The Cannondale System Six vs the Pinarello F10 — Less (choice) is more.
This note is intended for fairly hard-core cyclists; both men and women the world over.
I am not in the habit of writing reviews on things. Situations, experiences and reflections are of much greater interest and importance to me. But once a decade and even less in my case, some ‘thing’ so insane comes up that not sharing it, is tantamount to a federal offence. The ‘thing’ that has inspired this rant is indeed the new System Six by Cannondale. And if you have no time to get to the end, I’ll get right to the point; holy shit, is this one hell of a machine — I have not come across anything like it in a decade.
But more than just that, I feel compelled to share something much more personal and ethereal about this ‘thing’ and how it makes me feel. But before going further and wasting your time, I thought I’d take a moment and hone in who you might be in the spectrum of cyclists.
If you’re still plugged in, I suspect you’re probably over 30, and if you’re over 40, then you and I share more than just cycling; statistically, we also share life-expectancy. You have been through a fair number of frames and component groups and wheel-sets and bike computers etc over the years. Your cycling closet has ballooned over time, as has your tire-width on your current ride, (from 19mm or 21mm all the way now to 25mm or 28mm as you look down). Your watts/kg is an active goal for you, and if not you know it ought to be, but you are ignoring the pain needed to get there for now. And that is perfectly ok. You spend some time on GCN, Strava, Training Peaks or some variant look alike fairly regularly, and irrespective of what you think of Team Ineos, you still wish Chris Froome the best. If this is you, BINGO. Read on.
Talking about Froome, a man who I admire as one of the all time greats in cycling, it is only fitting that the bike I am coming off is the Pinarello F10 (the Froome edition of course). I had that paired with, Fulcrum’s Zero Nites, then Fulcrum Carbon Zeros, then DT-Swiss ARC 80s then ARC 60s until I finally found home with the Zipp 454 NSWs. It took years to build up to this bike and several trades along the way. As for the frame and the ride, it was absolutely stunning. I had some incredible rides on the F10, including the world’s highest cycling race, the Tour De Khunjrab which finishes at 15,700 feet (fifteen thousand seven hundred feet, for the avoidance of doubt that there is a typo). Below is a photo of me from that race. It is in Pakistan every year, all the way to the Pak-China border.
The F10 is one hell of a bike to come of. And what on God’s green earth did I give this up for? In short, less choice and more modernity and OMG what insane engineering.
Here is my Super Six after its debut ride this morning.
The System Six leaves you wondering where the rest of it is? And that is precisely the point — I have yet to see lines like this on any other bike especially bikes that are capable of handling 30mm tires, (should inflationary width related research and ensuing findings continue in their present trajectory!).
I am a strictly one bike at a time owner, this has inoculated me from the never ending N+1 game. So, when I choose a new bike as a rule, I must be willing to give up what I have. Otherwise the marginal utility is insufficient to move the inertia of existing ownership. This seemingly harsh rule has also insulated me from thousands of dollars down the drain, in frames d’jour over the decade that I have been riding with some gusto.
After owning something as beautiful and as the special as the special edition F10 Rhino, (aka Froome’s Kenyan heritage), it really took some doing to turn my head to even look at another bike — let alone want one. Why did the system six win out over the F10?
- Discs. I know, and you don’t have to say it — I too have been a calliper brake lover my entire riding life. But the science is what it is. Disc breaks are just better when you need to stop come rain or shine on a Himalayan size descent, or in really bad Karachi traffic — either way they are safer and more effective.
- With the F10, as my wheel sets evolved over time so did the specialist break pads as each high-end wheel had its own set. Changing deep wheels on a particularly windy day in favour of shallower profiles is a royal pain in the ass because there are now 4 sets of soft vs semi soft vs hard break pad compounds that need to be matched to specific hoops. That is not why I ride. If you’ve been there, you know what I am talking about. More than that, the stopping power of the disc vs the calliper, is incontrovertible fact and the bottom line of why I, much like you cycle, is ultimately to live longer. Nothing is more tragic and quicker than a sudden unforeseen end because you could not stop in time.
3. The System Six is a SYSTEM. There is nothing further to think about. No handlebars, no after market bits and most importantly no more wheelsets (the silent but deadly cost of bike ownership). The System Six comes with everything — including its own specially designed wheels. I LOVE the fact that Cannondale had the guts to buck the trend of tire width inflation. The new wheels come standard with 23mm’s, the most aero compatible tires for the overall design. Yet another item of choice made for you. I experimented with Schwabble, Vittoria to settle on Contis on my F10. I was adamant on having the 23mm’s changed in the shop, until I rode the bike this morning. My 454’s with 25mm Continentals was a seriously incredible package to out run. Nothing came close — absolutely nothing — luckily, I never went down the Lightweight Meilenstein route. So riding the standard issue on the System Six was a really novel change — a scientifically purpose designed pairing of components which required no choice on my part (read user error and wasted money). The ride; holy shit, I did not even think about the 454s for a second on the ride. I had no time, the ride was fast, surprisingly compliant and made me focus on the things that really matter more than anything else; control, speed and for the first time in ages, my FTP. (A measure of my personal fitness/strength)
4. I forgot to mention all the saddles that I used on the F10 — like the wheels, a whopping waste of time, money and sit-bone pain. Thankfully, the System Six makes that choice for you too. It is by far the only bike which, at my heightened sensitivity of quality component discernment, leaves me wanting nothing. Nothing more than the open road that is.
The System Six lurches forward — its fast. And I mean bloody fast — going down bridges it is almost scary — when you think of the speeds that it can reach. It handles at least as well as my F10. And that bike handled better than any other bike before it. I did not feel unsure even for a second.
Here is the part I really wanted to get to — ultimately what unites us as cyclists across age, geography and socio-economic divides is fundamentally what we all share in common . We all ride to be fitter, to look great, to enjoy and explore nature, to relish the camaraderie and community of like minded cycling enthusiasts — and in some cases, we even ride to win the occasional race. But as time goes on, we really ride because it is our one sure and unsaid way to continually out-run the relentless progression of age. We really don’t ride to read about bits and bobs that make our kit faster, we don’t ride to continually piss money down on wheels, tires, cockpits computers etc.
At the highest end of consumer cycling, the System Six really brings the right reasons back to the forefront. In cycling with this new package today there is nothing more important for me than to re-build my strength (my FTP) so that I can test this marvellous machine to greater limits. That means more rides, less stuff. That one desire trumps all and brings to forth all the right reasons as to why we get up and put ourselves through the paces to become better cyclists rather than be lost in a sea of consumer choice.
Safe and happy riding out there.
