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Cannondale SuperSix EVO Lab 71 vs Cannondale SuperSix EVO 3
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Jun 10, 2025
A lot of these range topping models do have more affordable options that sit below them in the range. So, in this video Sam Gupta answers explores how much difference there really is between a top of the range road bike and the one which costs much, much less. We have looked at the Cannondale SuperSix EVO Lab 71 and the Cannondale SuperSix EVO 3 as our points of comparison with each bike representing it's corner very well. The LAB71 model is no doubt sat amongst some of the most desirable road bikes currently available while the EVO 3 represents itself as a bike of the people with a Shimano 105 Di2 groupset, hydraulic brakes and some very honest wheels and finishing kit. $4000 vs $16,000 Road Bike
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0:00
How does your dream bike compare to the one that you can actually afford
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The bike that embodies the same spirit, but is more realistically priced
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The question is, if you go for the better value option, will you be disappointed
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I'm going to put these two bikes head to head to tease out the nuances and explain what these two
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very different price points mean for the everyday rider. The bikes in question are these two Super 6s from Cannondale
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We have the Super 6 Evo 3, which comes in at £4,000 or $4,200
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And we also have the range-topping Lab 71 model, which comes in at £12,500 or $16,000
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The first thing many of us will jump to as a very obvious point of comparison is weight
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There is no doubt that a bike using Cannondale's most sophisticated carbon fiber layup
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along with carbon finishing kit, lightweight wheels, and the best components SRAM has to offer
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will be lighter than a bike with box section alloy rims and Shimano's third tier group set
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But the question is, by how much? Well, according to these scales, the Lab 71 tips the scales at
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6.95 kilos and the Super 6 Evo 3 comes in at 8.49 kilos. That's a difference of around one and a
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half kilos. That means you're paying about £5.52 per gram of weight saved over and above the Evo 3
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If we put that weight difference into the context of overall rider and bike weight
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you're looking at roughly a difference of one to two percent. The reality is if your main concern
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is weight, then opting for a heavier bike, which also saves you a fair chunk of cash
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but in turn may require you to work slightly harder, resulting in more calories being burnt
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then I'm confident that's going to net a far greater return. That being said, between the two
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bikes, there is a clear weight difference. It's up to you to decide how much value you can attribute
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to saving the equivalent of two 500ml bottles of water. I'm sure you've heard myself and many others bang on about the fact that upgrading a bike's
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wheels should be the first thing you consider changing, and this advice is especially apparent
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when looking at these two bikes The Evo 3 comes with some reliable but not flashy alloy wheels from DT Swiss and the LAB71 comes with a two and a half grand set of wheels from Reserve featuring aerodynamically
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optimised lightweight carbon rims and spokes with ceramic bearings. The wheels on the LAB71 are really very nice
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They're a great example of wheels that manage to combine lightweight and impressive stability
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especially in crosswinds. a thought-after choice for a cyclist who enjoys riding a variety of parkours, fast on the flat
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fast on the climbs, and stable on the descents. And it's not just the weight and the profile of
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these wheels which impresses, but they also feature a semi-hooked rim for good tyre compatibility
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along with a wide internal rim width, making them a great pairing with the very on-trend 28
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and 30C road bike tyres that we often see today. These wheels really are a highlight of the Lab 71
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build. However, the Evo 3's box section alloy rims really aren't anything to write home about
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Sure, they are strong, reliable wheels from a brand with a great reputation, of course
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being DT Swiss, but they aren't the most inspiring things to ride on. However, this is where I will
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put it to you. While the wheels on the Lab 71 are a great choice, they're still not your choice
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Would you instead prefer to purchase a better value bike, which is in need of a wheel upgrade
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allowing you to find the pair which is right for you? Perhaps you want to go deeper or shallower
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At least then you have a set of wheels which matches the riding you do, with the bonus being
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that you then have a spare set of alloy wheels at home for either winter riding or as a fullback
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for when your fancy ones are being serviced. In that same vein of thinking, if you were to buy the
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better value bike and then upgrade the wheels and tyres, due to the huge improvement in ride fill
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performance and saved weight, you're going to take a quantum leap forwards towards the kind
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of performance one would experience on the Lab 71, but for a much smaller cost. You can buy the
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reserve wheels found on the Lab 71 for around two and a half grand, which would mean you could buy
