This has been touched on in the threads for the new supersix Evo and caad13, including by yours truly, but I can’t hold back from giving this its own thread bc to me, it’s a pretty nuanced and interesting topic of discussion and I can’t stop thinking about it.
Cannondale is clearly ALL IN on this new paint scheme with tiny top tube logo, understated colors and some weird stripes, and want all their new mid and top end bikes to look this way. Since AXS was launched, the new builds of system six and synapse were put out with only this scheme, and then the new supersix, topstone carbon, and caad 13 entire ranges are exclusively in this scheme. They’re also doing it on the MTB side with the new habit and bad habit.
These paint schemes are the ugliest on the market IMO. By far. And I love Cannondale as a brand. I ride a slice. I’m from southwestern CT, where their Wilton office and the namesake Cannondale village is. But the new bikes are so ugly that it’s making me upset at this brand that I’ve respected and loved for years. Personal preference and style is all in the eyes of the beholder, and I get that. They want the bikes to stand out and have a unique style that people associate with the brand. Okay. But there’s one aspect of this that confuses me to no end: the marketing.
EF team isn’t riding this paint scheme, obviously because if on TV you couldn’t even tell who made this bike. There is only one logo, it’s relatively microscopic in size, and in a non-traditional location. Why would they make bikes with such little self-promotion? How did a marketing person not go berserk and squash this idea when it was being developed? On some bikes, you literally can’t see the logo unless you zoom in and look for it.
Maybe I should have posted in the cry like a biatch thread about how much I dislike the schemes and now can’t buy a Cannondale because I wouldn’t be caught dead riding a bike that looked like the new ones do. But, I want to hear others’ opinions of the paint and what the thought process is behind a brand going all in on something like this. The paint scheme and look of a bike is really important for the consumer but also the brand from a marketing and appearance perspective, and I feel this is a pretty huge gamble they’re taking.
Counterpoint : I love the subtle new look. I have Black inc version of an older model which is wonderfully understated. People ‘in the know’ have come up to me at rides and commented on it. I think the all black CAAD13 is a thing of beauty, and the champagne AXS version is growing on me.
On the flipside, I think that custom P5 that was on the homepage was an abomination. But it’s a personal thing.
There’s nothing stopping Cannondale from producing team - specific paint jobs for the pro tour, if that’s your concern.
I really like the new paint jobs, they are understated and cool. Also, the small top tube logo is a throwback to where Cannondale used to put their logos, it’s “traditional” for them. Look at any Cannondale from the 80s. Too many bikes look like the result of an explosion in a logo factory, I like the minimal branding.
You’ve hit on the more nuanced part of the issue for me. Minimal branding is fine, and refreshing for us as consumers perhaps. But isn’t that inherently a bad idea for a company to embrace? Perhaps risky is a better word.
No issues. Like it but don’t love it, but you can read the Cannondale logo without a magnifying glass. So someone looking at the bike - and especially someone who’s not a bike tech nerd or is new to the sport - knows what it is.
I am like you, ok with the EF team bike color scheme and branding, but don’t love it.
The problem with the bikes you are talking about, I don’t think it’s as much a color scheme problem as a branding problem. Specifically I am talking about the font chosen for the new logo, the size of the new logo, and the placement.
I understand that non-serif font is all the rage for logo design, and when done well, it does have a more contemporary look, but the font Cannondale chose looks immature and unpolished. It doesn’t feel “designed in” with the rest of the bike aesthetics. I have no issue with the placement of the logo, toptube placement was common for Cannondale of yesteryears, but the size is way way wrong - they appear to have that superscript look.
kinda like the subdued logo and the “slanted accent stripes over base color” idea. Some of the color combos don’t really ring my bell, but that’s true of just about any model of bike.
I am like you, ok with the EF team bike color scheme and branding, but don’t love it.
The problem with the bikes you are talking about, I don’t think it’s as much a color scheme problem as a branding problem. Specifically I am talking about the font chosen for the new logo, the size of the new logo, and the placement.
I understand that non-serif font is all the rage for logo design, and when done well, it does have a more contemporary look, but the font Cannondale chose looks immature and unpolished. It doesn’t feel “designed in” with the rest of the bike aesthetics. I have no issue with the placement of the logo, toptube placement was common for Cannondale of yesteryears, but the size is way way wrong - they appear to have that superscript look.
Nope, the logo is exactly the same as their original logo. They changed it sometime in the mid-80’s IIRC.
I’m not a fan. I like a logo on the downtube. I also don’t like how on the systemsix the C for Cannondale is blocked by the chainrings.
But everyone has different preferences. It does seem interesting how small the logos are on the new scheme. Seems like it would be hard to tell what bike you were looking at unless you were up close.
I’m not a fan. I like a logo on the downtube. I also don’t like how on the systemsix the C for Cannondale is blocked by the chainrings.
But everyone has different preferences. It does seem interesting how small the logos are on the new scheme. Seems like it would be hard to tell what bike you were looking at unless you were up close.
It’s kinda funny how things go full circle. Back in the day when Cannondale was one of the first companies in the euro pro peloton to put giant logos on every square inch of the bike, they were maligned for that. And now people are complaining that they took away the logos.
The bikes look great, but I was also never a fan of billboard style downtube stickers. Then again I always thought big letter logos look unaero (except canyon which looks fast) so preferred the blacked out bikes. Cannondale did this micro logo style great in 2015 with the slice tt rs. The slice with big letters just looks more like a product and less like a stealth speed engineering experiment…
These new colors and styling are in line with the minimal style euro bike clothing… Rapha, ryzon, maap,… People just dont want to look like they are trying to look sponsored… Logos are the new championship stripes
I’m mixed. I’ve seen the new Caad 13 rim 105 in the flesh in the black paint scheme and it’s pretty slick. The disc 105 paint scheme is hideous. I’ve also seen the new Synapse in the army green/orange paint scheme and it is just awful. I own an F-Si with this paint scheme and absolutely love it:
But I know that’s too loud for most. So I’m mixed on the new branding.
