Cannondale Six13 Problems....

I bought my Team Replica in January, I've never had a problem and have never heard of anyone who has...which isn't surprizing, since I've never seen another one on the Road...:p

The Carbon/Alum Joints have mechanical interlocks, the only thing I've read is that some are kinda leary of the Carbon drop-outs on the Forks...but I've never heard of any front wheels snapping off the front of the bike 🙁

I can't compare it to an R1000 I'm afraid, I've never ridden one...

lorrod said:

Does anyone know if the 2004 or 2005 Cannondale Six13 frames have had any problems with breakage, or the aluminum/carbon seal breaking or coming loose? How does the Six13 compare with the R1000 frame in terms of ride quality?

Millions of bikes have CF stays bonded to aluminum, as well as CF forks bonding to AL steer tubes and drop outs. This isn't rocket science; it's been done for years now. I'd trust C'dales quality control here without hesitation.

dhk said:

Millions of bikes have CF stays bonded to aluminum, as well as CF forks bonding to AL steer tubes and drop outs. This isn't rocket science; it's been done for years now. I'd trust C'dales quality control here without hesitation.

Others have been doing bonding for years. This is Cdales first go. I never cared for being a crash test dummy.

boudreaux said:

Others have been doing bonding for years. This is Cdales first go. I never cared for being a crash test dummy.

That's a valid point too. My impression from articles I've read is that they do a good level of testing on frames prior to release of anything.

I don't own a Cannondale; maybe I'm giving them too much credit here. All new releases can get compressed by the marketing dept and bean-counters.

Agree it's always safer to wait a year or two before jumping on a new product like this Six13....but then you lose much of the bling-bling factor.

dhk said:

That's a valid point too. My impression from articles I've read is that they do a good level of testing on frames prior to release of anything.

I don't own a Cannondale; maybe I'm giving them too much credit here. All new releases can get compressed by the marketing dept and bean-counters.

Agree it's always safer to wait a year or two before jumping on a new product like this Six13....but then you lose much of the bling-bling factor.

Not a Cdale hater myself. Have owned 4 of the all Al stuff. No issues other than the jackhammer ride.

What I'm wondering is that with C'dale scraping every gram off of it's top-end aluminim frame every year, at what point will one be able to just crumple-up the frame and throw it in the aluminum recycling bin after each ride (CAAD12 Disposable maybe?). I ride a CAAD5 and the tubes seem incredibly thin on that frame!

meehs said:

What I'm wondering is that with C'dale scraping every gram off of it's top-end aluminim frame every year, at what point will one be able to just crumple-up the frame and throw it in the aluminum recycling bin after each ride (CAAD12 Disposable maybe?). I ride a CAAD5 and the tubes seem incredibly thin on that frame!

Start by reading the disclaimer that came out with the caad7,and then consider that the caad 8 is allegedly another 30 grams lighter...LOL.

meehs said:

What I'm wondering is that with C'dale scraping every gram off of it's top-end aluminim frame every year, at what point will one be able to just crumple-up the frame and throw it in the aluminum recycling bin after each ride (CAAD12 Disposable maybe?). I ride a CAAD5 and the tubes seem incredibly thin on that frame!

It's nothing new. My old 3.0 has a sticker right on the seat tube warning not to clamp anything to it.

boudreaux said:

Start by reading the disclaimer that came out with the caad7,and then consider that the caad 8 is allegedly another 30 grams lighter...LOL.

You mean the notice in the manual that the frame is designed for a "season or two of aggressive racing"? I like that C'dale admits a 2 lb frame isn't going to last forever, that it will fail eventually if ridden hard, and that fatigue failures aren't warranteed.

Believe a lot of the LBS dealers of all major brands give the impression to buyers that they're getting a frame with a lifetime fatigue warranty. The major brand warranties I've looked at all exclude frame failures due to fatigue, wearout, or wear and tear.

dhk said:

You mean the notice in the manual that the frame is designed for a "season or two of aggressive racing"? I like that C'dale admits a 2 lb frame isn't going to last forever, that it will fail eventually if ridden hard, and that fatigue failures aren't warranteed.

Believe a lot of the LBS dealers of all major brands give the impression to buyers that they're getting a frame with a lifetime fatigue warranty. The major brand warranties I've looked at all exclude frame failures due to fatigue, wearout, or wear and tear.

Cdale is just being upfront about it. Really got under some peoples skin tho, like the whole concept was something new and Cdale was just using it to weasle on waarranty.

boudreaux said:

Cdale is just being upfront about it. Really got under some peoples skin tho, like the whole concept was something new and Cdale was just using it to weasle on waarranty.

sorry to drag this out again, but i was in my LBS here in Melbourne Australia and there were some cannondale reps chatting to the bike mech. As i looked around, one of the cannondale reps (an american) starts chatting to me about the bikes.

so anyway, i asked him specificially about this warranty issue and he said its a lifetime warranty, and provided you dont crash and break it, its covered asuch. he said if it fails because you're putting in the miles theres not a problem.

anyway, he gave me his card and he happens to be president of operations. i figure he'd know better than most