 The Cannondale System 6 versus the Super 6. Which one's faster uphill downhill on the flats into the winds? How much do they weigh? What was my riding experience like? And which one would I prefer to take home and why? I've got a unique review coming up on these two machines so let's get into it. So in this review today we're going to be doing things a little bit differently. I'm actually going to be commentating and as you can see I'm getting the first bike out of my car there being the current Cannondale Super 6 High Mod with its more Aero brother or sister. The System 6 waiting to come out next for five separate head to head speed tests where I believe one test is really going to blow your hair back and in between each test I'm going to be reviewing the bikes. So the agenda for these speed tests and for this review will be split into 10 micro sections which you can see here. I'll also have timestamps for you below. Now as we watch me in an uncoordinated manner switch the wheels from one bike to another so I can demonstrate to you that not only are the group sets exactly the same on these bikes for the speed test but I also use the exact same Cayden wheels. I wanted to point out a few things before we get into these 10 items. Number one I wanted to thank Ben Kirst and the ACA team including head mechanic Dave Manton for providing both bikes for what was almost four weeks in the end. By having prolonged access to these bikes I'm able to provide comprehensive reviews like this so thanks a million if you want to follow ACA and their continental race team they use these bikes obviously I'll provide a link below. I also wanted to provide clarity regarding these tests because obviously they're not going to be perfect but I wanted to explain that for each test I was positioned in the hoods. I attempted to take the same lines both bikes have quark power meters which was my primary source of truth. Both quark power meters are fully calibrated prior to the test but they are different power meters so there could be some discrepancies here. I did not drink out of my water bottle for these tests to ensure extra weight in the bottle did not favor any test. Finally the wind was a factor this day not so much up the hill which is quite protected more so on the flat segments. For speed test three I had a cross tail and for speed test four a cross head while the wind was a factor to me there was no noticeable change in wind during any segment it was just present. Lastly I just wanted to say if you get value out of this video today please don't forget to give it a like and make sure you subscribe and hit the bell if you want to get more independent bike reviews like this in the future. So section number one which is speed test one if you haven't heard this claim before on the Cannondale website they say the system six is faster than lightweight climbing bikes on any climb up to six percent gradient or more depending on rider's power to weight. So let's put this claim to the test on the famous hill climb on closed roads here in Nusa Australia called Gindia Drive. Yes it's not six percent exactly but it's a nice gradient and a safe environment for me to test the way and I would say this was the only segment out of all of them where I struggled to keep it at the target wattage of 300 watts averaging 310 watts on the super six and 309 watts on the system six however with only one watt difference I think we have a fair test and as you can see the super six wins this battle by one second will an extra 40 watts make a big difference on this climb we'll have to wait and see because section number two is the weight of both bikes here you can see my new weighing machine which was purchased from BTF boating camping and fishing thanks for the tip Dave so this is actually a fish weighing tool that works quite well for around 40 to 50 bucks and we have the super six weighing in at 7.295 and the system six weighing in at 7.625 with the total weight saving going to the super six of 330 grams now don't forget that both bikes have a couple of water cages and the super six did have a longer stem and the seat was 27 grams heavier so you might like to round that up to roughly a 375 gram difference or maybe you can round it up to 400 but it's not as much as I expected both bikes are 54 centimeters come with Tramforce access e-tap 12 speed with a 5037 on the front and a 1028 on the rear with some lovely cadence 49 millimeter carbon wheels which are claimed to weigh 1367 grams and certainly ride stiff due to their 2 to 1 spoke pattern ratio at the front and the rear and we'll have more details coming on these wheels in later videos we've also got quark power meters and obviously my beloved disc brakes if you want more info on this setup Dave Mant and the head mechanic from ACA did an overview video which I'll link to below section number three is speed test two now we're heading up the same climb gindia drive only at a different wattage with 350 watts being the target so that's an extra 40 or so watts over the previous attempt and now the system six is roughly one kilometer per hour faster which equates to at the top of the hill six seconds faster all up which over a three and a half minute climb is significant section number four is price points now the setup you can see on these bikes is bespoke based on the sponsors and the relationships the ACA team have in place however if we land on the Cannondale websites here in Australia we can see the top of the range Cannondale super six Evo lands at $14,500 AUD which is very pricey however if we compare that to the latest S-Works tarmac we're talking $3,500 difference yes components are different and the S-Works comes with a power meter but $14,500 isn't looking too bad after this and if we look at the BMC equivalent the SLRO 11 with similar specs it's coming in at $500 more so once again the super six isn't looking so bad but of course if we look at other pro peloton bikes such as Merida or Canyon we know the Cannondale is going to all of a sudden look high again but overall it's not the most expensive regarding the system six it appears that in Australia we're going a tier one frame but a lower spec componentry which comes in at about $10,000 AUD which is similar to the old venge pro less expensive than say the Trek equivalent and of course a fair bit more than the Merida equivalent which I recently reviewed and gave that a 9.5 for value for money so overall these bikes are expensive yes but value for money in comparison to other bikes I'll have a score coming for you shortly section number five is speed test three so now on a section of road I would call a false flat and here I'm targeting 350 watts which I managed to get close to and along this section of road we have a cross tailwind which at times feels blustery and at other times it feels like I'm getting a nice little push in fact on this section of road I managed to ride 2.5 kilometers per hour or 1.5 miles per hour faster and as you can see here we conclude with a significant time difference of 13 seconds in this section going in favor of the system six section number six is my experiences on both bikes so before we get into the actual riding experiences on the bikes geometry wise a couple of shout outs the system six at a 54 centimeter has a stack of 540 millimeters which is 14 millimeters lower than the super six very common for the aero bike to be more aggressive at the front end