Cannondale SystemSix Carbon Dura-Ace review
Cannondale debuts its carbon aero road machine
GBP £4,999.00 RRP | USD $6,300.00 Skip to view dealsPublished:
The original SystemSix was one of Cannondale’s first forays into carbon-fibre road bikes. Now, Cannondale has entered the highly competitive aero-road bike genre with the revival of its historic race bike name.
The main goal was to create a bike that was more aerodynamic, more of the time. Cannondale discovered that for, say, a 75kg rider putting out 300 watts, the SystemSix will save a claimed 30 watts of effort over the company’s Evo.
In a 200m sprint at 60kph the SuperSix would be 0.4 seconds faster — in distance terms, four bike lengths. We’ve seen plenty of races won or lost by much less.
The carbon Cannondale range splits into two. Those like the one tested use a mix of high-grade fibres while a smaller, premium range of Hi-Mod bikes employ more high-modulus fibres to add stiffness and reduce weight. They’re aimed at elite riders or those with deep pockets.
My carbon model comes with the always-brilliant Shimano 9170 Dura-Ace groupset with a speed-orientated 52/36, 11-28 gearing combination. It’s one of the best mechanical groupsets ever made: slick, accurate and reliable with excellent brakes to match.
My bike receives a bar and stem from Vision. The Metron 4D Flat MAS bar would set you back close to £500 if bought separately, with a £100 Trimax OS stem, so it’s a pricey cockpit. The bar’s a great shape, its angled-forward flat-top sections offering a broad hold and enough width to rest your forearms on if you want to ease into an aero tuck.
The anatomic drop is the same as Vision’s other bars and one that I love. Its semi-compact shape offers a great in-the-drops feel and the flattened profile of the drop makes for a great hold.
Cannondale’s new wheels, the KNOT64s, are deep for a road wheel at 64mm, but weigh an impressive-for-the-size 1,600g a pair. The super-wide rim, in excess of 30mm externally and 21mm wide internally, wears a 23mm tyre.
When mounted to the KNOT64 rims they come up to 25.8mm and the bike can handle up to a 30mm tyre. The wheels are clamped in place via a new type of thru-axle that, rather than having to be removed completely, is retained in the wheel itself.
Within a few miles the overriding feeling on the SystemSix is familiar, like riding the Evo, one of the best-handling race bikes ever. As soon as I got chance to throw the SystemSix around it felt just as exciting as the Evo. There’s a bit of resistance from the deep wheels under acceleration but, once you’re up to speed, they hold on to it.
I expected a bit of chatter and vibration through a frame with this much aero shaping, and 23mm tyres, but the combination of the clever frame construction and Vittoria Rubino tyres does an admirable job of killing road noise.
The SystemSix is what an aero bike should be: brutally fast when you need it but always nimble and sharp handling, tempered with a quality of ride that won’t beat you up and sap your energy.
When a design can pull off all of these traits you’re getting close to the perfect all-rounder. It may be carrying a bit of extra weight over some of its rivals but it’s worth remembering that in this guise, although expensive, it’s half the cost of some of those rivals.
Cannondale SystemSix Carbon Dura-Ace specifications
- Sizes: 51cm, 54, 56, 58*, 60 (*Tested)
- Weight: 8.23kg
- Frame: BallisTec Carbon
- Fork: BallisTec Carbon
- Chainset: Cannondale Si, 52/36
- Bottom bracket: Cannondale press-fit
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-28
- Chain: Shimano Ultegra
- Mechs: Shimano Dura-Ace
- Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace
- Wheelset: Hollowgram KNOT64
- Tyres: Vittoria Rubino Pro G+, 23mm
- Wheel weight: 1.21kg (f), 1.56kg (r)
- Stem: Vision Trimax OS
- Bar: Vision Metron 4D MAS flat carbon bar
- Headset: Tapered
- Saddle: Prologo Dimension Tirox
- Seatpost: KNOT Carbon
- Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace hydro disc, 160/ 140mm IceTech rotors
