Aluminium upgrade

[cmunozh]

Hi all,

After being a "ninja" for a long time (watching and reading but not writting), I decided to write my first post.

I decided to upgrade my old Trek Alpha 1.9 for a Caad12. During this time I upgraded the Trek alpha with good components like Sram eTap, profile wheels and rotor Powermeter and now it's time to change the frame.

I don't know how to formulate the question, I have no problems no read multiple links and/or threads, so here it is.

Am I going to see such a big difference between the Caad12 and the Trek Alpha 1.9?

PS: I ride in criteriums, sprint triathlons and I live in switzerland... so mainly hilly

Cheers,
cmunozh

[ultyguy]

Hi and welcome! I’m also in Switzerland and also have a Caad12 (amongst a few others ). The Caad12 is a great all around bike, I do use mine for criteriums, and also light enough to be a good climbing bike. A very good carbon frame will only drop 300g vs it so not bad.




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[wolfesquire]

I also have a Caad12 and love it. I am actually in the market for a second bike and contemplating getting another caad12 (or 13 maybe).

[amngwlvs]

I have no experience with a CAAD12 or even a 1.9 for that matter but I do have an old Trek 1.5 (2010) which may or may not be close in comparisson frame wise to the 1.9. I'm no expert, but he CAAD 12 is going to be roughly 10 years newer so I'm going to go out on a limb and say you'd probably notice a difference in both weight and performance.

Seeing you mentioned riding crits and sprint distances tri's you may also want to consider a Specialized Allez Sprint frameset as well.

[Kristof047]

My first new bike was a Trek 1.9. This was my main ride, plenty of use for sportives, training, criterium racing, Gran fondo's. Big improvement for racing was a set of Dura-ace c24 scandium wheels.

Currently my main racing bike is a C'dale Caad10. To my opinion it feels a lot stiffer and more lively uphill and in crits. Also descent wheels and tyres where important, but even without I felt a positive difference. For training/slow rides I would be happy with both and might not even feel a difference blindfolded (with same components).

So, yes, I think you will feel an important difference when riding on your limit.

I also have other bikes (Ti/steel/carbon). But for racing I prefer a stiff alu frame.

[cmunozh]

Seeing you mentioned riding crits and sprint distances tri's you may also want to consider a Specialized Allez Sprint frameset as well.

Regarding the Allez, I love the look but the colour pattern available at the swiss shop is not my cup of beer, only that "bubble gum" pink or an "azzurro" blue with italian flag are on purchase.

[happyon2wheels]

Only to add yet another frame to the mix: Ridley Helium SLA.

I recently built up this as a second bike replacing my previous Allez DSW. The Ridley geo fits me really well and what I can say is that it is impressively stiff (I'm 77 kgs) with really sharp steering. At 1560 g for the frame and fork it is quite light too and mine sits just below 7 kgs complete. Pricewise it is also quite close to both Caad and Allez Sprint, but probably also a bit more 'exotic' than the two.

Oh, and no proprietary seatpost or creaky bb either. Good ol' standard BSA bottom bracket and 27,2mm seatpost

[amngwlvs]

Regarding the Allez, I love the look but the colour pattern available at the swiss shop is not my cup of beer, only that "bubble gum" pink or an "azzurro" blue with italian flag are on purchase.

If it were me, I'd be all over the pink! But if you don't love what you ride you won't want to ride it. Good luck on the hunt!

[ultyguy]

The pink is ok
It’s a great bike too. Fantastic handling and not too uncomfy. If you’re climbing more I’d choose the caad12, more flats and sprint the Allez.


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[3Pio]

I Build Caad12 bike just few months ago, and just to mention my other bike is Colnago C60..

CAAD12 with Campagnolo Record 11Sp is around 7 kg (it can be lighter, but i gain some weight replacing carbon with Alloy Handlebar, and also heavy stem (Deda Zero 115mm, before i had Fizik Cyrano R1 nad Kalloy Uno 110 mm )....

Anyway, as first i was noticing some flex somewhere, and i got dissapointed (since i read everywhere that is very stiff bike).

But since then i replaced Handlebar, Stem, and adjust the position to be exact as i have on my C60...Another thing i replaced are shoes since old one worn out....

And VOILA.. Seem that whatever it was producing the flex i was feeling, now it's gone.. Now i feel that is stiff, reactive and in same time very comfortable... So now is growing up on me, and i realize that is very funny bike to ride (i just get back from 1800 m climb ride)...

[jfranci3]

The sizing on these two bikes isn't really comparable. The Canondale will be a lot longer for a given handlebar height. Make sure you figure out the stack/reach (to the touchpoints) on your current setup and then size teh new frame right. https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/cann ... 09-m-58cm/ .

Both have hydroformed tubes, but the CAAD will ride a notch better. Both take 28mm tires, so no advantage there.

The CAAD will have a much better paint scheme and responsive to big pedal inputs.

[cmunozh]

The sizing on these two bikes isn't really comparable. The Canondale will be a lot longer for a given handlebar height. Make sure you figure out the stack/reach (to the touchpoints) on your current setup and then size teh new frame right. https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/cann ... 09-m-58cm/ .

Both have hydroformed tubes, but the CAAD will ride a notch better. Both take 28mm tires, so no advantage there.

The CAAD will have a much better paint scheme and responsive to big pedal inputs.

Wow, thanks a lot for that input. I am 170 and I am riding a 52 (Trek) but with a very short stem. I will ake a look, thks again

In that case I d have to go for a size smaller in the Caad12:

https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/cann ... 2-2017-50/

[cmunozh]

Then, unless smth weird happends, I will go for the CAAD12 (or 13, who knows?), I have already SRAM eTap and Rotor 2inpower and I will upgrade the wheels to some zipp 404 or swiss side +40.

Handlebars, stem and other stuff I will see.

I expect something around 7-8 Kilos.

[wolfesquire]

check out FSE wheels as well if you are in the market for upgrading wheels.

[GothicCastle]

The pink is ok

That pink is fantastic.