Cannondale Capo

the frame is a double-butted chromoly steel, so yes it's heavy, but very stiff, it's an entry levels track bike for those who are keen to try out and/or complete in a track event, but with the right compound (the drop bar that came with the Bianchi are heavy steel), it can be reasonably light.

the pista is heavy and the geometry is not really track specific. changing the handlebars isn't going to make much difference to the weight, it's never going to be a light bike.

even a heavier track bike would give a zippier performance, but the compromise is the long commute will be uncomfortable as you'll feel every piece of gravel on the road.

name a heavier track bike than a bianchi pista. go on, i dare ya.

weight are usually moot since it's down to the rider, I found my Bianchi Pista to be heavier than my old Peugeot conversion (ironically enough), but the Bianchi felt lighter in term of riding.

weight is not down to the rider, it's down to mass multiplied by the force of gravity. a heavy bike may feel twitchier and turn sharper than a lighter one with slacker geometry, but a heavier object takes more energy to accelerate from one speed to a faster speed. simple physics, you can't deny it. a heavier bike takes more effort to go faster. the rider is irrelevant.

If I had £800 I'd buy a Giant Bowery '84 and spend a couple of hundred quid upgrading the cranks, bars, stem, seat and brakes (oh, that's not much different to what you've done)

please do not do this.

I think Moose is having a bubble bath.

the pista is heavy and the geometry is not really track specific. changing the handlebars isn't going to make much difference to the weight, it's never going to be a light bike.

mate, is the Bianchi Pista an entry level track bike, yes or no?

name a heavier track bike than a bianchi pista. go on, i dare ya.

no idea to be honest, I assumed there must've been a heavier track bike out there.

weight is not down to the rider, it's down to mass multiplied by the force of gravity. a heavy bike may feel twitchier and turn sharper than a lighter one with slacker geometry, but a heavier object takes more energy to accelerate from one speed to a faster speed. simple physics, you can't deny it. a heavier bike takes more effort to go faster. the rider is irrelevant.

you're completely right on that, however I do think the rider is somewhat revelant, I mean someone managed to won a track race at Herne Hill with a Charge Plug (hillbilly?), that's a heavy bike and have a relaxed geometry.

a fully built reynolds 631 frame fixed wheel bicycles is still lighter than an fully built 853 frame MTB, at least that what I think.[/QUOTE]

sure, that's what you'd expect - i'm really talking about how good a frame you're getting with 631 as i've ridden 853 on last 2 mtb's and it's fucking crazy.

i believe u can get a jackson with the 853 tubeset but i'd imagine it'd be more than £345

where i'm going with this to keep things on topic is how far you could improve on my capo project with the same £800 budget.

the capo is i believe CAAD5 tubing. wasn't that cannodale's top-end pipe a couple of years ago? sure steel and alu are a completely different experience, but is a 631 jackson a tangibly better performing frame?

Bought a Capo from Evans for £550 in red. Love the retro Cannondale decals and it is a lovely paintjob which I expect with Dales.

Only one ride and a dickhead driver knocked me off though.

Totalled nearly everything, wheels, saddle, bars, levers and crankset.

Frame and fork are sound which I'm very impressed with.

Most Cannondale frames are handmade in the US and this is the case with the Capo.

I already own a CAAD4 and a CAAD9 so buying a Capo with CAAD5 tubeset was a no brainer for me. Angles are set more for track than road. Found it very agile and responsive.

For the one ride I had on it I loved it and with upgrade to the wheels and components I think it'll make a great commute bike for me.

To be honest, a car will always win in a crash with a bike.

To be honest, a car will always win in a crash with a bike.

The car hit the rear.

Bike hitting the kerb at about 40mph and then taking flight did the damage!

40mph, rofl!

40mph, rofl!

I was doing 25.4mph downhill and car was said to be travelling at 30+mph. Car hits bike and of course increases bike speed i.e. like getting push from behind.

Garmin actually recorded 73mph at impact.

State of me and the bike you'd believe it.

suppose the driver is at fault and you're innocent?

40mph seems pretty fast, did you get any bollocks on stem action? That'd hurt at 40

40mph seems pretty fast, did you get any bollocks on stem action? That'd hurt at 40

Thank f*ck no as i think they'd come off.

