.....

I'd pay $2500 for a System Six right now and I work for a Cannonsale dealer. If I were you, I'd ask about swapping the Ultegra kit for Force + Force BB30 crank straight up, and getting some credit towards bar of choice. 

Why not buy off of eBay? Because a warranty is worth the extra $$ you'll spen buying from a dealer.


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## zamboni (Sep 11, 2003)

For that price got to be a regular BB.


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## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

-dustin said:


> Geeze, already $900 off....I wouldve snagged that up on the spot. Never looks good when a salesperson takes off a chunk of change only to have the customer say "let me think about it" and walk out. Then again, I don't know how much you questioned the price, but anyway.....
> 
> I'd pay $2500 for a System Six right now and I work for a Cannonsale dealer. If I were you, I'd ask about swapping the Ultegra kit for Force + Force BB30 crank straight up, and getting some credit towards bar of choice.
> 
> Why not buy off of eBay? Because a warranty is worth the extra $$ you'll spen buying from a dealer.


Basically I was there to look at a CAAD9 and when I took it out for a demo he told me he'd look into the pricing on the system. When I got back he gave me that offer. There was no dealing. I wasn't going to buy anything that day (I have a few more bikes to look at), plus I wanted to do my research on the BB of the system. I made it clear that I really liked it but wasn't going to make an impulse buy. I followed up the next day reaffirming my interest and to ask one or two more questions (getting a different saddle, bars, etc.). I don't think I made it look like I was just kicking the tires because I *am* looking to buy and it was an incredible ride within the range I was looking to spend.

No matter if it is BB30 with adapters or a plain threaded english BB it's a good deal. However I still need to get my next paycheck before I can slap a lot of money down. I'm going to call on Tuesday (first day they're open post-July 4) to arrange payment, give them a deposit, and then give them the balance when I get paid next. This shop is 2 hours away from where I live, but is 20 minutes away from my parent's place (it also happens to be the second the closest C'dale dealership to me!).

So yeah unless they have a change of heart I'll just get it as-is, ultegra and all, and then spend some time getting it exactly to my liking (i.e. inspect the BB, pull out the adapters I'm assuming are there, put an SI crank in, and then some Force).


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## zamboni (Sep 11, 2003)

Sounds like you already made up your mind on this bike, you will enjoy the system six congrat.


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## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

Put down a deposit today and will pay the rest when I get my next paycheck!

Still very puzzled that C'dale would put two different BBs on one frame... it would seem to me that the cost of making two different rear ends would be more than making the BB30 and using adapters for threaded external cups.

On those with the threaded BBs, I've noticed there is a LOT of extra material. Compare the SystemSix to the CX9.

System (non BB30):









System (BB30):









CX9 (BB30):









From the look of things (since I can't just measure them), the two SystemSix BB areas are about the same size, and that there is a LOT more metal around those external cups than I'm used to seeing in a metal frame (i.e. the CX9).

This leads me to an absolutely crazy idea/question... What do you think the odds are that the BB could be machined to accept BB30? I wouldn't do this because the risk of ruining a great bike is way too high compared to any benefit I might gain, besides the fact it would DESTROY the warranty, but I just had to float this out there, more of an "academic exercise".


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## zamboni (Sep 11, 2003)

So are you getting the red version ? If so seems to be a regular BB but it's still a great frame.


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## aengbretson (Sep 17, 2009)

Nope that is just a picture I found, but the shop says that what I'm getting has a regular BB as well. Not a big deal to me, I had been riding standard threaded ones for a long time before this and given that I'm not (and never will be) able to put out the kind of power to notice the small difference in stiffness, the only thing I miss out on is the ability to run a blingy cannondale si crank.

I'm getting a 2007 raw carbon/polished Al version. Full ultegra (including crank and bakes), Ksyrium elite wheels, FSA SL-K seatpost, fizik arione saddle, and gossamer ergo bars (will probably be the first thing I change!).

EDIT: this has caused me some confusion (from the C'dale website):

Posted on: August 3, 2008 5:15 am 
*Question:* Hi Brad, is the 2008 hollowgram SL BB30 crank compatible with the 2007 System Six frame? Or which kind of hollowgram Si crank (not the carbon one) can I mount? Thanks for the answer.
*Answer:* All of our System Six frames have a BB30 bottom bracket. If it came stock with English threaded cranks, it has an adapter pressed into the bottom bracket that can be pressed out and have any BB30 crank installed, including our Hollowgram SLs. Ride on.

and

Posted on: July 2, 2008 5:41 pm
*Question:* Are all System Six frames compatible with the Si BB30 crankset? To be specific is the System Six 4 frame compatible? Thanks in advance.
*Answer:* Yes sir, if a System Six didn’t come stock with BB30 cranks (like you’re 4), it has the adapter pressed into the bottom bracket. See you’re dealer about pressing that out and upgrading to SL’s. Ride on.

Makes me start thinking all over again. Why can't I get a straight answer? Doesn't change the fact that I'm buying this bike... I guess I'll just have to wait until I have it and then take the crank off. That paycheck can't come soon enough!!!


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## shotojs78 (May 20, 2008)

in 2008, just one was on bb30 (team 1 on dura ace with si carbon crank) + liquigas paint 2007-2008 on ultegra with carbon crank... sytem six 2, 3 or 4 was not bb30


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