Cannondale CAAD6 Saeco 2003 build (WW ideas needed)

[fizzybubbelech]

Decided to do a little write up here.

Prologue:
So some three year ago (summer 2013) I got my first road bike which happened to be a CAAD6 Cannondale Saeco in 54cm. It was built up with mix of 10 speed Sram red and force, and all round was a very nice and lightweight bike. The livery appealed to me hence I got it. After some 6 months I had to move to Scotland and took the bike with me. Everyone around me was riding MTB and I didn't really have a space to keep the bike indoors so I made a (oh my) decision to sell the bike in favour of getting a MTB. Luckily it was bought by a really nice guy who's really into his bikes. I would never think at the moment that I will somehow become attached to it, that I would be on a hunt for one in some time.

Things have settled here, and I had a few road bikes. Most interesting been the 1994 R400 which I bould from the original owner and restored/rebuilt. Was a nice bike with a retro feel to it but I could feel it's not really any faster than my MTB. So that one has found a new owner. A guy told me he's been looking for a 90s R bike for a while and found exactly the one. He even showed me some saved pics from Pinterest. Great.

So then around autumn 2015 I was browsing through eBay and stumbled upon a fully built Saeco CAAD6 from 2003 which was in exactly the same colourway as that first bike of mine, so I had to get it. The seller didn't offer the postage initially but after a few emails he agreed to pack it up and ship, and I got this.
Built up with a mixture of 105 and other bits, in a bit shabby condition but still the very same great frame.

[fizzybubbelech]

So then the bike got taken apart, inspected, had to replace to bottom bracket bearings, headset was still smooth.
Also got some Ksyrium Equipe wheels.

These are WIP photos.

As I wanted to have a "old meets new" style I wanted a modern groupset. Through all the bikes I had I realised I prefer SRAM over Shimano. I also wanted a bit of future-proofness so Rival or Force 22 were my sensible choices. I wanted to have Red cranks too. Off to eBay and forums.

[fizzybubbelech]

After a while I managed to get a sweet deal for a full end-of-2015 Rival22. Was advertised as removed from demo bike with very little round-the-block miles and turned out like that. Bye bye my dream of Red Cranks. Oh well.
I was thinking what finishing kit shall I get and due to the branded ones being out of my sensible budget, I decided to go China unbranded Carbon (Aliexpress).
The whole lot included:
Ti skewers in black claimed 48g
Matt carbon seatpost (27.2/350/25mm offset) claimed 196g
Matt carbon saddle claimed 95g
Matt carbon stem (6*/90mm) claimed 125g
Matt carbon shallow bars (420mm) claimed 180g
Matt carbon seatpost clamp claimed 18g
Matt carbon water bottles claimed 16g x2

All came in pretty quick, but... even tho everything was meant to be stealth no logo matt black.. the bars came in gloss black aand with some grey "stylish" stripe. Also the stem was different to the one on the picture. What a disappointment. Oh well I guess everything comes at a price.

Another disappointment was the the Ksyriums I got were 10 speed only as it turned out, so I had to get a new wheelset. Someone at work suggested I check superstarcomponents and I guess it was my day as they were doing a 50% off. 1450g claimed weight, lifetime truing warranty, nice buzz to them and price tag of around 100 quid. That's how I got myself a set of Elite 30s in red.

My mate lent me some Cannondale C2 440mm bars and a C1 stem which I've used for the temp build as I didn't like the carbon at all. You can still see the carbon seatpost and seat.

Went for the red cable outers, thinking those will look good with red wheels.

[fizzybubbelech]

I had the bars wrapped obviously, and was riding the bike like that. Since I've used the stem and bars for so long I bought them off my mate only to realise 440 are a bit too wide. Stem was fine. In the meantime I found a C1 seatpost to create a matching finishing kit.

I always fancied deep section Aero wheels folk had around me but couldn't justify a price tag unitl...until I stumbled upon an ad for Planet X 60mm 11s tubular, which the guy was saying been only used for some 50 miles. He was down south and didn't really want to post them, but after a while he agreed to send them over. Happy days. Sweet number and sweet wheels. I had to buy the front tire as it wasn't included, and bought a matching Tufo S33 PRO 24.
One happy me. For a while.

[fizzybubbelech]

So some time later after riding and putting few miles on the bike and being on a haunt for C1 420mm bars but never found any, so got C2 instead. Oh well.
Was okay with my Rival22 but having carbon Force (10s) on my other CX bike i felt latter is better for my likes. Usual story again -> eBay -> search -> Force 22. And happy days won a full Force 22.

