I got to play with a CX bike
I have a weird relationship with demo bikes, particularly when it comes the ones given to bike shop employees. I was a bike shop employee for years, having done everything from sales to managing, and I only got a demo bike in my last few months of working. While a lot of people in that situation would consider a demo bike to be theirs, to me it was more of a way to learn how to sell a bike than a free ride for myself.
Thankfully, I am no longer working in the world of sales, and that distance has allowed me to appreciate the things I love more. So here it is, my thoughts on the CAADX, the "Adventure" category of bikes and a bit more.
The Bike
Cannondale made a bike that came pre-customized. To me there is nothing better than taking a stock bike and upgrading it to something unique and rad. Think of Bluelug, Crust bikes and custom Surlys and you get the idea. Cannondale's version of "souped up" includes TRP Spyre brakes, a carbon fork, SI cranks, a Fabric Scoop saddle, WTB tubeles ready rims and (SKINWALL!) WTB tires. Most of these things I agree with. The brakes felt good, though the fork had a bit of flex under the strain. The tires were great, the rims though they were tubeless ready and came taped had to be re-taped before they actually held air. I am not a huge fan of Fabric saddles, but this one looked good and didn't completely feel like a 2x4. The bike was fender ready (though cross bikes are supposed to get muddy). In all it was an affordable cool looking bike that was fast, fun and can get muddy with drop bars. If I were to own it, there would be a few more modifications, like a different saddle, some bags and maybe eventually I would experiment with bartape colour, but other than that it was a good little bike.
Adventure Bikes
To me, any bike can be an adventure bike. Thats the whole point of them. Some do better than others, and this is one of them. It is light, multi surface and has drop bars, while I wouldn't take it into fatbike territory, it would essentially go anywhere else. The one thing missing is the multiple attachment points for the various things I like to strap to my bikes. Bikepacking bags are an option though...
