CAAD9 Campagnolo reborn as Carbonda Di2 "New York Mets"

I've always liked the look of the Cannondale CAAD and SuperSix series of bikes. Something about the horizontal top tube gives it a retro-look in the sea of sloping top-tubes. The SuperSix is out of my league both in terms of price and and functionality. I'm no racer nor do I turn the dial on the speedometer above 20mph unless I'm going down hill.

I did consider going out and plumping for the CAAD12 Disc frameset and building that up. But, I was put off internal cable routing which I find to be ballache to fit and service, and I find the paint work to be really boring and didn't want to shell out an extra couple hundred quid to re-spray. I much preferred the paintwork on the older CAAD bikes.

My search for the frameset started with the CAAD4. I was leaning to this bike because it had the clean lines of the CAAD series, had a 1 1/8 steerer fork so no messing around with quill stems, and was pre-BB30 bottom bracket. I nearly pulled the trigger on a few I'd seen on the forum and eBay, but these had all invariably fallen through.

By chance, I stumbled upon a CAAD9 on sale on this forum, and by some miracle, the sale had been cancelled so was back up on the board. It came in the nice shade of blue, and for all intents and purposes, it looked pretty much as new.

And so, I now have the base for my new build.

The question now is what direction to take the build in. Option 1 would be go to with a silver Shimano 105 5800 setup. I have 105 on my other bike so I know it's a stellar performer and builds up quick and easy. Again, I'm leaning to the silver to give the build a retro-ish look. There are good deals out there for the whole groupset so the build will come along much quicker, in time for the summer. Option 2 is to go for a dream build with Campagnolo. To keep with the retro-ish look, I'd probably want to build around the silver 11-speed Athena groupset. The main obstacle is the price and availability of all the parts. my rough estimates has the groupset probably costing almost twice that of the Shimano, and because I'll need to trawl the forums and eBay, this build could take significantly longer to put together.

Any thoughts on which build option to go for?

Photos of the build as it progresses below:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shingweima/albums/72157682937232996

Black 105 and everything else.

Ultegra 6800

I did think about going up to ultegra, but don't know if there is much of a benefit over 105. Plus the clearance for the brake calipers on 105 allows me to fit 28s, and I think for Ultegra it's up to 25s. I could be wrong.

Is this the blue Cannondale @sacredhart was selling? Looked really nice if I remember.

If you're set on the silver go for Athena for the shiny finish. 105 silver looks a bit dull and not very retro in my opinion.

+1 for a murdered out black Ultegra build. With gumwalls.

don't know if there is much of a benefit over 105

It has a nicer looking chainset

If you go with 105, go with black and get some hollowgrams with spiderings.

What's the best price on Ultegra? I know 105 5800 is currently going for £350

Yes, that's the one. Already have Clement Strada LGG gumwalls on order. Was tempted to go with the Corsa G+.

Silver Athena would be ideal but getting them at a good price would be tough when compared to pricing and availability of 105 or Ultegra

silver 105 looks a bit pish (cos it's not polished) IMO.

Black 105, or see if you can get a used 7800 Dura Ace groupset (polished). 10 speed would probably get you some cheaper options w/regards to wheelsets aswell.

People pretty much give away the non-hollow SI forged crank, too.

I did consider this, but having to use the BB30 bottom bracket can be a nightmare. I've know several people have creaking problems with the BB30. Going Shimano or Campagnolo so I can use one of the Praxis BB30 converters. The bike came with the shimano converter, so probably makes sense to stick with Shimano to save costs.

However, the hollowgrams and spiderings do look flash, can't deny that.

Will probably take a chance on these for seatpost in the absence of money to buy the real deal https://microcosm.app/out/hqZth

I'm using a rotor 30 to 24 adapter on mine. Previous owner installed it but it hasn't creaked on me yet.

The bike came with the Praxis BB30 to Shimano converter BB which I've read good reviews on and most importantly, does not creak.

Schtaaaahp pls

Hi,

I have a new bike coming on Fri (all being well) that has a 5800 groupset that I will be removing - also have a used 6800 groupset

Can save you some cash

I'll PM mate about the groupset

I'm sure the issue is usually the bottom bracket shell itself. Either way you are putting something in it. I am on my second caad10, using a converter to run 24mm crank set (power crank - else I would've bought some spiderrings!). That has also now started to get the slightest creak.

But hopefully you don't get that! Not entirely sure the shop did a great job on the install.

FYI bb creaks on CAADS I had a creak from the bb area, 3x mechanic visits with no joy.
Finally schlepped across town to my preferred mechanic who diagnosed headset wear. He serviced the headset (didn't touch the BB) which fixed it. Headset cream was sounding down the downtube, weird. CSB etc

Also months back in the cannondale thread a couple people discovered their bb creaks were actually rear QRs

So, after flip-flopping on going ahead with this build or selling up due to family and home renovation, I've been given the green light by the better half to go ahead with the build.

It's back on!

My intention was to go for a quick build based on the ever reliable 105 5800 build instead of going the route of Campagnolo on costs and timeliness. However, fortune has smiled on me, and thanks to @ghettro who happened to be selling his 2010 Athena Ultratorque groupset, my CAAD9 will now come liveried with Campagnolo.

So, the CAAD9 New York Mets build is slowly going to be getting up and running. Being a New York Mets build, the CAAD9 will be decked out in orange and blue bits where possible.

Photos to follow, once I can get them off the camera.

I've gone with (for now) Pro PLT 110mm +/- 10 degree stem and Pro PLT Ergo handlebars. I like the shape of the bars, similar to the 3T Ergonova. Undecided on the stem, it has a higher angle that I'd like (for aesthetic) but mostly because the steerer is probably shorter than I would have had cut if I want a similar position to my current bike. Down the road I might get a new fork with a longer steerer, but my budget won't stretch so far right now.

Whats the current bike that you're replicating the fit of?

It's a croix de fer that I've been slowly lowering the front end on as I get more comfortable is a "aero"-ish position. Well, as aero as my belly will allow.