[Turkish]

...My new Cannondale...

It's been about a year since i've been on Ridemonkey, so I thought i'd create a new user name (formerly HRDTLBRO) and get back on here. I've been busy with school, fubar'd my knee at work, and have just been shooting guns and hiking on the weekends...with zero mountain biking for the past year or so. I've decided to take advantage of the beautiful roads around Central Kentucky and buy a road bike. This is the first road bike i've ever purchased, aside from my singlespeed touring bike, and i'm f'in stoked. After years of racing and riding mountain bikes I thought i'd never really get excited about a roadie, but i'm jazzed about this thing.

2009 Cannondale Six 5 Compact:

I'd like to go full SRAM Rival, and throw on some DT RR1850's at some point, but for now I think i'll just enjoy the bike. It'll be in sometime this week, and i'll post photos up as soon as I build it up!

 

[proglife]

congrats. looks nice

 

[maddog17]

are those bars in the pic the one's you got with the bike? they look uncomfortable

 

[dsotm]

Where are you in central KY? I'm in danville for college.

 

[Turkish]

are those bars in the pic the one's you got with the bike? they look uncomfortable

They aren't bad, really. We've got a couple bikes in the shop with those bars and when correctly fit, they feel fairly normal. In that particular photo, the shifters seem mounted a bit high.

I live in Lexington and work at Pedal Power Bike Shop. Do you go to Centre? I've got a ton of friends that attend. It's a great school, and from the size of it, you may know several of them. If you are ever in Lexington or want to meet up for a ride, stop in the bike shop or let me know on here!

 

[dsotm]

There is a good chance I know some of your friends especially if they ride. Where is that shop located? I have been using Pedal the Planet when in Lex

 

[Turkish]

Our website:
pedalpowerbikeshop.com

 

[PsychO!1]

6'5 and black?
That's a huge bike!!! What is that, something around 195cm.....didn't even know they made 'em that big!!!

 

[dhmike]

lucky bastard !

 

[Turkish]

I'm hoping it will be in tomorrow. I'll most likely skip class and build it up, though the weather around here absolutely blows right now. I'll just have to put on the show covers and suck it up.

 

[James]

I'm all about blacked-out road bikes these days, total pendulum swing from my white craze.
Nice choice!

 

[Turkish]

She's here!

 

[MtnbikeMike]

How does it ride?

 

[Turkish]

Haven't had a chance to ride it yet...it's been sitting in my apartment waiting for the nasty weather to subside.

 

[Turkish]

I took it out this afternoon for a quick ride while it was relatively warm here in town (33 degrees and sunny). Some thoughts:

The best way to describe the ride is supple. The carbon chainstay and bottom bracket and certainly stiff, but what really feels great are the seatstays. The carbon seatstay and dropouts and surprisingly smooth and feel very lively, more so than steel.

The front triangle is solid and without noise, but nothing surprising here...it feels just like the Cannondale CAAD series aluminum bikes in front-end stiffness.

The SIX fork does not have thin carbon blades...the fork legs are super thick, and this really gives the bike a "planted" feel and sharp steering. I'd equate this feeling to a Cannondale System Six, without having an over-sized headtube.

Geometry-wise, it feels more like a race bike than a performance bike. I've got the stem flipped and dropped all the way to the headtube. The SIX comes with plenty of steerer tube, however, and raising the stem will bring it closer to the Synapse in feel.

Overall, an awesome ride. The frame is incredibly smooth and solid, like a dependable aluminum bike with a smoother ride in the saddle.