The CAAD13, by a meaningful margin. Cannondale claims a 30% drag reduction over the CAAD12 thanks to truncated airfoil tube shapes lifted from the SuperSix Evo, and the race geometry — 408 mm chainstays, lower stack — keeps you in a more aerodynamic position. The Allez has no aero pretensions; its tubes are round, the position is upright, and the stock Roadsport tires are widely described by reviewers as "dead" or "lifeless."

A fairer comparison: with both bikes upgraded to identical fast tires and wheels, the CAAD13 still wins on flat roads because of frame shape and rider position. The Allez closes a lot of that gap on rough roads or on rides where comfort starts to dictate sustainable power.

Allez: 35 mm officially, or 32 mm with full-length mudguards installed. It ships with 30 mm Roadsport tires.

CAAD13: 30 mm officially, with some reviewers reporting a 32 mm fits visually but Cannondale doesn't sanction it. Stock tires are 25 mm Vittoria Rubino Pros.

For anything beyond chip-seal or hardpack — actual gravel, rough rail trails — neither is a gravel bike. But the Allez at 35 mm with rack mounts is the more capable mixed-surface tool.

The Sprint Comp is a different bike. It uses Specialized's E5 Premium with the D'Aluisio Smartweld Sprint frame — a race geometry sibling to the Tarmac, not the endurance Allez we're comparing here. Putting it head-to-head with a CAAD13 mechanical 105 would muddle the comparison: same brand, same model name, very different intent.

The Allez Comp at $2,099 is the apples-to-apples match — mechanical Shimano 105 12-speed, Specialized's standard endurance Allez frame, and within $200 of the CAAD13 Disc 105's $2,300. That's the spec table the page renders side-by-side.

The Allez is unusually friendly for home and shop mechanics. Specialized routes cables externally before the bottom bracket and uses a threaded BSA shell, so a hose bleed or BB service is a routine job. The seatpost is a standard 27.2 mm round, the stem and bar are conventional clamp sizes — replacements come from anywhere.

The CAAD13 is also friendlier than most modern race bikes (cables enter the head tube area, but it's not fully internal cockpit routing), but the BB30a press-fit bottom bracket is a known long-term creak point. Multiple reviewers call out creaks appearing months into ownership; some swap to thread-together or BSA conversion bottom brackets to fix it.

The Allez was designed with this in mind — fender eyelets, rack mounts, and 35 mm tire clearance let you hang panniers and run wider rubber for potholed city streets. The full-carbon fork has fender eyelets too, which a lot of bikes at this price omit.

The CAAD13 has no rack mounts and no full-fender provisions. You can run clip-on fenders and a saddle bag, and Cannondale does mention hidden mudguard mounts on some lower-tier builds, but it's not equipped to be a daily commuter the way the Allez is.

The CAAD13 has eight sizes (44 to 62), the Allez has seven (44 to 61). The CAAD13 spans the slightly larger reach range at the top end (406 mm reach on the 62), while the Allez spans a slightly taller stack range at both ends (519 mm at size 44 to 643 mm at size 61).

For a default 5'8" rider, the fit algorithm picks size 54 on the CAAD13 (stack 555, reach 384) and size 52 on the Allez (stack 552, reach 364). Different size labels, but the fit-picked frames are within 3 mm of stack — the CAAD13 is just longer in reach because race geometry stretches you out.

Yes — both are widely viewed as "frame is the asset, components are the budget lever." Reviewers near-universally recommend the same first upgrades on both bikes: lighter, more supple tires (latex tubes or tubeless), and a wheelset closer to 1,500 g. On the Allez, that single upgrade is described as making it "feel like a bike that should cost double its price." On the CAAD13, it unlocks the frame's race character that's already there.

The Allez's standard sizes (27.2 mm seatpost, threaded BSA, conventional bar/stem) make those upgrades cheaper to do over time. The CAAD13's BB30a is the one wrinkle — any BB-related upgrade has to work around press-fit.

Aluminum bikes broadly depreciate faster than carbon flagships in absolute dollar terms, but both of these have long-running model lineages — Cannondale has been making CAAD-series bikes since 1983, the Allez since the early 1980s — so used demand stays steady.

The CAAD13 generally holds resale better thanks to the cult-aluminum-racer reputation Cannondale has built around the line. The Allez depreciates more steeply because the entry price floor is so low; a one- or two-year-old used Allez Sport competes against a brand-new $1,599 Allez at the dealer down the road.