This is the final iteration of the bike now as it stands as of today. I haven't got the exact weight but Rival22 was about 7.8 kg from memory.
Must be down a few hundred grams or so.

So the build list as follows:
Frameset: Cannondale CAAD6 Saeco Team 2003 size 52 w Slice/Time carbon forks
Groupset: SRAM Force22 BB30 (50/34 172.5mm / 11-28)
Finishing kit: Cannondale C1 stem 90mm, C2 bars 420mm, C1 seatpost 27.2, China carbon saddle
Wheelset: Planet X 60mm Carbon Tubular w Ti Skewers (China)
Tyres: Tufo S33 PRO 24
Pedals: Cheap Exustar KEO style
Various: Carbon Bottle cage, Jagwire CEX/LEX cables, Cinelli GEL! Bartape, Inline Gear adjuster, Cannondale top cap.

[fizzybubbelech]

Been out on a nice light ride with my mate today. He's just got himself a Canyon Endurace CF w full Ultegra and even tho it's an XL frame the bike feels EXTREMELY light. In fact as light as 7kg according to website.
Made me think I'd like to shed off some weight off mine too. The goal would be UCI limit or slightly less. No crazy 5kg needed.

Hopefully I'll manage to get the accurate weight but gotta take it to the LBS I guess.

Any ideas what shall I start with? I love the efficiency when it comes to spending my dollar, so I kindly welcome reasonable and efficient ideas.
I'll probably get the cheap Wiggle Lifeline Keo style pedals in a forseeable future as need another set (those are 240g and 20quid).


Thanks! Victor

[evan326]

I really like this, thanks for sharing the build!
Sorry I don't have much to suggest. Only thing I would say is keep your eye out on ebay for some c1 bars. They're lighter, but much harder to find than c2 or c3.

[jkzy]

That's a good looking build. I think you've managed quite abit of savings with the saddle+seatpost but you'll need to spend quite abit to shave some weight off there.

I would seriously look at the bars especially since it seems like your levers are tilted up and mounted abit higher on the bars. Maybe some nice compact dropbars in carbon would shave weight and improve fit?

[TimmS]

Find soms second hand hollowgrams.

They are not hard to find and will save some weight.

[kgt]

+1
Lovely bike!

[fizzybubbelech]

That's a good looking build. I think you've managed quite abit of savings with the saddle+seatpost but you'll need to spend quite abit to shave some weight off there.

I would seriously look at the bars especially since it seems like your levers are tilted up and mounted abit higher on the bars. Maybe some nice compact dropbars in carbon would shave weight and improve fit?

Yeah I guess some shorter reach bars could do me fine. Any exact makes and models? Also might be just me but I like my finishing kit to be same make? Why is that oh tell me please?

[kulivontot]

Hollow gram won't work on 2003 caad6 I imagine. Bb30 hadn't been invented I believe.
I'm looking on doing an anachronistic retro build myself with a 2001 caad4 frame I picked up on the cheap. Originally was going to use leftover sram red parts, but am trying out di2 for the hell of it.
I'd be curious to know the weight difference for cannondale frames/forks over the years. Any chance you weighed the frame and fork by themselves?

[tarmackev]

Thanks for sharing, you've got a very cool bike.


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[fizzybubbelech]

Find soms second hand hollowgrams.

They are not hard to find and will save some weight.

Just checked eBay and these seem to fetch 200+. That's Red (even Red22) territory :O Is there THAT much weight saving for the Hollowgrams compared to RED?

Hollow gram won't work on 2003 caad6 I imagine. Bb30 hadn't been invented I believe.
I'm looking on doing an anachronistic retro build myself with a 2001 caad4 frame I picked up on the cheap. Originally was going to use leftover sram red parts, but am trying out di2 for the hell of it.
I'd be curious to know the weight difference for cannondale frames/forks over the years. Any chance you weighed the frame and fork by themselves?

Mine's BB30. Funny enough CAAD7 Saeco is BSA...

Thanks for sharing, you've got a very cool bike.


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Thanks! Not often I say this but I do myself love what the project turned into Hopefully will get even better with some time and few efficient mods.

[TimmS]

Red Exograms weight less then Hollowgrams!

... but Hollowgrams would suit the bike best, my opinion.