Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra

I'm sorry to see you leave, Cannondale CAAD8, our acquaintance was too short. When you came into my life, I thought you'd be just another run of the mill bike. How you proved me wrong.

Cannondale have been making aluminium frames for donkey's years and their level of experience is evident from both the ride and construction quality. There is no shortage of technology that has gone into this frame: double-pass smooth welds, taper-butted tubes, assymetric chainstays, horizontally ovalised top tube and SAVE (Synapse Active Vibration Elimination) vibration-reducing stays to name a few.

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Many of these features have trickled down from the CAAD10 to the CAAD8 this year making a well liked frame even better. The CAAD8 now has Thinline seatstays, the top tube flowing smoothly around the seat tube into those seatstays. In fact, the whole rear triangle looks to be the same as that of the CAAD10. The main differences between the frames are that on the CAAD8 the head tube is not tapered and the down tube looks less "shaped", making both easier to produce.

While the CAAD8 shares the geometry of its siblings up the ladder, they've given it a slightly taller head tube to make the position a bit more relaxed. At 17cm for the size 56cm on test, this isn't classic sportive-bike tall, but it's certainly a bit taller than you'd want on an all-out performance beast (Cannondale use a 15.5cm head tube on their equivalently sized SuperSix). On paper, this might make it neither fish nor fowl, but in reality it makes for a really good position that efficiently rewards the effort you put in.

Just like on the Synapse range, the CAAD8 uses SAVE chainstays, a shape which "provides lateral rigidity while providing vertical compliance for bump absorption and comfort with no loss in power transfer". "Where have I heard that before?" I hear you thinking. I don't know whether it's the SAVE stays (my guess is it's to do with every little detail on this bike), but this IS a comfortable frame that isolates you from a lot of the road buzz you get on uneven surfaces.

As well as me, road.cc's Mat got the big miles in on the CAAD8 and neither of us found it in any way harsh. That back end certainly doesn't kick like a mule. Even on rides of four or five hours it felt just fine, softening the ride just enough without wrapping you in cotton wool. Put it this way: neither of us got off feeling achy or beaten or anything like that. The only thing we disagreed on was the saddle. I liked it whereas Mat swapped it off after one ride moaning that it sagged in the middle... which just goes to prove that saddles, more than any other components, are a matter of individual taste.

The drops of the handlebars are nicely shaped and not too deep and, coupled with the slightly taller head tube, I found myself actually spending time on them rather than staying on the hoods the whole time. The bar tape, Cannondale's own 2.5mm suede with gel backing, has a really pleasant feel and works really well, even when wet. White, it looks the business when new, but gets dirty rather quickly. That's not a huge issue; it's easy and cheap to replace.

The bike is equipped with a Shimano Tiagra groupset and the big revelation for me was how excellent it has become. You get Tiagra shifters and derailleurs front and rear, a compact FSA Omega BB30 50/34 crankset and a 12-28 Tiagra 10-speed cassette. It's smooth as butter, works every time and the gearing is perfectly matched to the bike. I honestly see no reason to upgrade other than to save a little bit of weight, or if you like your cables to be tucked away under the bar tape – which is what you get with Shimano from 105 upwards.

The bike feels light and nimble while the steering is precise and descending is stable thanks to the carbon-bladed Cannondale Ultra fork. Braking, courtesy of Cannondale's own C4 dual pivots, is great. The cartridge pads (handy; it's easier to replace just the pads rather than the brake shoe) grip the rim well - the limiting factor is the friction between road surface and tyres rather than brake performance.

Speaking of the tyres, the Schwalbe Luganos work well in both the dry and wet. They are grippy and didn't puncture on me. Having said that, going for a more upmarket pair of tyres after these have worn out would be a worthwhile investment.

If there's one thing that could be improved, it's the wheels: they're Maddux RS 3.0 rims on Formula RB-51 hubs. There's nothing wrong with them as such, but they just didn't impress me. They didn't stay perfectly true, although they didn't go way out of line either. For the period I had the bike, I didn't have any trouble and the braking surface works well, but they just felt a little sluggish and heavy. Put a pair of decent wheels on and you'd lift the performance a couple of notches.

I think it's only fair to say at this point that, of course, you get what you pay for and I wouldn't expect a better pair of wheels at this price point - they are perfectly decent. I'm just saying that they are not matched to the quality and the performance of the frame. And if I could choose where to compromise on a bike budget I reckon the wheels are not a bad choice at all. They are easy to upgrade, it's good to have more than one pair for winter and summer use, and I'd rather have a decent frame and set of components with a mediocre pair of wheels than the other way around.

Talking about winter and summer use, there is actually provision for mudguard mounting on the frame and forks. The forks have eyelets where you'd expect them while on the rear triangle the bosses are halfway up and on the inside of the seatstays. I didn't get a chance to try mounting mudguards but I wouldn't fancy my chances of getting a pair of full mudguards in there with a tyre clearance I'd be happy with. A pair of thin mudguards like Salmons or such like would be a better bet. There are no bosses near the top of the seat stays for rack mounting.

You can get the CAAD8 with 105 for £100 more, or you can save yourself £200 and go for the Sora option. Personally, I think Tiagra is bang on the money for the CAAD8.

Verdict

If you're after a road bike at a price that scrapes in under the £1,000 mark then I'd say look no further: it's a very compelling package and great value to boot