I have the opportunity to get a brand new (albeit 2 years old) Cannondale R700 Si Saeco Edition. Does anyone have any experiences with the bike, good or bad? It seems like an incredible deal, on a great looking bike. I can’t believe the LBS hasn’t sold it yet.
I already have a tri bike, and this would just be to have a bike to do “road” rides and also so I don’t wear my tri bike out.
----->Trent
I have also purchased a Cannondale R700Si 2002 from a dealer. I bought mine for half price in a clearance sale. Mine is not the red SAECO model, but a shiny black one with silver R700 and Cannondale stickers. This bike is extremely fast and light. It is very comfortable. Due to the rear hourglass sysstays hardly no vibrations are transferred from the road. The Cannondale fork is actually a Time carbon fibre fork branded as Cannodale. The bike is not as responsive as a Giant TCR (which I also have) when cornering or accelerating but it is more stable in fast speeds and I feel more connected to it. It might be due to the perfect fit, as it comes in many frame sizes and the one I have fits me like a glove. The quality of the frame, welds and paint is superb. Even people who don’t know much about bikes always comment to me how wonderful the bike looks. The frame becomes wider towards the bottom bracket and when hammering the pedals you can feel how fantastically stiff the frame is. If you have the muscle power this bike can fly. The gears are 105 which I find satisfactory. It shifts well and feels good.
I love climbing with this bike and completely trust it on very high-speed descents. You can throw it through sharp corners at 40-50 mph with a killer look on your face and feel like you are driving an Italian sports car. I strongly recommend it. You will love it.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am test riding the thing on Saturday morning, and I think I am going to go ahead and put some money down on it.
----->Trent