CANNONDALE CAAD OPTIMO 105
£999.99 › Cannondale’s entry-level racer with the newest R7000 version of Shimano 105
This Cannondale Optimo looks like it means business. It shares a lot of its DNA with the CAAD12, and Cannondale even calls it “CAAD12’s over-achieving little brother”. As with the Giant and Specialized bikes, it comes with a largely Shimano 105 groupset, though in this case it’s the Ultegrainspired R7000 version, albeit with brake and chainset deviations from the complete groupset.
While the Giant and Specialized bikes have all-round ambitions, the Cannondale has a more aggressive outlook with geometry leaning towards the racier end of the spectrum. The Cannondale’s toptube is longer than both, the wheelbase a tad tighter, the frame angles slightly steeper and the headtube much shorter. As a result, the stack is lower than on the Giant and Specialized, so you’ll be more nose down. Although Cannondale does counter this with spacers, so you’ll be okay even if your lower back isn’t that flexible.
We do miss the lovely smooth look of the American-made Cannondales of a few years ago (this bike’s welds are more basic looking) and it’s a bit of a surprise to see external cable routing, though this does make it easier for the home mechanic to service. It didn’t affect the quality of the shifting, either.
The updated 105 shifters have smaller hoods with ribbed tops that are designed to be better to grip, and slightly redesigned paddles, which are easy to use even with thick winter gloves. The derailleurs have also been redesigned to benefit from a claimed improvement in shifting both front and rear, and a slightly lighter action at the front. Both worked very well. Are they noticeably better than before? Not necessarily, but that’s only because the previous versions were so good. The result is that there is now even less of a gap
between Ultegra and 105 shifting in a head-to-head test.
The 11-30 cassette is a good choice for the Optimo, giving you a little bit more leeway than 11-28 when you’re climbing. The Tektro brakes are okay, though – and you’ll get tired of hearing this – we’d have preferred the excellent Shimano 105 brakes, given the choice. The own-brand wheel-and-tyre pairing is also decent without being inspiring.
The weight, a mite over 9kg, is alright for the price and combines with the aggressive geometry to deliver a fun, fast and feisty ride. There’s the expected stiffness from the chunky down-tube and tapered steerer tube, and there’s no sense of your energy being wasted when you’re giving it your all. It climbs well and the gearing gives you the option of staying in the saddle or dancing on the pedals. Control is very good downhill, you can throw it into bends confidently and it’s an equally convincing sprinter.
It doesn’t quite have the comfort of some of the other bikes here, its 25mm tyres providing less plushness than the other test machines’ wider rubber. The frame, too, goes for firmness over comfort, though with Cannondale’s decades of making high-end aluminium bikes, its still easily comfortable enough for daylong rides, if not super soft. The absence of rack and mudguard fittings reduces its versatility, though you could squeeze in some aftermarket blade-type mudguards for a super-sharp training bike.