Saturday, March 15, 2014

A new dirt road and cyclocross bike

Thanks to our team's partnership with Cannondale and Pathfinder WV I recently picked up the 2014 Cannondale SuperX Force Disc and I've been really pleased so far with its performance.

What I'm really enjoying about this new ride:
1) Ability to use single finger pressure on the brake levers for slowing where I previously would have needed two fingers. For a couple seasons I've been craving disc brakes for my cyclocross bike. It's not that rim brakes are entirely inferior, it's that disc brakes are more favorable to my riding style. I prefer to brake late and hard when cornering and discs favor that technique. Also, I do a ton of dirt road riding and there are a lot of long, rough descents where the arms and hands can become fatigued. The discs don't take nearly as much effort at the levers to achieve the same kind of stopping power, which is great at mile 40 of the Hilly Billy Roubaix when you can't think very clearly.
2) Awesome paint scheme.
3) Ease of removing and reinserting the rear wheel. I initially thought with a disc brake it would be harder to take out but it's actually easier getting the rear wheel on and off than on my old cyclocross bike with rim brakes.
4) Carbon fiber frame's ride smoothness. Cannondale excels at that nice carbon feel.
5) Full length cable housing coverage of the brake cables.
6) Redesigned SRAM Force 22 brake lever hoods feel more stable on technical downhills. The front of the hood is a little higher than the old design so you don't feel like your hands are going to slide off.
7) Really smooth rear shifting with the new SRAM Force 22 compared to prior years. This is a really noticeable improvement over the previous 10 speed models.

A little muddy after the first ride

Some random chickens

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