Saw a CAADX in my LBS this week, fan of the CAAD10, so I thought they were being cute with the X roman numeral for 10. Found out it’s a cyclocross bike. Looks like the X fork might be heavier than the 10 roadie, 6069 vs 6061 alloy frame, disc brakes on the X, internal routing on the 10, heavier rims on the X, suppose wider fork clearance?, 6800 ultegra on the roadie, 6700 on the X. Not sure any of those make any huge difference to me as a rider,
So if a guy were looking to get a road bike for training to complement a TT bike, which one would you go with? Given that a guy had two wheelsets, would either frame be able to flex well enough over to road racing or cx without much significant difference in performance?
Well, which do you want? Road or cyclocross? You can use a cyclocross bike on the road, maybe switch the tires, but you don’t have too. Roadies might smirk at you for a cx bike in a road race.
Kind of tough to use a road bike in a cyclocross race.
With a bit of thought, you could make each work .
If you aren’t going race cyclocross, I would just get the caad10.
I guess my question, better stated, would be: Is there REALLY much difference between the CAADX and CAAD10 frames? Seeing the CAADX in the shop, I mistook it for a 10.
At this point in time, I’m focused on Tri, so mostly it’ll be a commuter to the gym and back (10mi across town). My personality would lean more towards CX racing than road racing, but having the ability to swap out wheels and be functional in either case would be a big bonus. I suppose I could see a benefit that if I ever hit a tri course that was super hilly that my Shiv would be a significant disadvantage, but honestly, I’d rather ride my tri bike in every tri I ride anyway. I’d assume that road races are a lot more common near me than CX.
So yeah, the question is: as a commuter, is there any difference between the two, and then if I were to decide to CX or road race, is there a significant difference between the two frames?
That said, you open yourself to more options with the CaadX as a commuter, you allow yourself the ability to put wider tires, and you can ride gravel single track, cx, and commute with trustworth slicks. The only thing that would put me off are the disc brakes, for commuting they are probably just fine, if not an advantage. For racing, you are limiting yourself to building a disc brake racing wheel set. The only reason I mention racing, because it seems like you aren’t that interested, is because CX racing is a blast and you should do it.
CX bikes are typically built to handle more abuse than your average road bike and will often have slightly different geometry. Stability and strength are required for cx while a road frame might try to promote better aerodynamics and with less of a weight penalty. Also, the gearing for a cx bike is usually different from your average road bike, something more akin to a compact crank.
So, that said, for a pure commuter especially on poorer quality roads a cx bike might be what you are looking for. And as prattzc alluded to, you wouldn’t want to use a road frame in a cx race. It’s likely that knobby cx tires wouldn’t be accommodated by road brakes and the likelihood of expensive damage is higher.
On the other hand, if you plan on training regularly with roadies (pacelining, etc.) or doing a lot of climbing, both situations where speed and light weight are required, a road bike would be preferable.
Personally, I use a road bike for nice weather training, for road racing and mountainous rides and a cx bike for commuting and cyclocross racing. Really, you can never have too many bikes
+1 on the slightly different geometry. The cross bike is going to have a higher BB than the roadie, so it might feel slightly different. the tyre clearances are different too.
not a massive difference, but the CX bike would be more versatile. but if you’re gonna race road, then get the caad 10.
Decide whether you are looking for a road or CX bike. The CaadX IMHO is a very heavy ride (dare I say clunky?). It is definitely bombproof but I’d have a hard time using it as a daily driver. The CAAD10 on the other hand is a truly fantastic bike and builds out decently light, especially in the smaller sizes. I would not hesitate to take the CAAD10 any day, but then again, road is my thing.
I have a new CAADX and a SuperSix that i’ve had for 2+ years… Like most others have said, there are several minor differences that add up to a bigger one. Honestly, if you were to isolate only one variable (like frame), I think you’d struggle to tell the difference on a normal road ride. But add bigger tires, compact gearing, and new geometry all at once — sure, they’re totally different bikes.
I guess you COULD use the CX bike all the time if you were willing to have two disc-specific wheelsets (one with road tires), and also if you wanted to swap chainrings (and the chain, and adjust the shifting) to make it a dedicated road bike most of the year. But that’s a hassle.
For what it’s worth, I have a blast riding solo and racing on my CAADX. I’ve discovered that I’m better at racing CX than road, and I like the ability to train in crappier conditions.
That said, I wouldn’t take it on a group road ride, even with road tires. I’d get dropped quick (and “just get stronger” isn’t the solution). I’m thinking of swapping my SuperSix for a more relaxed, less racey aluminum road bike.
So if a guy were looking to get a road bike for training to complement a TT bike, which one would you go with?
CAAD10, no question about it. The CAADX has a lot of compromises that make it a good cross bike which make it a not-so-good road racing bike. Possible? Yes. But not optimal.
The CAADX is a different horse and certainly not the road racer the CAAD10 is, but overall it’s a more versatile bike. Again, you need to be clear about your plans here: how likely is it that you’ll race on the road? or cyclocross? If you think you’ll race either, I’d say choose the bike accordingly. If you don’t think you’ll race either, you really just want one non-TT bike for training, touring, light trails, whatever… get the CAADX.
I have a buddy who loves CX. Loves it so much that he sold his road bike and bought a back up cross bike. Then, he won enough Cat 3 crits that he’s now racing Cat 2, with his cross bike.
If you really like cross, then do it. Just be aware of the gears that you have available to you (usually smaller chainrings on a cross bike). If you don’t plan to race cross, then you should accept that cross bikes are ugly and should only be seen when they are covered in mud.
If you want the CX as a training bike, and a winter bike (putting fenders on, if you live in a rainy place), AND you have a tri bike for the summer, then get the CX… if you are in better climate and don’t have to worry about winter/rain/fenders then I’d go CAAD10. I’ve got 10+ C’dales in my garage, and still love my CAAD7 (it’s a ‘fixy’ now), but for winter I am lusting after a carbon SuperX with disks. No logical reason why it is better than my other C’dale CX frame from 10 years ago, or the rain bike (Six13) but it would love it.
You mentioned having multiple sets of wheels already. They won’t work on this particular caadx because it has disc brakes. I assume your TT bike does not. Disc hubs are different, and I don’t think the newer caadx has tabs for cantilevers.
I have an older caadx, before they put discs on it. It’s a very different bike from a caad10. The front end is higher, the BB is higher, and it even rides different. It feels less stiff than the caad10. Even with road wheels and normal road psi, the caadx goes over bumps better than my caad10.
If you want a smooth commuter and don’t mind riding the stock wheels all the time, the caadx is a good bike. If you want to race and the road, the caad10 is a much better choice.
My question is about the terrain you will be riding. I live in western-PA. We have tons of dirt roads intersecting our paved roads.
I have a road bike set up with Gatorskin tires. It can handle most (BUT NOT ALL!!!) of the dirt roads. The cross bike feels good on the paved roads but it isn’t a speedster. However, it can tackle the worst of the dirt/gravel roads and the super-steep climbs that come with gas well roads, etc. It does EVERYTHING except the kamikaze mountain bike stuff.
If you lean more toward going fast on pavement in training, go with the road bike. If your training is more about exploring and the “experience” of working out, go with the cross.
You probably can’t go wrong with either.
BE AWARE OF THIS – I just got a Cannondale SuperX cross bike. I always ride a 56cm road bike but with the SuperX a 54cm is as big as I would want to go. My bike shop guy said, “That is the biggest 54 I have ever seen.” Be careful you are sized correctly.
