Cannondale Super Six Evo Disc Ultegra
While the pro peloton may want to avoid them, we’ve embraced a pair of disc brake-equipped racers
When you get towards the top end of this year’s Bike of the Year price range, you’re getting some impressive bikes. While disc brakes – for the second year running – are still proving controversial in the pro ranks, the rest of the cycling population is buying them in droves, without the worries of a high-speed peloton pile-up to concern us more modest riders.
These two carbon-framed road bikes hail from the racier end of the spectrum and either side of the Atlantic, with the Stars and Stripes’ Cannondale contesting things with Germany’s Cube, in a battle of Shimano Ultegra, RS805 hydraulic disc brakes, thru-axles (in the main), Mavic Aksium Disc wheels and predominantly own-brand kit. But which continent can come out on top in this particular battle?
For this version, Cannondale has trickled down technology from the Hi-Mod Super Six disc that scored well last year. The addition of flat mounts for the disc brakes and hydraulic routing has added just 50g compared with the rim-braked version, for a frame weighing just over a kilo. Shimano’s flat mounts allows the calliper to be directly attached to the frame and it’s a neat, compact and efficient design.
Cannondale has kept the same geometry as last year’s model – parallel 73.2-degree frame angles – and there’s little to choose between that and the Cube’s
73.5/73.5-degree angles. If you look at the two bikes’ figures they’re within millimetres of each other, from head-tube and wheelbase to reach and stack, with the weight difference – the Cube’s more than 500g lighter – showing the greatest disparity. Both have short headtubes and sub-metre wheelbases. Both mean business, and are aimed at riders looking for fast-handling bikes with low and aggressive riding positions.
First timer
Cannondale has produced a number of racy disc-braked bikes but this is a first for Cube, following on from its more endurance-biased Agree and Attain. Its Litening C:62 also shares technology inherited from higher-level bikes, with the carbon frame created using Cube’s Twin Mold Technology pioneered in its C:68 frame, which is designed to minimise overlapping layers of carbon in manufacturing. The frame is made around a solid core during construction, which along with the Twin Mold is aimed at eliminating internal imperfections, building into a lighter, stronger frame. The tapered fork gets the higher-grade C:68 carbon.
While the Cube has front and rear 12mm thru-axles – rapidly becoming the de facto road bike standard – the Cannondale has a quick-release rear. Though some will bemoan this, we couldn’t feel any discernible difference between the back end of the Super Six and the Litening, the Cannondale feeling as solid as anything we’ve tried, with the bonus of simpler wheel removal and fitting.
The bikes’ groupsets are very similar, though the Super Six has Cannondale’s own Si Hollowgram aluminium cranks with 52/36 FSA chainrings while the Cube gets 50/34 Ultegra; both have 11-28 cassettes, though Cannondale has trimmed costs with a 105 version. Shifting was, as expected, faultless, though the larger riders among us would have preferred 160mm front rotors on both bikes for the extra feel, bite and resistance to noise. But whereas Cube has gone for Shimano’s higher-spec heatdissipating Ice-Tech rotors, the Cannondale has Shimano’s standard rotors.
The Cube also shades it when it comes to tyres, its excellent 25mm Schwalbe Ones gripping admirably, only coming unstuck on a back-lane ascent on a surface slick with farmvehicle mud. The Cannondale’s 25mm Yksion Elite Guard tyres are decent enough, but they do feel a little dull against the Schwalbes. Both bikes have Mavic’s latest Aksium Discs, which are well-built wheels with excellent hubs and a modern wide rim profile. But they don’t exactly set our heart racing, and the middling weight can show on extended ascents.
A further win for Cube is its handlebar. Its long-running
“IF YOU LOOK AT THE TWO BIKES’ FIGURES THEY’RE WITHIN MILLIMETRES OF EACH OTHER, FROM HEAD-TUBE TO WHEELBASE”
partnership with high-tech German component manufacturer Syntace has borne fruit with the Litening’s Syntace-alike Wing Race Carbon bar, whose defined rearward sweep makes it one of the best carbon bars around. The Cube’s Performance Motion carbon seatpost offers welcome give over rough surfaces and is topped with a colour-coordinated Cube-branded X1 saddle from Selle Italia.
On the road
So far, it’s looking good for the bike from our European candidate, but does this hold true when we take to the tarmac? Well, the lowerweight, stiff-framed Litening is certainly willing and rapid, with little input required for swift direction changes, and its short wheelbase makes it eminently chuckable, ideal for darting through the pack, threading through traffic and descending at speed.
The stiffness that makes the Litening so lively can become a little wearing on extended rides over rougher tarmac. The back end
copes admirably, thanks to its quality saddle and the give in the carbon seatpost, but even its lovely carbon bar can’t tame the vibration and road noise coming up through the stiff, straight-legged fork.
The disc version of the Evo has the same sharpness as the standard model at the front end on fast stretches, corners and barrelling down descents. It feels totally planted, its unwavering nature enabling you to hold your line and really exploit every bit of speed.
Under pedalling, the frame is rock solid, offering a reassuring feeling of efficiency, which adds up to a bike as flickable and fast reacting as the Cube. Where it gains over the German bike is how it has built comfort in to what looks like an uncompromising ride.
The Cannondale-standard 25.4mm seatpost adds a touch of flex, as does the Delta seat-tube, which tapers from the wide and oversized BB30A bottom bracket shell. Super-skinny seatstays also aid the flex, while the construction of the fork – made using continuous fibres from dropouts to the steerer – both lowers weight and nulls vibration compared with a traditionally constructed fork, thanks to the fore and aft movement the engineering builds in.
A close call
It’s a close-run thing between these two machines. Initially we’d praised Cannondale for hitting the £2499 price point without making too many cost-cutting concessions. Sadly, along with at least six other bikes in this test (so far), the plunging pound caused a price hike, in this case to a much less walletfriendly £2799.99. We still think the Super Six Evo edges the contest, as the Cube’s ride is just a little too uncompromising. We dropped a little pressure from the Cube’s tyres, which helped, and there’s also plenty of room for 28mm rubber, though that may take the edge off the bike’s raciness.
The Litening C:62 Disc is undoubtedly an excellent machine, and if you prefer a stiff and racy rig in what is a great value package, there isn’t much that can touch this Cube. However, even with its slight weight penalty and after an enforced price rise, the Super Six Evo Disc’s ride – perfectly balancing speed, handling and comfort – makes this Cannondale one of the best disc-braked road bikes around.
“THE STIFFNESS THAT MAKES THE LITENING SO LIVELY CAN BECOME A LITTLE WEARING ON EXTENDED RIDES OVER ROUGHER TARMAC”