Cannondale Capo vs Hillbrick Pista

wallis

Hey guys,

i'm thinking about getting a Cannondale Capo to use for track racing, has anyone here ridden one? It seems to be more set up for single speed road. At the moment i'm tossing up between it and a Hillbrick Pista.

cheers, Wil

Jack-o

Hey Wil,
I'm considering the purchase of either of these two as well. I want to use one as a road bike for track training as we don't have a velodrome nearby and my new carbon track frame doesn't have brake mounts.

We sell both types on our shop. The Hillbrick is tremendous value for money and if your use is track only thats the one I'd go for. You can add brakes for road use if you wish.

The Capo is a track frame apart from having wider clearances and longer wheelbase to suit it's dual purpose nature and you can do the easy convert from road to track at any time. The rear brake cable is a continuous length of outer cable held on to the top bar by plastic clips so it leaves a very clean look when converted for track use.

But the Hillbrick is much cheaper, even with optional carbon forks.

sv650s

I have only recently start riding and racing again after a motorbike accident. I bought the Hillbrick and recon it is great value for money for anyone starting out.

Get a 49T chain ring and you are set as a beginer.

Jack-o

Just thought of something else.

The Capo has 130PCD (bolt (or pitch) circle diameter) cranks whereas the Hillbrick has the more usual (for track racing) 144PCD. The choice of quality chainrings will be much wider with the hillbrick.

It also allows you to borrow chainrings from your mates!

You might want to change a couple of things on the Hillbrick that are ok for beginners but experienced riders would change such as the seat (the original one is VERY basic) and if you only had the one set of wheels you would want some faster tyres (Veloflex Corsa or Records are excellent). If you are a big strong sprinter type, you may want to change the original aluminium handlebars to Nitto cro-moly steel versions (about $90)

Jack-o

sv650s

So what wheels should he look at getting for the Hillbrick (so I can get a better idea of what I should get )?

At the moment I am rolling on Vittoria Rubino Pros. Love em.

Jack-o

Campagnolo Pista wheels are great. Yes they are heavy, but it doesn't matter on the track. What you want is stiffness which the Pistas have in bucketfulls.

HOWEVER, you need to check the spoke tension is tight enough when they are brand new. My own pair came with spokes tensioned nowhere near tight enough. I ended up tightening them another two and a half turns. Another set that I sold to a customer had pretty good spoke tension, however I did check their trueness and ended up tightening all spokes about half a turn more. This needs to be done before the tyres are glued on.

A little higher up the money tree, Hed disc rear and Hed tri spoke front wheels are good value in carbon wheels.

For singles (glue-on) tyres I have used DuGahst (hard to get) and Vittoria Pista Evo and both are good.

A good aussie website for track stuff is www.trackgear.com.au

sv650s

Jack-0 Your the man!

Jack-o

Awww shucks, stop it.....

wallis

Hey guys, I went with the Cannondale!

I upgraded the rims to Mavic CXPs, hopefully i'll get some race wheels down the track (no pun intended). I upgraded the bottom of the line cranks and bottom bracket to Sugino for $150AUD. I also switched the peice-of-cr@p saddle over to something a little narrower and "racey".

Unfortunately i haven't actually got to ride it yet because i managed to hurt my ankle the day i got it. Once that heals up i'll let you know how it performs.

happy cycling, Wallis

ps. it looks great, a big beefy bottom bracket. Weighs in around 7.2 kg in a 56cm frame.

Jack-o

Well done. sensible change of crank to Sugino.

Did you get the Black or the Silver?

caferacerwanabe

As a simple rule of thumb , a bottom bracket height of around 11 inches from the ground is one of the most important factors in any level of track bike.

sv650s

roadiesean

Spooky this, just thinking the same thought. Lets through in a few more permutations, how about the Pista Pro vs the Capo, can be bought for almost the same money as each other, or then a Hillbrick Ryan Bayley sig model ? Hard to find out the exact spec of the Hillbrick, but judging by who uses them, suggests a high quality bit of kit.


Does the Pista Pro make up for the shortfall of the Pista, can get for $1650 rather than $900 for the Pista, or $900 for the Hillbrick, $1500 for the Capo. Love the Cannondale, they are gorgeous, but I want the best track bike, not the best looking one ! I am new to this, and confused as hell, any help would be brill.