Cannondale SystemSix Carbon Dura-Ace geometry
- Seat angle: 73.5 degrees
- Head angle: 73 degrees
- Fork offset: 4.5cm
- Trail: 5.7cm
- Bottom bracket drop: 6.9cm
- Chainstay: 40.5cm
- Seat tube: 54cm
- Top tube: 60cm
- Head tube: 17.2cm
- Stack: 58cm
- Reach: 39.8cm
- Wheelbase: 100cm
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Product Specifications
Product
| Name | Name, 0, 10, Name, SystemSix Carbon Dura-Ace |
| Brand | Brand, 0, 20, Brand, Cannondale |
| Available Sizes | Available Sizes, 2, 0, Available Sizes, 51cm 54cm 56cm 58cm 60cm |
| Bottom Bracket | Bottom Bracket, 2, 0, Bottom Bracket, Cannondale press-fit |
| Brakes | Brakes, 2, 0, Brakes, Shimano Dura-Ace hydro disc, 160/ 140mm IceTech rotors |
| Cassette | Cassette, 2, 0, Cassette, Shimano Dura-Ace 11-28 |
| Chain | Chain, 2, 0, Chain, Shimano Ultegra |
| Cranks | Cranks, 2, 0, Cranks, Cannondale Si, 52/36 |
| Fork | Fork, 2, 0, Fork, BallisTec Carbon |
| Fork Offset | Fork Offset, 2, 0, Fork Offset, 4.5 |
| Frame Material | Frame Material, 2, 0, Frame Material, BallisTec Carbon |
| Front Tyre | Front Tyre, 2, 0, Front Tyre, Vittoria Rubino Pro G+, 23mm |
| Front Wheel Weight | Front Wheel Weight, 2, 0, Front Wheel Weight, 1210 |
| Handlebar | Handlebar, 2, 0, Handlebar, Vision Metron 4D MAS flat carbon bar |
| Head Angle | Head Angle, 2, 0, Head Angle, 73 |
| Headset Type | Headset Type, 2, 0, Headset Type, Tapered |
| Rear Derailleur | Rear Derailleur, 2, 0, Rear Derailleur, Shimano Dura-Ace |
| Rear Tyre | Rear Tyre, 2, 0, Rear Tyre, Vittoria Rubino Pro G+, 23mm |
| Rear Wheel Weight | Rear Wheel Weight, 2, 0, Rear Wheel Weight, 1560 |
| Saddle | Saddle, 2, 0, Saddle, Prologo Dimension Tirox |
| Seat Angle | Seat Angle, 2, 0, Seat Angle, 73.5 |
| Seatpost | Seatpost, 2, 0, Seatpost, KNOT Carbon |
| Shifters | Shifters, 2, 0, Shifters, Shimano Dura-Ace |
| Stem | Stem, 2, 0, Stem, Vision Trimax OS |
| Trail | Trail, 2, 0, Trail, 5.7 |
| Weight (kg) | Weight (kg), 2, 0, Weight (kg), 8.23 |
| Wheelset | Wheelset, 2, 0, Wheelset, Hollowgram KNOT64 |
| Chainstays (cm) | Chainstays (cm), 2, 0, Chainstays (cm), 40.5 |
| Seat Tube (cm) | Seat Tube (cm), 2, 0, Seat Tube (cm), 54 |
| Top Tube (cm) | Top Tube (cm), 2, 0, Top Tube (cm), 60 |
| Wheelbase (cm) | Wheelbase (cm), 2, 0, Wheelbase (cm), 100 |
| Frame size tested | Frame size tested, 2, 0, Frame size tested, 58cm |
| Head Tube (cm) | Head Tube (cm), 2, 0, Head Tube (cm), 17.2 |
| Stack (cm) | Stack (cm), 2, 0, Stack (cm), 58 |
| Reach (cm) | Reach (cm), 2, 0, Reach (cm), 58 |
| All measurements for frame size tested | All measurements for frame size tested, 2, 0, All measurements for frame size tested, 58cm |
| Bottom-bracket drop (cm) | Bottom-bracket drop (cm), 2, 0, Bottom-bracket drop (cm), 6.9 |
Authors
Warren Rossiter is BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazine’s senior technical editor for road and gravel. Having been testing bikes for more than 20 years, Warren has an encyclopedic knowledge of road cycling and has been the mastermind behind our Road Bike of the Year test for more than a decade. He’s also a regular presenter on the BikeRadar Podcast and on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel. In his time as a cycling journalist, Warren has written for Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cyclingnews, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike and T3. Over the years, Warren has written about thousands of bikes and tested more than 2,500 – from budget road bikes to five-figure superbikes. He has covered all the major innovations in cycling this century, and reported from launches, trade shows and industry events in Europe, Asia, Australia, North American and Africa. While Warren loves fast road bikes and the latest gravel bikes, he also believes electric bikes are the future of transport. You’ll regularly find him commuting on an ebike and he longs for the day when everyone else follows suit. You will find snaps of Warren’s daily rides on the Instagram account of our sister publication, Cycling Plus (@cyclingplus).
