Cannondale Quick Carbon 1 (2014)

Pedigree commute bike blurs the lines

Pros

- Lightweight carbon road bike performance
- Upright position
- Components
- Versatility

Cons

- Not truly a road bike or commuter?

Review

The Cannondale Quick Carbon 1 is a full blooded performance bike that really blurs the line between road bike performance and touring/commuting bike practicality. This is as top end as a flat-bar road bike ever really gets.

Although the geometry has been tweaked this year to make the riding position more flat out and performance orientated, the Quick Carbon still benefits from a mountain bike style upright stance, creating possibly the best of both worlds? Even with this extra performance in mind, Cannondale have still applied fender and rack mounts, hydraulic disc brakes and room for some truly wide rubber. Changing tires could convert this bike from a high speed road machine to a very capable tourer which could even be used on smooth gravel roads or tracks.

The bike's versatility could be argued to be its weakness, simply because it does many things well, but nothing really well! I think there are many people out there who want a flat bar road bike but don't want to be stuck with a relatively poorly specced bike as is often the case with the hybrid/city/commuter market. Dropping the bar height could result in a serious bike capable of taking on the weekend bunch with few problems.

Looking down the component list reveals very few week areas; this is a genuine contender for bling bike status.

The Quick Carbon 1 is an awesome bike ready for some serious riding with a bunch on the road, as a commuter (buy a good lock!), or as a top end tourer. Why shouldn't flat-bar riders get the very best technology available?