MEG’S CANNONDALE CAAD X
Thinking about buying a cross bike? You don’t necessarily need to be planning a CX race season to warrant owning one of these bikes. Traditionally the Cannondale Caad X has been purchased for that reason, but in the last few years attitudes and riding styles have changed. If you want a bike to do a bit of everything on including some really fun offroad riding, leafy rooty forest tracks, rough back lanes, cobbled streets, gravely cyclepaths, as well as some tarmac miles, whatever you throw at it, it will be a blast to ride and will have you grinning from ear to ear! One bike does it all, doubles up as a winter bike too, what more could you want?
The Cannondale Caad X Series starts at £999 for the Tiagra version.
Meg has recently purchased a Caad X Ultegra as an alternative bike to mix up her winter training for Downhill MTB racing the rest of the year, here’s what she has to say about it:
“As everyone knows, the correct number of bikes to own is N+1, where N is the number you own now.
But there are only a certain number of mountain bikes you can own. What’s a bike addict to do?… Get a cross bike of course!
The CAADX has taken me back to when my Dad would take me round Cannock Chase on a fully rigid non-branded piece of junk hand-me-down from my brother. It makes you learn to ride again! Stripped backed to basics it also makes you appreciate the comfort of a full suspension bike. What made me choose the CAADX Ultegra (apart from its retro colour way) was its lightness and versatility. This bike was going to be my road bike, turbo bike, pit bike, occasional commuter, pub bike and pop to the local hipster coffee shop bike. What I didn’t realise was just how much fun this bike would be! Being lucky enough to have my house back out onto my local wood and mountain bike trails it seemed silly not to test it out on something a little more out of its comfort zone and more towards its CycloCross pedigree.
The CAADX is hugely capable and found it would go down, over and up pretty much anything my skill level would allow, albeit a little slower than I would tackle it on my trail bike. None the less the CAADX felt light, agile and stable thanks to its relaxed and raked out carbon fork and super lightweight aluminium frame. Stopping wasn’t an issue for this bike either, with its Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes providing sharp and responsive braking even in wet muddy conditions. The tubeless Vittoria Terreno tyres proved to be a good match for the CAADX offering great traction on most surfaces and a great rolling tyre on road too.
Whether you’re looking to dip your toe into the cross world, or you’re looking for a bike for every occasion, this could be the one! With reasonable price points and fantastic value for money, the Cannondale CAADX makes for an attractive do-it-all dropbar bike.” – Meg Whyte
