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Dilemmas eh, my current commuter is a f.ugly Dawes 853 sportif which unusually for bikes in my ownership fits like a glove.
That’s as bought off eBay, replaced the nasty stem/bars and saddle/post with decent bits I had lying around and picked up a 6800 group set I’ll fit in the spring. It’s got similar uninspiring itm carbon forks but with a decent stack, I’ve got a pair of 3t fundas I’ll stick on but slightly less steerer so probably end up with a harsher riding less well fitting bike all in the name of aesthetics and saving a few grams....
Definitely needs new paint or having seen your Dale maybe powdercoating, not sure of the benefits one has over the other?
Haven’t got round to fitting full mudguards on the Principia yet (the stays on my guards were cut to run on the Cannondale with axiom adapters and are too short ) . It’s got plenty of clearance though , currently running some raceblades which defeats the purpose, just being lazy - I hate fitting full guards !
To be honest it probably is aesthetics swaying my judgment at the moment . To my eye the Principia is not as nice looking , colour aside the welds are neat but but still not as nice, the tube shapes and joints aren’t quite as slick etc. With current itm forks the bars are about the same height on both , but if I replaced the Principia fork with more steerer I could add a couple of spacers to get more comfortable . So trying to weigh in cost of new fork and repray vs keeping the Cannondale I’ve already paid for ...