 Yeah Couple of quick things before we get into this video number one I'm celebrating one year on YouTube this week and to celebrate. I'm gonna do a live this Friday 1130 Aussie time. I'll put the international times up on the screen I'd love for you to join me if you can't I'm gonna do a little Q&A in that session So if you got a question for me put it below this video and I'll try and get to it number two I've had a lot of requests on the channel to do a review on the Cannondale system six Unfortunately, I just can't get my hands on it. However Gabe Sullins is a very well respected man in the bike industry work for specialized actually for a number of years over in the US And now runs a bike shop in Melbourne urban peddler They do Cannondale and he actually rides the Cannondale system six himself So in today's video, he's gonna kindly review the bike for us. So gay you're surrounded by some magnificent bikes here Yeah, you wouldn't want to be riding them on a day like today out there in Melbourne What is going on? Yeah, well, that's why you see mine sitting here all nice and clean Yeah, that's mine, but I I don't take it out on days like today. I'd rather be indoor riding some Zwift This this is definitely not a bike that I take out in the crap. I want to keep it nice and pristine So I've been on the system six for about three months now, I've got one of the Dura ace di2 models I've got these two here the one on the top here is the Altegra di2 Equipped version High mod frame it's got their own custom not 64 wheels, which we'll talk about in a minute Yeah, and then there's a second so when you say custom is this a Cannondale wheel This is a Cannondale wheel the hologram not 64s So this was designed these wheels were designed with this frame in mind So you'll only be able to get these wheels as part of a package with this particular bike You're also looking at the Dura ace di2 equipped version And there's a there's a more entry level price point that's got the same frame But it doesn't have that the knot system bar system Which is basically a one piece or two piece stem and handlebar That allows you to tuck away all the cables and hydraulic housing Which is a really neat little system But um the entry level Altegra version doesn't come with that system bar And doesn't come with the not 64 wheels But allows you to kind of build your own with one of the most aerodynamic frames on the market Yeah, okay, so what's a what's the price difference roughly? Well, you start at the top of the line 15 to 10 and then probably down around five and a half at the entry level There's also a frame only high mod Version available for people that just want to build one up on to their own spec And we just wired them both so it's about a 400 Yeah, yeah the top of the line with the best crank and the lightest fork and wheel combination and the lightest component Um combination in the dura ace is a little bit under eight kilograms And just tipping over eight kilograms for the Altegra di2 version Yeah, okay So you wanted to walk us through some of the technical specifications before you we talked about riding experience Yeah, well, first of all the this taken Cannondale a long time to come out with the design They felt was uniquely theirs and they actually came out with their first attempt at an aero road bike like this is the Most aerodynamic bike on the market right now. So it's advertised as the fastest bike in the world And the the german magazine test in uh, what's it called? I can't remember the german magazine I should know this that's all right. We can look it up and put it over the screen. Yeah, so um, so it's independent tests It said this was a fast independent tests and in-house tests Proved that this was the most aerodynamic bike up to about a six percent grade So when you're moving at speed where the aerodynamic benefit is the most is most if you can if you can have an aero benefit Um as you get going faster and faster and faster on this bike the aerodynamic benefit starts to take off So it's a very fast bike between 35 and 60 kilometers an hour. Yeah, right So um a couple interesting features on it. They've widened the stance of the fork And the seat stays in the back compared to what other aero bikes in the market Yeah, so you have more space in between the wheel and the edge of the fork And the stays in the back and the wheel to allow for a little better airflow in an area that also Normally has a lot of turbulence and a lot of drag So they've widened the stance If you look at the wheels themselves, they the the rim is wider than the tire so they looked at several different combinations of rim width and tire width to come up with the right combination That if you look parallel to the ground you end up with the true aero profile. So you this is a 23 See tire But a wider bead so it opens up the tire and creates a really good aero profile leading into a rim That's wider than the tire itself when you look down on it. It's pretty unique to see a rim That's wider than the tire. So like but does it come like that 24 25 mil tall? Well, it comes with a 23 spec tire And that 23 when opened up with a wider bead is actually as wide and has the same bag size as a normal 25 So you have a nice compliant ride But that 23 tire opened up allows it to help create that profile that they were looking for to decrease the drag So really unique wheel and tire combination That the increased space and stance width on the fork and the stay Allows for a little better airflow through an area that's normally very turbulent You can see how the shaping in the frame is allowing air to come back and then Attach reattach and go around the frame arrow seat Seat tube the truncated