SuperSix Evo? Cannondale Quality? What else?

Whatever I buy, nobody has stock. Apparently either everybody here is buying bikes, or manufactures are not producing.

Probably delivery around August, whatever I buy: Trek, Giant, Specialized, Orbea, Cannondale. But summer here is NOW. Such a pity… two months wasted not riding my new bike.

You could do a pretty rudimentary set of checks with a set of calipers, some string and a ruler. That would have caught out one of the frames I have previously had (a frame to the spec used in UCI world tour).

I would expect a good bike shop to have tools to validate alignment to an extent - frame and rear dropout alignment at the least, plus some way of validating a bottom bracket (to a point).

It gets more difficult in accuracy when you start looking below hundredths, and when validating cross sectional and counter-positional alignment to the extent it matters - it’s not practical for most people, or even most bike stores.

Not cleaning where items touch rotational parts however would cost them my business. If they don’t do this and can’t tell me if a frame is a duffer I might as well use the local mobile bike repair guy who is a fraction of the price and will come to my house and work out of the back of their van.

I do however only use my LBS when I can’t do a job or don’t have time. I’ll buy bearings and bikes from them to support their business, but even BB bearings I do myself (the tools cost less than they would charge me, I know everything is clean and greased, and it takes maybe 20 minutes including crank removal). They might get the joy of rebuilding my MTB fork though!

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I’d be a little cautious about his videos, he’s going to be getting frames that couldn’t be fixed by other means, so he’s likely getting the worst of the worst parts, not representative of the whole population. Options like the Wheels Manufacturing thread together units, are very highly reviewed, and have known friends who it fixed their issues.

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Whatever I buy, nobody has stock. Apparently either everybody here is buying bikes, or manufactures are not producing.

Same boat here attempting to get my GF on a bike. Chatting with Cannondale re: warranty issues, they told me CAAD’s and SuperSix’s in particular are being forecasted for Feb 21 delivery - insane.

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I heard from my LBS (who is a Cannondale dealer) that the new SuperSix 2021 should launch somewhere August, and that they expect to have stock by then.

I think I will hold out till then and save up a bit more money… and indeed see whether other bikes are coming out still. I mean… the price of these bikes… it’s like a car!

I have a previous gen Synapse Hi-Mod. I love it. I built it up and there are zero issues with quality, tolerances, etc… My drive train is Campy Chorus 11sp w a Record SRM crank and the whole set up works like a charm. My only non-standard mod is the use of a BBinfinite bottom bracket insert. I tell myself I added that to eliminate any potential for BB creaks and to stiffen things up, but of course we all know I did it for the subtle bling of the red anodized aluminum.

Anyway, n=1 excellent experience with a Cannondale carbon frame.

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I‘ve test ridden the SuperSix from 2018 (the non-high-mod variant), and that bike was alright, but really nothing special. There are many bikes out there, that in my experience feel and handle better. E. g. BMC‘s Teammachine is on another planet, this thing is super comfortable, loves to carve and feels fast. (I tried the SLR01, the more expensive frame option.) The 3T Strada I rode was a rocket ship, a Ferrari on two wheels.

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N=1 -

I am still riding my Cannondale SuperSix One from 2009. Full Duraace drivetrain, Hollowgram cranks, BB30. Zero issues other than normal wear and replacement (cassette, chains, I probably need to replace the chainrings soon but I may buy a new bike instead.). Replaced the stock saddle, and upgraded the brakes. Zero quality issues. Love the bike… won and podiumed some crits on it with box rims last season, and I’ve ridden it for 100+ mile bouts and fondos and 3 hour trainer sessions. Put some aero wheels on it and ride hard off the front of my flat group rides. Light enough to put me in the top ten on a few local KOM climbs. The bike just fits me.

Whatever my next roadie is, the SuperSix Evo and SystemSix will definitely be considerations.

Edit to add: a riding buddy of mine and I take pride in our retro Cannondale setups… his a 2009 CAAD:

Retro cannondales

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Thing is, it includes crappy wheels by default, far exceeding my budget. That’s the issue with many of these alternative bikes, including specialized roubaix. They are just 1000-1500 more expensive because of the brand itself and you need better wheels.

The bike you are referencing costs 11000 here… that’s 3 times as much. Of course there are bikes that handle better… I expect a dogma pinnarello f12 also to handle way better… at 15000 euro’s here.

Good advice, but unfortanately above my budget.

