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I think on the professional level small increments and prize money matter too much that a rider could afford to pass on the advantages of newer carbon frames. But a recreational, even ambitious rider can be very happy with the CAAD9 (I am).

My CAAD9 of 2009 feels vintage to me? And my Slate of 2017 might do so soon. It was one of the first gravel bikes.

I do not know! Thoughts?

Oh - and a base coated 20 in 3.0 frame weights 1.65 kg (the "3.0" applies to small sizes I assume) and a steel fork 0.9 kg. The fork is ridiculous, but the frame is only 400 gr more than a CAAD9 in 52! With all the road spec dimensions (130 dropout, BSA BB, 27.2 seat post, etc) and this funny...

Finally painted the frame with base layer (matte) and I think the clear coat will smoothen out the very last imperfections - this should actually look quite nice. Before I will add some fun decals (not historically correct) and think of what I am going to do with this frame. The bottom bracket...

So I decided to practice my paint skills on the 20 in frame and opened a spin off project. Had the frame sandblasted (as a freebie with the other, red one which was powder coated) and tried to rebuild a smooth surface with epoxy resin and filler. A painstakingly slow job, never again... The 2nd...

In particular chain sucks bruised the chain stay behind the chain wheel. But nothing broken, bent or cracked.

In my other project I found a 18 inch frame what ultimately left me with my 20 inch 3.0 frame as a surplus. The frame saw extensive mountain-bike use in the 90ies and never let me down. However it was badly bruised and I was planning to restore it and build a gravel bike. That is now happening...

In the 11 sp world Shimano and SRAM are largely interchangeable, same freehub body, etc, if that helps. You will likely need to replace the bottom bracket but there are two or three variants on the SRAM side, with 24, 30 or 29 mm spindles. Nothing that would not work with a BB86 bottom bracket...

Thanks. Agreed. No Alcalyte, that came in the later 90ies. And on to clear coating! Actually the powder coating did not exactly match viper red (a bit more orange...) but it looks quite good and will be shiny with the clear coat on. I sanded it slightly with 1000 paper to make sure the decals...

So - finally some progress. This project became way larger than anticipated. As stated earlier I found a nice 3.0 frame in 18 inch which fits me way better. So I used the original 20 inch frame as a test mule and went on to restore it. Will open another thread for this. Anyways, the fork is...

When there is notable progress I will be more than happy to share. I will stay with 26 inch; I have already laced a set of wheels with widest possible tires for maximum circumference. Thank you for your interest!

With my CAAD9 on December 30 with shorts on the Swabian Alps (2500 ft, southern Germany) absent of any snow or ice. Doesn‘t happen every year.

The weight is a nice-to-have and probably the older frames compensate this with rim brakes, no electronic shifting, and so on. What matters quite a bit: comfort/compliance, wider tires, disc brakes. These you cannot easily convert onto a older frame. 28 mm was a revelation on rough roads.

I think the frame would take them. No way what concerns the fork which is from a SuperSix. Probably the original Ultra would accept, I would have to dig that out.

Thank you. Bicycle is after more than 3000 km still going strong, quite happy. I feel very good on that frame, good position. It is just a very hard frame, but I am running 25 mm tubeless at 4/4.5 bar which helps (before with the Mavic Aksiums and 23 mm clinchers it was much worse). Right now I...

Did this with a CAAD9 and Force 22 (crank, chain, cassette: Red) and in combination with a lighter full-carbon fork and carbon-aero-wheels and carbon seat-post and steering bar it was worth it, even tough just an upgrade from 10 to 11 speed. Shed off about 1 kg. Thought an electronic group would...

Very interesting observation about the geometry. But I would assume you can correct slight deviations with stem, bar and seat post. My 2019 Tarmac SW SL6 is way more comfortable over my CAAD9. And it has disc brakes. And I can put on 28 mm tires and these have significant real world...

1x and tubeless should be a big improvement for the riding experience! Looks to me like a gravel riding bar.

That is a great resto job. The brake cable holder on the fork is interesting, is there a dedicated mount on the fork?