We're in the throes of the Win Chrissie's Bike contest, so it seems a good time as any to review what Cannondale has going on for 2011.
Which is not as easy as it has been in prior years. Cannondale has been a trail blazer in pulling back the intro date for new model year, and the rest of the major bike makers have been forced to match this re-calendarization. This is good for the bike business, because it allows your LBS to showcase and sell interesting new bikes during what have been the dog days of their selling seasons.
But for 2011 Cannondale is not the first company with tri models hitting retailers' floors. Trek and Felt already have theirs in local showrooms. The bike we're going to look at here, and the rest of C'dale's tri lineup, will hit your retailer in November.
Few companies are going to come out with a new mold every year. While Felt's DA is new, the other Felt models are built aboard a frame mold that's several years old. Likewise, Cervelo's bikes (the P4 has had just a reworking for 2011), the Transitions Specialized is selling, and so on. Same with Cannondale. The frame is a good one, and a new intro is not imperative.
Cannondale's trouble over the past couple of years has been making enough of the darned things. They sell out and, as quick as that, Cannondale's tri bike selling season is over. If you're a retailer, it's like entering Ironmans. Buy early and buy deep, otherwise, you're shut out of the game.
The Slice 3 sells complete for $3500, and this bike is very close to Scott's Plasma 20 in several respects. Therefore, we'll check over and see what Scott's doing with that bike several times during this review.
Frame
There are two frames that pop out of the Slice mold: the Hi Mod, and the not Hi Mod. This is the case with a lot of companies: they sprinkle pixie dust in the mold before they bake them and that forms the basis for price and model differentiation. In reality, you're just talking about the quality of the composite you use inside the mold. There is a weight, and a strength-to-weight, difference between two frames like the Mi-Mod and the not Hi Mod. But I don't know that any but the most discriminating connoisseur could tell between them, and that's not just true of Cannondale but of all the companies that employ this technique. This is especially true of tri bikes, where sprinting, and exceptional short bursts of power, are not a race requirement. That said, I've got a Hi Mod frame in my garage, and I can't blame anyone for aspiring to get one.
The Slice is made in 5 sizes in its 700c size: 51cm, 54cm, 56cm, 58cm and 60cm. The grading is constant, that is, each size's height and length creates a geometric style that stays true throughout the size run.
Cannondale's big introduction for 2011: a 650c size for the smaller set. This is huge, and places Cannondale alongside Felt, Cervelo, Kestrel, QR and other companies who aggressively address the needs of shorter riders. It will be interesting to see if any Pro Tour riders adopt this size for their TTs. Probably not. Nevertheless, if they're 5'5" or shorter and they care about their TT performances, it's something they should investigate.
Alas, this size is only available in two models: the Slice 4 and 5. We're looking at the Slice 3 today. If the 650c mold (which will translate to roughly a 48cm size) appeals to you, then you'll want to look at one of the two downstream models.
I have one bone to pick with this bike. The seat post hardware is not my favorite. Twin 4mm bolts tighten the saddle's rails. But both bolts are side-by-side, in front of the seat post. This means as the bolts tighten the saddle nose angles lower and lower down. It's hard to know what angle the saddle's nose will take once the bolts are tightened. The saddle doesn't slip, no problem there, just, leveling the saddle is trial and error. This is ripe for a running change. The rest of the frame is fine, but, if Cannondale came out with a new seat post solution, I wouldn't be unhappy about that.
Front-end config
For comparison's sake, I think it's instructive to look at Cannondale's Slice 3 and Scott's Plasma 20 (also reviewed on Slowtwitch today, you'll find the link at this article's terminus). The Slice Hi-Mod and the Plasma 2 are fairly comparable framesets, and I like them both a lot. They're each rather tallish relative to their length, which means I think they'd be better spec'd with a lower profile aerobar, with a flat stem, and without a 20mm spacer sitting atop the headset top cap.
Last year Cannondale spec'd its Slices just like Scott did with its Plasmas: Profile Design T2 aerobars. This year Scott continues with the T2, whereas Cannondale has traded in that bar for a Visiontech. In my estimate, the Cannondale will fit more people more easily with this front end with its new choice of O.E. bar spec. I wish Scott had made the same spec change. Note the image highest above in this review. Note the lack of a tall top cap, and the lower profile armrest of the Visiontechs. This is the way this bike should look when properly set up for you.
Of course, the Plasmas will fit a certain style of rider with Scott's spec choice. But that style will be over near one edge of the fitting spectrum, rather than closer to the middle.
I think Chrissie Wellington is an illustrative example of why Cannondale's front end spec makes sense. She is not known for riding an especially deep and low position. Still, Chrissie rides (or has been riding throughout the 2010 season) HED's Black Dog (flat) pursuit bar with HED's Clip-Lite aerobar. The Clip-Lite's armrest sits about 4cm above the centerline of the handlebar clamp, rather than the Profile Design's T2 aerobar that sits about 6cm above. While HED makes 12mm and 24mm riser kits for its Clip-Lite, Chrissie has no risers. She rides with minimal spacers under the stem, and, while the stem is up from level, it's a moderate rise. (Click the Win Chrissie's Bike link and you'll see what her front end config looks like.)
