So yesterday morning I did my long ride with some new friends. We did a road that I stopped doing 2 years ago because pavement there is so harsh it just kills you (wrists, arms, back, jaws you name it!) any way the road is beautiful and it was worth the pain. But I did noticed that we were all bitching except for one… he was riding a new Cannondale Slice. He was saying so many good things about his new bike but I don’t trust his judgment that much because he spent 10 years in mountain bike racing and this is his first tri bike (or road bike for that matter!) so I don’t think he is comparing apples to apples.
One of the new friends was riding a QR, another had a Guru, the guy with the slice, two others were riding P2Cs and me with my aluminum Specialized. After the 100km ride I asked them how they felt and all of them were beat-up by the road, the one that was in better shape was the one with the slice… so I’m taking this case to ST to find out if this is true, if the Slice is more compliant or absorbs the bad roads better than the rest??? This guy said that the seat stays are shaped to absorb vibrations, some marketing thing called S.A.V.E. (I just checked the name on-line to avoid mistakes)
For me comfort is a big issue, I had never considered the slice as an option for my next bike, whenever and if ever that happens, but now I want one!!! i really do!!! so I can be that comfortable after a ride like that! roads here are not in good shape!
Any thoughts, specially from the slice owners.
You said this guy is a MTB’er getting into triathlon? I’d bet that he’s used to being beaten up by three hours, like any true mountain biker. Or maybe he just doesn’t complain?
Honestly, I don’t feel that one carbon design vs. another will be good enough to keep you from any pain, especially on a road that has veteran riders complaining about vibration. I wouldn’t buy a bike solely on this.
Not completely sure about S.A.V.E, but I did drop off my Felt B2 (not the current, sexed-up version, but the aluminum model with carbon seat stays) at the LBS yesterday to have the gruppo (minus crankset) moved over to a Slice 3 frameset. Look for pics in a few days; look for the B2 on Craigslist and/or the classified shortly thereafter.
Honestly, I don’t feel that one carbon design vs. another will be good enough to keep you from any pain, especially on a road that has veteran riders complaining about vibration.
The Slice borrows the chainstay design from its Synapse road bike cousin, the center of the chainstays is flattened and the seatstays curve a little supposedly to provide some vertical movement. I have a Slice, its a little more comfortable than my System Six with aluminium rear triangle, but I would say the difference is not drastic. Like most tri bikes I feel they lose some compliance in the forks due to the straight blades. I would say differences in wheels and especially tire pressures will have a greater effect on comfort than the differences between carbon bikes. Try training on 25C tires at lower pressure.
Kevin