Cannondale Supersix Evo first impressions

Update 2013-03-21

I've got about 100 miles on the Supersix now. It's still not set up right, and the SRM is still on the Tarmac, but my opinions are crystallizing, especially after back-to-back rides on the Tarmac and the Supersix.

• Ride #1 had too much tire pressure. I just took the bike from the shop as is (foolish!).  I usually ride 100psi, not 140psi. 
• The Supersix definitely transmits more road shock than the Tarmac. Riding over an expansion gap in the pavement produces a "boing" instead of a "thud." Maybe those "Zertz" thingies on the Tarmac really work!
• The bottom-bracket deflection on the Supersix is definitely less than on the Tarmac. Does this really matter? My '09 Tarmac is basically the frame that Tom Boonen rode in 2007 Paris-Roubaix. I'm sure that Tornado Tom's 60-minute power over the cobbles exceeds my 2-minute maximum. If it was stiff enough for him, it's probably OK for me. 

Background

I finally got a chance today, after Peter Lindeman shamed me into it, to ride the new Cannondale Supersix that NCVC and our new sponsor Freshbikes hooked me up with two weeks ago.When I went to the shop night, I had originally planned to buy the 2013 Supersix Evo, which comes with the "ordinary" carbon fiber frame, but Jason the manager offered me the 2012 "hi-mod" setup, so I took that one instead. What a deal!

Component Group/Frame

The bike is Sram Red, with FSA bars/stem/seatpost, and a Cannondale-badged BB30 carbon crankset. That's coming off relatively soon, so I can put the D/A SRM on, with the BB30 adapters. Using my bathroom scale, whose proper operation I verified with the same masses I use on the creep machines at work, I verified that the bike is 16 lbs with the Fulcrum wheels and no bottle cages. Awesome. It should be another pound lighter with the Zipp 404s or the Reynolds carbon tubulars I race on.
The substitution of the 2012 model gave me the "Hi modulus" carbon fiber version of the frame.

Ride Impression

The handling of the Cannondale seemed more precise than my 2009 Tarmac, but that could also just be the difference between a four-year old bike and one that was one ride off the sales floor. Both bikes are much more solid than any of the steel/Al/Ti bikes I've owned. Much more so. Awesomely so. They both corner effortlessly, and pretty much egg you on to keep leaning more through the turns.  I'm looking forward to some twisty 50 mph descents on this thing.

The biggest difference between the two bikes was that I felt more road vibration with the Cannondale. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the Tarmac transmits amazing little vibration from the ground to your hands, even with the relatively stiff Ksyrium Elites I train on. 

I also liked the relatively short reach/short drop FSA bars that came on it. I usually only ride in the drops for criteriums, but the hand position on the FSAs might encourage a more aero position. 

Overall, I am ecstatic that I was offered the opportunity to get this bike. Big thanks to NCVC and our new sponsor, Freshbikes. 

Setup Comparison

Nominally the geometries of the two bikes are the same, as far as I could work out from the web. The image below is an overlay of the two bikes, aligned on their bottom bracket spindles. The wheelbase of the Cannondale is just a hair longer, it appears, but the top tubes are the same length, and the seat angles are the same as well. Red lines are the Tarmac, and green lines are the Cannondale.