aero profile So you have true aero profiles with the cutoff in the back Which leaves a little room for your normal just a regular water bottle cage doesn't change the aerodynamics that much But if you look under the front end a lot of the cables are completely hidden So you have hydraulic hose to your front brake and rear brake and all the di2 equipment All nicely tucked into the bar. Yeah There's an amazing amount of drag on normal bikes from the cables So if you can reduce the cables all together you can get rid of a significant amount of the drag on a bike So a little time in the wind tunnel has definitely benefited these guys up here So that section up there is where you can plug in your di2 Yep So if you've got a di2 equip bike, that's where Everything plugs in to charge the battery that's in the seat tube. Yep So an extremely aerodynamic bike that the faster you go the more benefit you start to get and I'll tell you after spending some time on mine The first ride out I immediately noticed that when I would be riding at our typical group speed is between 35 38 sometimes 40 42 kilometers an hour And I noticed if I was taking a pull on the front at 40 I could accelerate up 42 44 and I could hold it a little longer than I normally could hold it Which was enough to frustrate some of the people I normally ride with I've uh, I've talked to some other people that we've that we've sold these bikes to And they share a similar experience with uh, frustrating some of their group riders by having a bike that's just a little bit faster You also notice if you are similar weight with someone that's on a Traditional road bike even like the canondale evo and you're rolling just down a slight grade These bikes will pick up speed without having to go into a tuck And the guy behind Besides you same weight similar bike good quality bike You'll have to be pedaling gently to kind of keep maintaining that same level of speed So really a really cool aero position And one of the first things you notice when you get on one of these bikes is a speckum with one size narrower handlebar Which also brings in your frontal area It's something that takes probably one or two rides to get used to But on my bike, uh, I've normally By bike in size 54 that would come with a 42 bar and these come with 40s Yeah, okay So it is something that it just changes your position a little bit and brings you in and makes you just that much more aero Your combination of all those things together makes for a bike that does Definitely for the first bike I can I can remember ever having and I've had a lot of road bikes The first bike that I can get on and immediately feel faster Yeah, okay Now you rode the original venge because you used to work with specialized Yep, uh, how does because the original venge for me comfort was a bit of an issue. How do these go comfort wise? Yeah, and this is a claim that canondale They don't even want this bike to be called an aero road bike because aero road bikes Traditionally are known to be fairly harsh 50 60 70 kilometer rides and your body's toast from the vibration that you're getting from the road This is extremely compliant more like the evo that I was used to riding which is known to be also very compliant So they really took time to engineer vertical compliance into this bike while still making it very good for sprinting Still torsionally very stiff and very aerodynamic. So it's a unique bike in its category. Is there anything specific I've done around comfort? Like say, I know the trec medine I've got some technology called the iso speed technology which helps reduce some of that vibration Is there anything I've done around the frame design or is well if you look at some companies They're using elastomers to reduce the vibration That's of course one very effective way to do it But you can also do it by aligning the fibers and changing the tube shapes in areas that can bend vertically So if you look at the shape of the chain stays and you look at the shape of the the seat stays the low slung seat stays Allows these this area to the the seat tube can flex a little bit The chain stays have a little flat section in the middle which allows them to flex vertically as well And by having that low slung seat stay You basically can encourage the rear end to flex a little bit vertically which Takes a huge edge off of those rough bumps and edges of potholes and cracks in the pavement that you would normally feel on a road ride So I can comfortably ride this. I'm planning uh, I'm planning to do a lot of training for around the bay I can comfortably say I could do around the bay on this I've already done a couple 120k plus rides on it and you'll If you're if I was on my old vinge or I've even had the chance to ride a giant propel before as well Definitely those bikes are the people that will own you Own those bikes will also tell you the same thing that they're not generally bikes You'd go out on an all-day ride and expect to come home with any level of uh Comfort when you when you return home. So how's this been as a deal of as you sell these bikes obviously? Um Cannondale bringing in an aro road bike. How have you seen the uptake in the market? Well, it's it's um Traditionally, I'd say you've got most people riding your traditional road bike like the Cannondale Evo You've got people that are riding longer more distance a little bit of gravel or rougher roads that like the the endurance road bike This is definitely a smaller niche. It's growing Especially in this area where we've got beach road and they've got huge group rides Most of the riding is flat So you're seeing more and more people take interest in these aro style bikes for that style of ride