# ?upgrade CAAD4 frame vs buy new bike



## fredf (Aug 13, 2004)

Bought my 19 yr old son a used Cannondale R400 at end of last season.CAAD$ frame, Mavic CXP 22 wheels, Tiagra/Sora groupo.
He is now crazy about road biking...although he will never race, but he goes out daily.
I would like to treat him and am wondering:
1. upgrade the Cannondale...get lightter more aero wheelset ($500 from Mike Garcia) and I can get a full 9-speed (2004) Ultegra groupo ( the full thing...cranks, BB, calipers, etc) installed on the bike.
that's a total of about $1100. I have already upgraded the bars and put on a cheap carbon fibre stem.

2. a local bikeshop gets some local team bikes back at end of season (mid Sept). they are about $4000 bikes and the guy there (and I trust him) says I might get one for about $2000 to $2300 (no tax as they are used). THey will be carbon fibre...perhaps a Kuota Kharma or such.

Question: Is it worth upgrading a CAAD4 frame or spend the extra money to get a carbon fibre bike?
The carbon fibre bike will be a $1000 more and this isn't chicken feed, but I don't want to spend a $1000 to upgrade on a frame that isn't worth it.

What do you think?


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## Vaprak001 (May 24, 2005)

Why don't you get the second hand race bike and sell your sons R400 to make up the difference? It may not make up the full $1000 or so, but it should come close.

The main benefit of the race team bike should be the quality of the componentry. I bought a Saeco team bike from Cannondale back in 2001 and although I've upgraded the frame twice I still using the same Campy Record Carbon group that came with it. I think its better to future-proof now rather than constantly playing catch-up.

Anyway, with the money you're looking to spend, if your current son doesn't seem grateful for your efforts, I'd be happy to be adopted!


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## Nigeyy (Mar 30, 2003)

I upgraded my 02 R500 CAAD4 frame to an Ultegra drivechain (except the Tiagra shifters, which surprizingly I was happy enough with to keep after trying my friend's Ultegra shifters, saw no reason to change). Was it worth it considering the frame? For me an unequivocal yes as I believe the CAAD4 frame is a quality frame. Rounding up in dollars I bought new:

Mavic Open Pro wheelset with Ultegra hubs for $180 shipped (Greenfish Sports)
Ultegra rear der $45, front der for $25, crankset for $80, bb for $30, SRAM R9 cassette for $35 (Nashbar, judicious use of a coupon)
SRAM PC-99 chain for $30, Dura Ace brake and gear cablesets $30 shipped (I think it was from JensonUSA). 
I ebayed and got new in box Ultegra brakeset for $75 shipped.

Total cost about $530, and that's a top dollar rounding up estimate of what I spent
Admittedly you have two big differences here: you need shifters and you might have to pay for an LBS to put this all together -I do all my own wrenching. But still even with buying new shifters (maybe even 105?), I think with careful attention to prices you should beat that $1100 estimate, possibly get close to $750.

The ex-race bike will be definitely a better bike -but assuming you get one for $2100 and sell your son's C'dale for $500 (and that may be optimistic given it's Sora and that's the cost of a new Trek 1000), that's still a $1600 difference, not chump change. You are of course also assuming the ex-race bikes are your son's size too and are in very good condition. Even if they have top of the line drivechain parts (and don't forget Ultegra is pretty darned good too), I'll guess they'll have still done a minimum of 3000 miles of use too. 

Just a few thoughts -it's a tough question -maybe the best thing to do is to look at the ex-race bikes when they come in, and go from there.

Yes, please adopt me also!




fredf said:


> Bought my 19 yr old son a used Cannondale R400 at end of last season.CAAD$ frame, Mavic CXP 22 wheels, Tiagra/Sora groupo.
> He is now crazy about road biking...although he will never race, but he goes out daily.
> I would like to treat him and am wondering:
> 1. upgrade the Cannondale...get lightter more aero wheelset ($500 from Mike Garcia) and I can get a full 9-speed (2004) Ultegra groupo ( the full thing...cranks, BB, calipers, etc) installed on the bike.
> ...


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## tbyrne (Dec 29, 2004)

I was faced with exactly the same dilemma this season. I sold my '04 Cannondale R400 for $450 (in two days), sold my '95 Kona MTB for $350 and bought a leftover '04 Litespeed Firenze with full Ultegra at my LBS for $1800, which meant I had to come out of pocket about $1,000. 

I much prefer the ride, light weight and componentry of the Firenze, although it doesn't climb as well as the Cannondale. (Stiff to a fault)


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