Ultegra Vs DA

cannongirl said:

I must admit though, the Colnago looks tempting...;-)

Thanks again.

Not too late to change your mind.I have 2 Colnagos, and the Cdale is in mothballs. 😉

boudreaux said:

Not too late to change your mind.I have 2 Colnagos, and the Cdale is in mothballs. 😉

But that C'dale is a 2.8, right? I know its NOT a Six13. That is one awesome ride. The second guy at the LBS has one and since we are the same size, he let me ride it...WOW! Makes my Saeco feel really harsh.

I still like my CAAD4 for sprints, though. Its a bit stiffer.

My LBS is a Cannondale and Colnago Dealer...he said he rode one (six13) for 2 weeks and it was the closest thing he'd come to a Colnago....sounds like he really liked it...I haven't ridden one myself so I can't comment...

I'm very open minded at the moment, could you try and put into words what is good about Colnago? I know they have a legendary reputation...

boudreaux said:

Not too late to change your mind.I have 2 Colnagos, and the Cdale is in mothballs. 😉

PLEASE...tell us more about your test ride!!

Weisse Luft said:

But that C'dale is a 2.8, right? I know its NOT a Six13. That is one awesome ride. The second guy at the LBS has one and since we are the same size, he let me ride it...WOW! Makes my Saeco feel really harsh.

I still like my CAAD4 for sprints, though. Its a bit stiffer.

I have had the chance to see the neww ultegra 10 spd and it looks real nice. If I was in the market for a new bike I would wait to get the 10 spd ultegra maybe. It really looks nice.

cannongirl said:

PLEASE...tell us more about your test ride!!

It was strange. At first, the road was smooth and it felt just like my Saeco CAAD4, save the DA10 (I have DA9). When we got to some rougher pavement, the feeling changed. No longer were the buzz and bump all that bad, it felt to my butt and hands like the tires were 30 PSI low. But when I got up off the saddle, there was no tire squirm nor was there any flex in the chainrings. No derailer rub ever. The one big improvement is in my hands. Even with Easton carbon bars, my hands cannot take 50 miles of rough chip seal. The Six13 is much better suited for century rides, especially if you like to ride on the tops.

On descent, it handled predictably, a bit more laid back compared to the CAAD4. Hands off, it is also much more stable but this could be due to cabling as I have Nokon's which are much more flexible.

Other than that, a Six13 is pretty much like a CAAD4, framewise.

I've heard/read so much good stuff about the six13, and thank you for your opinions....

There IS only one six13 frame, right? no CAAD designations and such? in other words, a six13 is a six13?

I've learned so much from you Guys...sorry for all the questions...

It sounds like, for me anyway, a nice Bike would be a six13 with Ultegra 10s...??

One thing I really liked about the six13 is that it seems to come pretty loaded and there would never be any reason to upgrade anything...apart from a WSD Saddle of course...I know little about components and wheels, but it seems they're all good...to me at least...

Weisse Luft said:

It was strange. At first, the road was smooth and it felt just like my Saeco CAAD4, save the DA10 (I have DA9). When we got to some rougher pavement, the feeling changed. No longer were the buzz and bump all that bad, it felt to my butt and hands like the tires were 30 PSI low. But when I got up off the saddle, there was no tire squirm nor was there any flex in the chainrings. No derailer rub ever. The one big improvement is in my hands. Even with Easton carbon bars, my hands cannot take 50 miles of rough chip seal. The Six13 is much better suited for century rides, especially if you like to ride on the tops.

On descent, it handled predictably, a bit more laid back compared to the CAAD4. Hands off, it is also much more stable but this could be due to cabling as I have Nokon's which are much more flexible.

Other than that, a Six13 is pretty much like a CAAD4, framewise.

Weisse Luft said:

But that C'dale is a 2.8, right? I know its NOT a Six13.

Caad 4 Saeco.

cannongirl said:

I'm very open minded at the moment, could you try and put into words what is good about Colnago? I know they have a legendary reputation...

It's probably personal and subjective,like prefering Ford over Chevy,and I like lugged steel which the Master Light and Tecnos Colnagos are, and they fit me well.I've had lots of different Cdales and never liked any of them well enough to keep it long. Never tried a 6thirteen tho.

This is basically just out of technical curiousity, as I don't foresee considering these gearing combos, but does anyone know what prohibits using the new Ultegra CS-6600 cassettes with the DA FH-7800 hub for the
13-25T, 14-25T, 15-25T, 16-27T
but apparently permits
11T-23T, 12T-23T, 12T-25T, 12T-27T ?

The larger top gear-types have the central 5 cogs on a common carrier, but I can't envision as to why this should matter, or is it that the larger lockrings seat differently on the DA? Also was wondering what this means as far as the possibility of using a FH-6500 with any of the CS-6600s.

from:
shimano.com.auCS 6600%20SI 1ZD0B.pdfOpen ↗
[font=Helvetica]"• A spacer is not needed when installing the CS-6600 to the WH-7800/FH-7800.[/font]
[font=Helvetica]• The CS-6600 (13-25T, 14-25T, 15-25T, 16-27T) cannot be used with the WH-7800/FH-7800."[/font]

Weisse Luft said:

It was strange. At first, the road was smooth and it felt just like my Saeco CAAD4, save the DA10 (I have DA9). When we got to some rougher pavement, the feeling changed. No longer were the buzz and bump all that bad, it felt to my butt and hands like the tires were 30 PSI low. But when I got up off the saddle, there was no tire squirm nor was there any flex in the chainrings. No derailer rub ever. The one big improvement is in my hands. Even with Easton carbon bars, my hands cannot take 50 miles of rough chip seal. The Six13 is much better suited for century rides, especially if you like to ride on the tops.

On descent, it handled predictably, a bit more laid back compared to the CAAD4. Hands off, it is also much more stable but this could be due to cabling as I have Nokon's which are much more flexible.

Other than that, a Six13 is pretty much like a CAAD4, framewise.

Good review. Smooth ride is great, but the bike also has to be stiff enough when it's time to apply some power or jump out of the saddle.

You mentioned tire pressure...are you sure the tires really weren't lower than you're used to? If you're used to 120 psi, and the dealer puts you on a new bike at 95 psi, it's going to feel like a Cadillac. When I was test riding last fall, I had the dealer inflate the tires to 100 psi in front of me before riding.

dhk said:

Good review. Smooth ride is great, but the bike also has to be stiff enough when it's time to apply some power or jump out of the saddle.

You mentioned tire pressure...are you sure the tires really weren't lower than you're used to? If you're used to 120 psi, and the dealer puts you on a new bike at 95 psi, it's going to feel like a Cadillac. When I was test riding last fall, I had the dealer inflate the tires to 100 psi in front of me before riding.

No, I inflated the tires to 135 PSI before riding.

Weisse Luft said:

No, I inflated the tires to 135 PSI before riding.

Way off topic, but 135 psi is very high pressure for 23 mm road clinchers. That's more than the maximum pressure rating on the most, at least the Conti's and Michelin's I use. Plus, believe it's close to the (Mavic) rim manufacturers max safe pressure.

Michelin Pro Race have a recommend range of 87-116 psi on the sidewall. At 170 lbs, I've found the middle of the range works best for all-around handling and grip. I used to run the max in them, but found I like the ride and road holding a lot better at 100 psi, plus have fewer cuts/flats.

Guess we all have different ideas on tire pressure. Maybe we need to start a seperate thread, as it's a whole discussion in itself.