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I am shopping for my wife -- Looking at the Cannondales -- would love to hear other opinions!!!

Thanks

Send Tai a message, he can help you.

Aloha,

Larry

I am curious as well. David K.

I'm also very interested to hear what people have to say about the 05 Ironman bikes. I didn't see much in terms of reviews for the 04 bikes -- maybe the jury is still out on these...

Edward

Hi ThreeWay,

Great question. I have been racing in the U.S. on a new '04 Cannondale IM2000 frame equiped with Dura-Ace and Vision Tech bars.

I picked that frame because the new Cannondale frame geometry fit my body measurements best. It has been a very good choice, and I am staying on this bike for a while.

Cannondale made big changes in their multisport line-up from '03 to '04. These changes appeared first on the higher end bikes such as IM2000 and IM5000. The IM800 used the previous model year frame from '03.

The newer bike featured greatly improved geometry with much shorter top tubes, revised seat angles and an entirely different frame that is lighter and more comfortable by far.

I can ride anything I want in this job, and after measuring a lot of bikes the IM2000 frame fit me best.

The 2005 Cannondales all use the new Speed Shadow Slice Aero frame with Optimo level thin wall tubing. Make no mistake, the days of the rough riding aluminum are gone on this bike. It is extremely comfortable. The Speed Shadow Slice Aero frame first appeared on the IM2000 and IM5000 in '04 and has trickled down to the IM800 also for '05. I feel it is an excellent frame.

Noteworthy is the fact that Cannondale frames are manufactured by Cannondale in the Cannondale factory in the U.S. The only other tri bike manufacturer I know of that you can say this about is Guru who builds in their own factory in Montreal. All others are subcontracted construction, some domestic, most Taiwanese.

Cannondale's '05 spec is not as nice as Felt's and Quintana Roos though. They missed the boat with the Vision Tech bars and newer generation saddles such as the Arione tri. However, any good dealer can and will make these substitutions as we usually do.

IMO the new Slice Aero Speed Shadow Cannondale tri frames, while a little heavy on buzzwords, are really good. They are worth changing component spec on to get such a nice frame.

I love mine, have raced on it 10 times and will continue to race on it.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Thanks Tom...that's exactly what I was looking for. Sounds like a solid bike.