Face planted into the pavement though and put teeth through my lips along with broken fingers, removed skin down to the knuckles etc etc. You get the picture I'm sure.

Just thought I'd post to comment on the strength of the frame and forks as I've seen frame and forks crumple at lesser impacts. Front wheel bent though ;-)

For the one ride I had on it I loved it and with upgrade to the wheels and components I think it'll make a great commute bike for me.[/QUOTE]

that's harsh. good u ok tho man. i'd love to be able to get to that kind of speed on my central london commute and kiddie gear ratio lol!

be interesting to hear what u do with yr newly 'liberated' frame n fork......

please do not do this.

You're right, actually, buy a 2008 Bowery for £200ish, save yourself £600 and upgrade the parts to suit over a period of time (is that ok)?

ok finished bike coming in at 6.5kg - but that's weighing a few times on a set of bathroom scales, so maybe it's bullshit

6.5kg is very light (at least it is to me), perhaps try those thing that you hook vegetable on to weight it in the supermarket? do they have those for heavy object like bike?

http://www.scalesexpress.com/product.php?productid=16568&cat=338&page=1

Just the job for those anally retentive enough .............

Huh, that was a lots cheaper than I expected.

ok my bit of wisdom.....i have a cannondale major taylor, same geometry as capo,same caad5 main frame, same slice ultra carbon fibre forks, bb height classic 28.4mm BB height. it may be a bit on the slack side compared to "true" track bikes on the market whatewer that is. also if true track bike has to be tight as fukk then how come dolan track champion is a true track bike which people are winning races on, yet the front end has the same slack front end as my non-track cannondale????.............

as for the ride quality and complete package bought from evans as cannondale cappo - the components are shit. for someone who owned more that one bike and is on the forum.for someone who buys this as a first bike its cool.same story as on the rest of the off the peg bikes. thats how they keep the price low......and the reason the package is more expensive on the capo is the frame is handmade still in US of A and its much nicely finished then the rest of the frames.

and ride quality - it awright. No probs at all...a bit slacker then my previous bikes...any impact on the way you ride???? no.
difference to steel???? no not really. a touch stiffer but nothing major thanks to the features of teh frame alraedy mentioned. carbon forks, curved seatstays,slackler geometry.

so there...like it??? buy it

6.5kg is very light (at least it is to me), perhaps try those thing that you hook vegetable on to weight it in the supermarket? do they have those for heavy object like bike?

i think the way forward is to physically go into the supermarket with the bike. bet those veggie scales are well accurate. sainsbury's whitechapel - no one would bat an eyelid...

I had a 2008 Capo in Paris, in 52 cm, weighted it at 6.7kgs in the shop. Red and white, rode it twice before it got nicked in the middle of busy saturday afternoon rue Royale, a week ago. 2 locks, the guys took off with the full barrier it was attached to... Guess it looked too shiny, frame was nicely finished,though I have to agree components were a bit marshmallowy (but still a nervous bike in 52, I liked it for the whole 15Kms I was able to use it on).

Been searching for it on all French used bikes websites since then, apparently less than 50 were imported in the country, I guess it should resurface. Bottom line: I am gutted and I ride those 20kgs+ velibs now (very relaxed geometry indeed). Not completely on-topic for my first post, but letting a bit of steam off was nice!

I had a 2008 Capo in Paris, in 52 cm, weighted it at 6.7kgs in the shop. Red and white, rode it twice before it got nicked in the middle of busy saturday afternoon rue Royale, a week ago. 2 locks, the guys took off with the full barrier it was attached to... Guess it looked too shiny, frame was nicely finished,though I have to agree components were a bit marshmallowy (but still a nervous bike in 52, I liked it for the whole 15Kms I was able to use it on).

Been searching for it on all French used bikes websites since then, apparently less than 50 were imported in the country, I guess it should resurface. Bottom line: I am gutted and I ride those 20kgs+ velibs now (very relaxed geometry indeed). Not completely on-topic for my first post, but letting a bit of steam off was nice!

Good first post though!
Hope you get your bike back.

Thanks Archi Pelago - in london I have had a black "gothic" langster for the last 2 years: it is far from great (capo definitely better), it gets me firmly in the hipster bucket (though obviously the arrival of Unipak improved my relative position) but at least nobody seems to want to steal it!

beautiful bianchi.