and the lower position a lower stack enables on the bike is no doubt a contributing factor to the speed test another major geometry consideration is the wheelbase on the system six it's 975 millimeters which is one of the shortest I've seen for example the marita reactor has a wheelbase of 990 millimeters in the medone 981 millimeters for the same bike size of 54 centimeters and compare that to the super six although I do wonder if they've got their numbers modeled up here as it doesn't seem to align to a logical flow from size to size however let's call it circa a thousand millimeters or 100 centimeters that's a huge difference right there there's 25 millimeters in the wheelbase alone and I feel that is a great segue into riding experiences because a longer wheelbase allows natural flex and compliance through the frame resulting in a more comfortable ride a shorter wheelbase creates a stiffer more responsive frame and significantly reduces flex and compliance and that is certainly the case with both these bikes one is very comfortable in fact I'd say the super six rivals the bmc team machine from a comfort perspective it absorbs the road well like the bmc team machine and the flex in the rear due to the drop seat stays and overall design makes you feel like you've got a flat tire at times even though you don't I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of this side effect but I do like comfort at the same time at speed you definitely notice the aero profiles on the super six with its ability to hold speed in a draft similar to that of its brother yet despite the speed test the super six feels a lot more enjoyable to ride on the climbs not only due to the comfort factor and less weight but also because it feels so much more nimble out of the saddle stretching the legs and pushing the bike side to side whereas the system six feels like it wants to be planted in a straight line the vast majority of times and to be honest after going from the bmc team machine to the super six I felt like the super six had a great blend of comfort speed and handling all wrapped up into one package but then I stepped on the beast of the system six and realized that speed had a whole new dimension if you watched any of my previous videos on these bikes you'll know that I don't rate the comfort factor on the system six I can appreciate aero bikes aren't supposed to be that comfortable but the system six is down the list of aero bikes when it comes to comfort it's not a deal breaker by any means but after a couple of hours on this machine particularly at lower speeds where you tend to feel the road bars bumps and divots more you're definitely going to feel it in your neck and shoulders and possibly your lower back especially for those unconditioned riders but where you miss out on comfort and even a bit of handling and when I say handling I mean look at the way this bike has been designed with the short wheelbase the super aero profile tube shapes probably the largest I've ever seen on an aero bike I feel like this bike just wants to go in a straight line not saying cornering is bad you just need to lean into the corner a little bit more and the handling out of the saddle requires decent power output for the bike to respond well side to side otherwise I feel like it's always leaning back to go in a straight line it so desperately wants to go in but when it comes to straight line riding going fast in a bunch rider or a criterion to me this would be one of the best choices out there out of all the aero bikes I've ridden being the venge bmc time machine marita reacto chapter 2 rare a the previous generation madone the novello s5 this one feels like the fastest with exception of maybe the novello s5 I would say speed would be a very close call between those two bikes lastly on a couple of practical elements I know there was a fair amount of chat about the canondale bb bottom bracket in the first video I published about these bikes personally I did not experience any creeks or issues and I did question Dave manton the head mechanic at aca about this and he's not seen any issues so far either so as mark n puts it maybe it's an urban legend although reading online it does seem reasonably prevalent but no issues from my side if there's anyone out there that has some experiences love to hear your comments and thoughts below but something I did know is a potential design flaw on the system six this bike does have a tight turning circle and given the desire to be super aero the clearance between frame and fork are so close add some rain and a bit of grit and grime that gets into the fork and you will see some abrasions which doesn't work so well from a cosmetic perspective but I'm sure this could be mitigated through meticulous cleaning after dirty rides section number seven is speed test four so this test here is the one I expected to achieve the best results in favor of the system six maybe external to the downhill descent we have a slight decline straight line going into a crosshead but we only end up being one kilometer per hour faster on this section of road similar to test two up gindia at 350 watts leaving us with another win to the system six being three seconds on this segment section number eight is my rating system on both bikes now before I share the scores just know that these scores out of ten are based on the category at a pro peloton bike level so for example when I say comfort or speed for the system six it's comparing comfort and speed to aero bikes not all-round or endurance bikes it's category based and we're talking about pro peloton bikes and just note that I don't use the number seven as I've been told it's a cop out number to use so let's get into it one final note on the rating system is I do find it hard to rate these bikes on value for money yes they are great bikes and they are valuable but any bike that's over $14,000 AUD or $5,000 for the frame I do struggle to hand it the scores over eight here even though I was close section number nine is speed test five so this test here was a carry-on from test three where I was pedaling at 350 watts along a 2.15 kilometer false flat section I picked a marker and at the exact same point on both bikes stopped pedaling and kept in the same position down this descent while I was expecting to have quite a significant difference on this segment the system six was only one second faster now if you want access to this google doc you can see here I'll provide a link below along with the links to the Strava rides I did which is where I drew this data from so section number 10 which bike would I prefer to take home and why well this shifted when I first rode the super six I was impressed I'm a big fan of comfort and I like to go fast and this bike was ticking both boxes well I then got on to the system six for a couple of endurance rides and I thought to myself I don't think I enjoy riding this bike so much however after taking this bike to some local fast bunch rides and taking it to my favorite local hill climb Gindia Drive and PBing I am left thinking about this bike perhaps more than any other bike I have ridden and despite the fact the score out of 60 wasn't as strong as others it's possibly the one bike I've been missing more so than others I've had in recent times go figure once again if you got value out of this video today please don't forget to give the video a like and I'll catch you in the next video