CAAD7 with campag centaur $4200AUD

a1086528 said:

hi guys,
i'm looking to upgrade my bike and am strongly considering the CAAD7. my LBS is the only cannondale dealer in town, so knowing if its a good price is difficult. they have offered me this bike setup for approx. $4200AUD or $3150US without too much haggling.

2004 CAAD7 Frame
Campagnolo Centaur Group Set
Campagnolo Zonda G3 Wheelset
FSA Carbon Cranks
FSA ProWing handlebar + stem
FSA Carbon Seatpost
Fizik Arione Saddle

I want to get it from my LBS cause they are absolute great guys but i just wanted to know if the price they have quoted is good or if i could bargain some more.

If you could let me know your thoughts that would be great. Another question should I pay more the six-13?

I can't tell you if it's a good price since i don't know how much sales tax is in Australia. But since you seem like the people at your LBS, I'd buy it there, even if you could find a better offer. For me a good price is not as important as a good service and I'd rather give my money to people I like.

I totally agree with you, i'd love to by it from LBS. There service is fantastic! It's just that i'm a uni student with limited funds. $4200 is my entire savings.

yeah i know how it feels
I am in year 12 in Brisbane, and have been saving up for about a year and I am almost ready to buy myself a new bike, probably a giant tcr 1.
well back to your situation.
My LBS sells (well they did about a month ago, last time i was there) the cannondale caad 7 frame, full ultegra 9 speed, kysrium elites, (i am unsure about the other components) for $3000 grand.
when i talked to them about it they said that they could not drop the price any lower,as it was as cheap as it could be.
i hope this advice helps

ps. i wouldn't buy the six13, not that is bad(i have no idea). If I was in your position i would by the caad7, then buy some training tyres and a heart rate moniter with the left over money. I've seen a bloke win the elite club nationals on giant alu tcr,and a fella was just leading the herald sun tour on an alu tcr as well. it gets down to the engine, not the bike. if your good enough, the caad7 will take you as far as you want to go.

phillip-8727 said:

yeah i know how it feels
I am in year 12 in Brisbane, and have been saving up for about a year and I am almost ready to buy myself a new bike, probably a giant tcr 1.
well back to your situation.
My LBS sells (well they did about a month ago, last time i was there) the cannondale caad 7 frame, full ultegra 9 speed, kysrium elites, (i am unsure about the other components) for $3000 grand.
when i talked to them about it they said that they could not drop the price any lower,as it was as cheap as it could be.
i hope this advice helps

ps. i wouldn't buy the six13, not that is bad(i have no idea). If I was in your position i would by the caad7, then buy some training tyres and a heart rate moniter with the left over money. I've seen a bloke win the elite club nationals on giant alu tcr,and a fella was just leading the herald sun tour on an alu tcr as well. it gets down to the engine, not the bike. if your good enough, the caad7 will take you as far as you want to go.

wow phillip! 3Gs is cheap, do you know if it came with the Slice-Si All Carbon fork? i know that the cheaper spec'd CAAD7's had the normal carbon fork-aluminium steerer. also did have like carbon cranks and stuff? $4200 sounds a bit expensive now. thanks for the reply!

It had full 9spd ultegra, and that included the ultegra cranks.
i am not to sure what fork it has, but i can tell in the couple of months that they were selling that bike they must have sold a HUGE amount of them.
i know that some of the cheaper cannondales(R1000), saved money by having a dodgy seat post and a 105 bottom bracket, but i am not sure if the ones at my LBS had this.
the site below shows a bike similar to what they were selling
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/04/cusa/model-4RR1D.html

oh and i almost forgot, it had those shocking cannondale omega brakes that i have heard many a bad thing about. So it was a good deal for 3G but some changes would have to be made.

i rekon $4200 is great, I'd see if you can get them down to $4000. I think centaur is the best value for money group set on the market, throw in Carbon cranks and other quality FSA components( bars, stem, seatpost), and you've got yourself quite a bike!!

this site might interest you-
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2004/reviews/centaur-first-impression

hope this helps

thanks, the links were very helpful, i am definetly getting campag centaur on the caad7. i was even thinking that if i could knock it back to around $4000, i would upgrade the levers to carbon chorus for some extra poser points =) thanks again you've been very helpful.

you gota love the carbon leavers, its one of those things that i would regret if you dont do it.
sounds like a great bike, i am sure youll have many a good day on it.
make sure you upload some pics when you get it 🙂

in a couple of years time when i am at uni, Ill definetly buy a bike very similar to one your getting. I looked into buying a cytek massimo frame (airplane tubing with muscle rear and seat strays), full carbon fork, kyserium equipes (rubino pro tyres), centaur (aluminium cranks), ritchey WCS bar and stem and ultegra pedals. the cost would be about $3800, too much for me right now, so giant it'll be.
cytek offer bloody good value for money and your spending $200-400 extra than that and you get carbon cranks, zondas (equal to or better than equipes, id say better), FSA bits, CAAD7 frame(speaks for itself), and maybe carbon leavers.

one bloody good deal id say

ps. i also read that the 2004 centaur rear derailluer is just the 2003 chorus rear derailluer, since chorus went to carbon. it really is a great groupset, and very under rated

phillip-8727 said:

sounds like a great bike, i am sure youll have many a good day on it. make sure you upload some pics when you get it

Hey phillip,
I finally got my new CAAD7 on friday, all up it weighs 7.8kgs. its got:
'04 CAAD7 Opitimo frame
Slice Si full carbon fork (310grams)
Centaur 10spd groupset
FSA pro team issue cranks
Campag Zonda G3 wheelset
Cannondale wind seatpost
FSA prowing handlebar/ os140 stem
Look keo carbon pedals
Fizik arione saddle
Pro hi-comp carbon bottle cages

i didnt upgrade the levers to chorus carbon cause it was just too expensive, besides the centaur alloy looks nice too!
took it for my first ride and it was fast. there were just a few niggling things that the bike store said they would fix for me on monday.
front wheel has a lil' ratling sound
headset feels a lil' loose and
trouble shifting into the big ring

tell me what you think of the bike, its stealth, dont ya think?

real stealth, nice bike. 7.8kg with pedals is great.
good buy, im glad your happy with it, now just enjoy it.