I’ve been on a 2015 supersix Evo ultegra since, well…2015! I love it, the geometry, the ride, the look. I’ve changed a few components over the years, wheels, stem, bars. I’d never get rid of it.

I’m less fond of the new version but only because it looks like every other bike out there now and has lost its classic look, oh, and the livery is terrible. I’m sure the ride is beautiful though.

I’ve done countlesss long days on it including lots of gran fondos Inc a 7 day haute route and 3 Maratonas.

Pf30 Bottom bracket was great until I tried to replace it myself. Last year I got a wheels manufacturing ceramic BB installed and its been first class. No seat post or other issues.

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I’m not sure where you got the numbers from. The 3T Strada costs $4,800 with Force AXS eTap, 5k if you want 2x and comes with high-quality aluminum wheels. If you want carbon wheel, yes, that will set you back 8 grand, but then you are upgraded to Red AXS eTap.

The BMC Teammachine costs 4,200 € with Force AXS eTap and the lower grade carbon frame and alloy wheels. The high-mod BMC with Force AXS eTap costs 5,700 € and comes with DT Swiss carbon wheels. (Prices from bike24.com.)

That’s a fair comparison, as the SuperSix I am looking at is NOT the Hi-mod version (so also lower grade carbon). However, the SuperSix DOES include decent wheels, whereas the BMC does not IMHO. Also, I would not want eTap. I want Shimano (just personal preference).

5700 euro’s is way better, but it is still 2000 euro’s above budget. I can spend a little more than 3500-3800 euro’s, but not 2000 more. That’s a different league for me, unfortunately.

The Ultegra mechanical build costs 3,100 €. If you want Ultegra Di2 and you can stretch your budget a little, you’ll have to spend 4,000 €. At least one of them is in your price range. If you want to get high-quality wheels now and can make do with 105, their entry-level carbon bike goes for 2,500 €. That would put Zipp 303S’s or something like Enve’s second-tier carbon wheelset within reach.

If you have a budget of 3,800 €, I’d think about getting the Ultegra mechanical build and save up a little longer until you have money for an entry-level carbon wheelset such as Zipp’s 303S.

Or if you don’t mind starting with an aluminum frame, they have the aluminum version of the frame with Force eTap AXS for 3,300 €. The one with 105 is on sale for 1,350 €.

Thanks for the info, I can at least see where I can testride it and see whether I should save up longer. Thanks!

However, prices for me are different (Netherlands):

Probably that’s due to the difference in VAT: I am accessing the site from Japan and have my location set to Germany, so I suspect they may not have included VAT in the prices or at least a different VAT. Sorry, I should have thought of that.

I’ve also testridden the “cheaper” carbon frame, and that’s almost as good as its more expensive sibling. Needless to say, it ran circles around my current road bike.

In any case, test riding bikes is a great idea. Sometimes the geometry or feel of one over the other is a matter of personal preference. Make a point of riding other brands as well. The frame maketh the bike IMHO, and I’d be fine with having lesser components on it. Especially wheels, even at that price, this is where most manufacturers save money.

Dissapointing… So word is out here… New SuperSix Evo 2021 gonna be 500 euro’s more expensive (WTH)… from 3499 to 3999. Upgrades? Aero (SYSTEM?) bar, newer hollowgram wheels, carbon knot seatpost. That’s it. Minor upgrade, way more money. Still BB30A…

One thing I would question is: is this the right model/bike if you’re planning to swap wheels, cranks, seatpost (minor swap in the grand scheme of things)? If you have wheels/cranks already then that negates it a bit.

I’d personally avoid C’dale my local shop had one in for repairs and wasn’t complimentary, there’s plenty of anecdotal reports for poor QA, and there are plenty of other brands about.

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Any word on color scheme?

This is interesting to me.

I have just rebuilt my bike (Cannondale) and the BB30a bottom bracket is creaking.

I have now for the second time in 10 days fully rebuilt the BB again but this time using the red loctite solution that many YouTube channels recommend cures the creaking problem.

Can the FSA power box be used as a straight swap and can I retain the 54/32 chain ring or does that get replaced with the whole setup?

I have a LH only stages Gen3 that I have had no problems with that I can sell-on to cover the cost?

I’m interested to know if this is an easy install or requires lots of other parts?

Cheers :+1:t2:

In my opinion, except for black, as ugly as previous year. They have deep purple (aubergine) in some countries and there is a new color I haven’t seen.

For the rest it’s just a mix-up of the same colors on different models and configurations. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe white was only on Hi-Mod but now also coming to 105 Disc.