In other words, the bike Chrissie rides is just perfect for her, but, "just perfect" means the frame is almost too tall. This, even though Chrissie just doesn't ride that low (her saddle is 9cm above her armrests, based on a 72.5cm saddle height and a more or less 79.5° seat angle. Chrissie could ride the Slice very easily the way it's spec'd for 2011 right out of the box, because the Visiontech clip-on's armrest sits 3.5cm above the handlebar clamp. She'd have a harder time with taller profile aerobars that came on this bike last yea
In my stable, as noted, is the same model Cannondale Slice frame that Chrissie rides. My experience is similar to Chrissie's: The frame fits me marvelously well, but, only with a lower-profile aerobar than what's spec'd. In my case, it's a Felt Devox, exceptionally low profile, with armrests sitting 2cm above the handlebar clamp. No spacers, flattish stem.
Handling
Their short wheelbases (relative to a lot of other tri bikes), combined with a fair bit of trail (62mm in most sizes) make this bike a nice handler. The geometry is almost perfect for a rider who chooses to sit mid-steep (say, 77° to 78.5° of seat angle). If you sit steeper, like I do (I'm at about 79.5°), and like Chrissie does, the bike still handles nicely, but, you do have a bit more weight over the front wheel than is optimal. This means that when you're out of the saddle, that weight "glues" the front tire to the asphalt, and, combined with its big trail number, makes the bike sluggish for out of the saddle riding.
This can be counteracted through the use of flat (not downward angled) pursuit bars, with a close-in contact point (hand hold point). In other words, you don't want your hands, when you're out of the saddle, to be far out in front of the head tube top, nor below the head tube top, because each of these configs places yet more weight on the front contact patch, and will make the bike a bad handler when seated braking, or out of the saddle riding.
The Slice 3 includes a Vision alloy pursuit bar that is both flat, and, that features forward protruding tubes that weld onto the wing section of the bar. I always like this style, because it allows me to hold a bit further back than when riding a pursuit bar with a continuous bar that's bent forward.
Gruppo
This bike shares with the Plasma 20 the use of Shimano Ultegra almost throughout. The biggest difference is that the Plasma 20 keeps with Shimano for the crank/BB, while the Slice 3 diverts to Visiontech. The crank on this bike is a Vision Trimax Carbon TT with a Vision BB30 (oversize) bottom bracket. It's interesting to me that Cannondale so frequently omits the use of its own Hollowgram crank on its bikes. The Hollowgram is an exceptionally nice piece of hardware that I've always admired. The answer is this: The Hollowgram is the product of a difficult, laborious manufacturing process, and while it's Cannondale's house brand it's actually more, not less, expensive to spec it instead of another component company's crank. So, you won't see the Hollowgram on a Slice unless you want to upscale yourself to the Slice 2, an otherwise SRAM Red bike save for the Hollowgram crank.
But why Visiontech on the Slice 3 reviewed here, instead of Ultegra? Every now and then Shimano decides to dig its heels in on a manufacturing standard. It delayed making 110mm bolt pattern cranks. It just never did make a threadless headset, so, lost headset manufacturing as a category. It's made the same decision regarding Cannondale's BB30 standard. Perhaps this is a political decision, since Trek (historically Shimano's biggest worldwide customer) has chosen to make its own BB90 standard rather than to accede to Cannondale's clear trend-setting standard. In any case, Visiontech is BB30 "friendly," hence, the Vision spec on this bike.
The wheels are one area where the Slice 3 clearly outpoints the Plasma 20. The Slice comes with Mavic's Cosmic Elite wheelset, whereas the Plasma 20 features an entry level Shimano wheelset that's not of this caliber. The Plasma 20 is priced $200 less than the Slice 3, and here's your $200 difference.
The Slice and the Plasma each are spec'd with a Fizik Arione Tri 2 saddle.
Value
Cannondale is putting a lot of pressure on the competition with its line of 2011 tri bikes. This is an exceptional bike at $3500. In its competitive set are bikes like the Plasma 20 at $3300, and Cervelo's P3 with an Ultegra(ish) kit at $3600. Trek, Felt and Specialized also compete. Notice how these larger, Pro Tour sponsoring, companies are starting to show up in categories inhabited previously by niche bike makers?
One thing to note: The Slice 3 is a "symmetric" build, that is, the frameset and the parts are of similar value. But it's been the habit of some larger tri retailers to put together their own boutique models (of QR, Kestrel, and the like), and Trisports.com, Inside Out Sports, R&A Cycles, et al, have occasionally, historically, invested in large runs of their boutique models. Nytro Multisport will sell a Slice right at this $3500 price point, but it won't be symmetric. Rather, it'll feature the Hi Mod frame with a slightly downspec'd SRAM Rival group.
But I must say, I rode this "downspec" and I could find no reason to pull the Rival shift kit off the bike. The Slice I own is a Hi Mod with Rival derailleurs and SRAM shifters. The Nytro build will not be all hat and no cattle. I don't know all the details on the "Nytro build" of the Slice Hi Mod, but, my decision on whether to choose this (due out in Jan 2011) or the Slice 3 reviewed here would probably rest on the rest of the Nytro gruppo (wheels, aerobars, saddle and so forth).
