Cannondale Capo

rofl, buy'n'strip, then put more crap on for £900!!

oooff! right in the gut!

rofl, buy'n'strip, then put more crap on for £900!!

too true. buy it and leave it the hell alone, or spend £900 on something much better.

Got the 07 model earlier this year, which thank God is a much nicer bike on the eyes than the red 08 version. Did get this through ride to work, and my company was tied to Evans, wso only option was for an OTP. Ride wise, it's still stock, bar the risers, fixed sprocket and rear brake removal. Frame is decent and responsive but the BB, cranks and drive train are rubbish. Maxxis tyres they came with are the worst things I've ridden on. Anyhow, it'll stay as it is as Im not prepared to pump anymore ££ into it. It's now officially the beater.

CAAD frames are nice.

bike like the Bianchi Pista, Fuji Track, etc. are pure track bike, but not as comfortable to use on the road as the Capo.

Nonsense. There's a reason that nobody rode a Bianchi Pista round the velodrome in Beijing. It's old technology/design and may have been a track bike years ago but is not now, the buying demographic for these now is not track cyclists.

I think he's talking about the geometry rather than the material.

Personally I like Cannondales, I would quite like a Capo frameset, unfortunately you have to buy a complete bike.

right, but if you do the maths you're not going to get components of that quality on a half decent frame for much less than that are you? despite the comments from balls back there, don't mavic, condor, nitto etc make pretty decent parts? also every review i've read on the capo said it was a good frame and fork which would benefit from a few decent upgrades. so what if i upgraded the whole fucking lot! were all these reviewers wrong? so is the capo actually a shit frame? please enlighten me! like i said earlier, i'm a novice on fixed but I've got over 20 years on mtb's and the principle of upgrading stock bikes aint that different surely......
the stuff you've put on is middle of the road and so is the frame. if you sourced really good stuff seperately and built it yourself, you could get better value for money.

be careful, you could have a nasty accident with a slack chain thought, plus it wear out the compound more

wrong, slacker chains wear out components less

Nonsense. There's a reason that nobody rode a Bianchi Pista round the velodrome in Beijing. It's old technology/design and may have been a track bike years ago but is not now, the buying demographic for these now is not track cyclists.

the geometry of the frame is track specific, the other (like the Cannondale Capo) are not, that's the point I am making.

Nonsense. There's a reason that nobody rode a Bianchi Pista round the velodrome in Beijing. It's old technology/design and may have been a track bike years ago but is not now, the buying demographic for these now is not track cyclists.

True, not for your Olympians.
But velodromes do use entry level track bikes such as Fuji's and Giants etc. as hire bikes.
My Bianchi Pista has of course seen a velodrome, from the outside ;(

the geometry of the frame is track specific, the other (like the Cannondale Capo) are not, that's the point I am making.

is it a big difference in geommetry between the bianchi and the capo? a cursory look at the two frames in profile they look kinda similar - probably just my untrained eye :)

all those generic looking fixies you see around shoreditch with the deep-v's and all that - would they be track-specific or are they again sort of hybrids?

umatic1000, a track bike by definition and style, has narrow tolerences/gaps between the rear wheel and the bottom part of the seat tube, and again, between the front wheel and the downtibe. The bottom bracket housing is also higher, so from the track ends to the bottom bracket, it will form a line that is practically parallel to the ground. A non-track specific bike will have a lower placed bottom bracket.

That describes the frames. Don't expect cable hooks and the like for brakes. Thats a giveaway that the frame is not truly track specific.

i'm with you - so that would explain the more relaxed seat-tube angle on the capo and presumably the curved stays are about taking the harsh edges off the aluminium ride? i guess it would have a longer wheel-base too

ie. it's not a track bike at all

all those generic looking fixies you see around shoreditch with the deep-v's and all that - would they be track-specific or are they again sort of hybrids?

those are either are track-specific frame or simply old road bike that has been converted into a fixed wheel bicycles.

I got a snippet of a review on the Cannondale;

Although the Capo isn't a true fixed-wheel bike - it comes with a freewheel on a flip-flop hub instead of a fixed sprocket - its horizontal dropouts, absence of cable stops and steep angles essentially make it a rider friendly track bike ready for road use.
that's pretty much it, the majority of the OTP fixed wheel bicycles (Giant Bowery, Specialized Langster, Charge Plug, etc.) are designed for the road, i.e. more comfort and forgiving (with the playoff of a less zippy handling than track bike).

you just spend a shitload of money making the Cannondale more zippy when a mere change of frame to a track-specific one can easily make it zippier (but less comfortable on the road).

is it a big difference in geommetry between the bianchi and the capo? a cursory look at the two frames in profile they look kinda similar - probably just my untrained eye :)

I did notice the photo look similar in term of geometry but when you look closer, especially the rear triangle of the Cannondale (as you've already notice) is curved to absorb the shock from the road (at least that what I think), the Bianchi Pista however isn't curved, it's all straight;

right - nice looking bike btw!

Not mine thought, I just use this picture because it got a clearer shot of the rear triangle.

you just spend a shitload of money making the Cannondale more zippy when a mere change of frame to a track-specific one can easily make it zippier (but less comfortable on the road).[/QUOTE]

right i get the picture now - finally doh!

i have to say tho i think it has a really nice ride quality and i think, with your insights and considering it's a commuting machine, i don't feel the £800-odd was too badly spent.

one more question though - it's pretty light now with the upgrades so do you think a heavier bike with track-geommetry would give better/zippier performance than a road-orientated bike that's much lighter?

i'm guessing a steel bianchi at £400 (with the components you'd expect at that price-point) would be quite heavy?

What is this zippier performance I'm hearing banded about. How do you quantify that?

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.

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.

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.

I'd but the Capo. It'll be better for pulling chicks.

curvy seatstays may just be cannondale's method of providing a bit more heel clearance?