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the Evo 3 and the wheels and have thousands left over. But for a bike like the Evo 3, I think a set
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of wheels from Hunt would be a better matchup. I will put this to you now though. We actually
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swapped the wheels from the Lab 71 into the Evo 3 to see what the weight difference would be and it almost knocked off a kilo Wheels are not the only thing that you may want to play around with
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All too often, we see brands releasing bikes with handlebars which we believe are far too wide for the riders for which they're intended
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And Cannondale is not innocent in this regard. These, quite frankly, beautiful integrated carbon bars that come on the Lab71
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one are a full 42cm wide and the Evo 3s come in at 40cm. The difference here though is that the
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bars on the Evo 3 are not part of a one-piece cockpit and instead can fairly easily be changed
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for an alternative. You could either go for the same specification of bar but in the correct width
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or you could opt for an upgrade. It's your choice. The key here being is that they would not be
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nearly as expensive as replacing and fitting the right size of bar on the Lab 71, which Cannondale
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is currently listing for £450 or $650. We've tested the effect narrow handlebars have in the
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wind tunnel on what's saved. And even by sizing down from a 42cm bar to a modest 38cm bar
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there are savings to be had in the realms of 17 to 35 watts
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That's a huge amount and would go a long way to making you tangibly faster
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One of the common buzzwords that we're peppered with by marketing departments is ceramic or
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ceramic bearings. These silky smooth bearings are pretty mesmerizing by how freely they spin
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and if you've got the cash, you can expect a full suite of them on the Lab71 bike
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in both the bottom bracket and the wheels. However, I'm confident that in a blind test
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your everyday rider would never be able to tell the difference. Still bearings, when well maintained and manufactured by a good brand
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will perform at a level so incomprehensibly close to ceramic ones, and will also save you a fair bit of cash in the long run. So, while it is nice to know that
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they're there, I don't think this is something you're going to be missing out on by opting for
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a better value bike. Until now, I have talked a lot about what makes these bikes so different
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but it important to look at what makes them so similar Of course they share the same name and that means they share the same frame mould just with different carbon fibre and layups They do though share the same geometry and the same engineering quirks
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such as a triangular-shaped steerer tube. Even parts of the specification are similar
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Both have hydraulic disc brakes and both have wireless 12-speed group sets
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These are the things that, as riders, we interact with most when cycling
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So for these parts of the bike to be so similar brings me back to my original question
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Would you be disappointed with the better value bike? I think that question will always be completely subjective
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It entirely depends on what your point of reference is. If you've never had a carbon road bike with electronic gears and disc brakes
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then no, you absolutely will not be disappointed with the Evo 3
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unless of course you're in love with the beauty of old bikes and nothing will ever change that
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However if you already own a swish bike with all of these same features and more then yes it may
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feel like a downgrade in which case the need to buy a bike like this would become questionable
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unless you really wanted something to race on or take on holiday. If you want consumer advice
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then I'm sure you can see where I'm going. Buy the better value bike, upgrade the wheels and
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tires and make sure you have the right width of handlebars. You'll be golden. But if you have the
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cash and you just want it, then buy the range topper. It won't disappoint you and you will have
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loads of fun on it. Loving your bike is important because that plays a big role in your desire to
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want to ride it. Bikes like these are an emotional purchase. We all know that if you want to ride on
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the road, you can do that for a much lower price than either of these bikes. The 12 and a half
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grand option is just an even more emotional one. Nobody buying the Lab 71 build can claim to need
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it for the marginal gains because those that need marginal gains aren't buying bikes. They're being
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paid to be on them. We buy bikes because we want them and because we like them. We like how they
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look, how they make us feel, and the enjoyment they enable of propelling ourselves down the tarmac
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So, while I'm sure we'd all love to have a beast like this sat in our garage, we all know that
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we'd be just as quick on something costing much less. For most of us, speed isn't the biggest
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factor. It's about something far more intangible. Let's not forget, if it is speed you're after
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it's about you, not the bike
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