CANNONDALE CAAD OPTIMO 105
It’s hard and fast for America’s aluminium experts
For most of the bikes in this top 10 it’s about endurance, comfort and going the distance: allrounders majoring on practicality and versatility. Not so for the USA’s purveyor of oversized aluminium performance machines. Its newer CAAD – which stands for Cannondale Advanced Aluminium Design – hails from 1997. Cannondale calls its 2020 CAAD “the perfect gateway bike to pure tarmac performance”.
As with several others here, Cannondale’s CAAD Optimo 105 is identical to last year’s model – except 2019’s silver has given way to black and red. If you fancy all red, Evans Cycles has an exclusive red model.
This Cannondale features steep frame angles, long top tube and short head tube – it’s certainly racy! The head tube is 25mm shorter than Specialized’s Allez and Giant’s Contend and it has a shorter wheelbase and chainstays. The long 561mm top tube is joined by a 73.1-degree head angle and 73.5-degree seat angle – which equates to immediate, responsive handling and a slightly forward and aggressive riding position. The tapered head tube and fork steerer also contribute to the Optimo’s taut, controlled handling.
The Optimo is one of the few bikes here with a near-horizontal top tube, rather than a compact frame, and its seatstays meet the seat-tube level with the top tube. Who needs dropped seatstays anyway? Cannondale also eschews external cabling, though both the frame and fork have mudguard fittings, which is something a lot of us appreciate. Clearance is limited, so you might need to consider something like SKS Raceblades.
Cannondale knows its way around aluminium and this has the same geometry as the CAAD13. In fact, Cannondale
“Not so much an allrounder as a bike for those who like to crank it up and sprint against their mates”
calls the Optimo the CAAD13’s “overachieving little brother”. It created the frame using what it calls a, “Tube Flow Modelling design process” claiming the resulting construction is lighter and has a better ride feel than a lot of its competitors’ bikes.
Perhaps more significantly, if your riding history stretches back to an earlier era of aluminium when ‘hard riding’ meant feeling beaten up after a ride, Cannondale has built comfort into the frame. The full-carbon fork is designed to offer a little fore-and-aft flex thanks to its SAVE flex zones, another of which is incorporated in the rear triangle. These don’t offer anything resembling the damping offered by Trek’s IsoSpeed, but they deliver a bike that won’t leave you battered and bruised.
The groupset is Shimano 105 with the familiar chainset and braking deviations. The chainset is an FSA Gossamer and, given the Cannondale’s racier aspirations, I might have expected a procompact 52/36 but it’s the familiar 50/34. The 11-30 cassette gives you a lower bottom gear than some here but doesn’t approach that offered by 11-34, so you’ll push harder on hills. The R741 brakes are one of Tektro’s higher-end offerings and while not on a par with Shimano’s 105s, their performance was more than acceptable.
The Optimo’s 9.23kg weight will hold you back a little when climbing but on the flat a few extra grams are irrelevant and once up to speed this bike holds it well. The wheels and tyres are quite modest with Formula hubs, RS 2.0 rims and 25mm Zaffiro Pro Slick tyres; to make the most of the dynamic frame I’d definitely consider swapping to better tyres when the Zaffiros wear out. It’s good to see tubelessready rims, which may be the way to go to get a bit more comfort out of the bike.
Cannondale’s CAAD Optimo 105 is great fun and would make a top trainer, fast commuter or a machine for sportive-type challenges. The quality aluminium frame and tapered full-carbon fork would benefit from higher-end components to make it really come alive. It’s not so much an all-rounder as a bike for people who like to crank it up and sprint against their mates.