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I have a Cannondale Quick5 Hybrid. I would like to convert this to a full road bike. What changes do I need to do? Is it possible?

From Cannondale's website

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    The common thought is that while this is possible, its generally too expensive unless you have all/most of the parts. You'd end up with a chunky bike that won't handle as well as a road bike. If you buy a nice+used road bike, you'll have TWO complete bikes.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 8:17
  • If you really want to do this, your best bet would be to find a used bike which has, eg, suffered damage in a garage accident. You only need salvage the handlebar and brifters, but the components need to match the technology of your stem, brakes, and derailers.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 14:13

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This kind-of depends on what you mean by 'road bike'. The definition can include road-oriented hybrids such as yours, touring bikes and drop-bar 'racing' bikes. Let's assume you you want a 'racing' style bike designed for higher speeds.

It's possible to make the conversion, in a way; but it will probably not be worth it in terms of cost and you'll end up with a poor compromise that isn't really what you want.

Others have provided answers that deal with mountain to road component swaps and compatibility issues. If you need to replace the bars shifters and entire drivetrain you would do better to sell the hybrid and buy a bike of the type you want.

The other major problem is frame geometry. Your hybrid has a 'relaxed' more upright geometry with slower, more stable steering; racing bikes have a more 'aggressive' leant-forward geometry with faster, less stable steering. Even if you put a drop bar on the hybrid you are not getting away from the intrinsic geometry of the hybrid, so you won't really end up with a racing bike.

BTW, if you want a slightly more aggressive riding position on the hybrid, you can lower the handlebars by lowering the stem on the steerer tube by moving one or more of the spacers from below it to above it, and flipping the stem over so it points slightly downwards instead of upwards.

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I'd imagine that you can probably convert the bike, but frankly, I don't think its wise. You probably won't end up with a super high quality end product, and it will take a lot of time and effort.

That being said, if you're going to proceed, you will need to acquire and swap in the following (make sure that everything is the same size as your current bike):

Frankly, I don't think I can adequately explain how to change each of these parts in this format, so I've linked each one to a youtube video that I think might be helpful. Even so, I would highly recommend going to your local bike shop or bike collective for help.

A lot of this stuff is pretty advanced, and it would probably be easier to shell out the money for a cheap road bike, and gradually upgrade the parts.

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    You don't need the drivetrain parts until you need to replace the worn ones anyway. And clipless pedals aren't much more required on a road bike than a hybrid. You only really need the bars, tape and brifters - so long as you can get the right pull ratio for the brakes. The biggest issue is the geometry
    – Chris H
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 7:41

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