Still feeling a bit weak from Saturday's ride I decided to take it easy and take the CAAD 9 out for a simple late night city run. Simply put, the differences between it and the carbon bikes I’ve been riding lately are miniscule. Acceleration is great. It doesn’t flex as far as I can tell, and its nice and lively without being scary, much livelier than the current 05 Tarmac I’ve been riding. There’s a nice little bounce to it when you’re accelerating. Even the new Sora shifters had me a bit impressed. They shift cleanly and are quite precise. The rest of the components don't have the nice lightness and solid feel of a Dura Ace or Sram Force group but as far as getting the job done, I’d say its 90% there. I’ll have to see how it does with some major climbing duty. |