Hello 
New guy here, thought I'd post up about my old Cannondale.
Photographs by John 'Prolly' Watson
I bought this brand new as Frame & Forks in January 2000 from Evans Cycles (Waterloo) after I snapped a chainstay on my old green GT Borrego commuter.
I'd been looking for a lightweight hardtail f+f but at that time of year most of London's shops were still stuffed with cut-price Christmas completes, so my search for a tasty bit of Kona, Orange or Pace wasn't going very well.
Came extremely close to buying a Voodoo Hoodoo, but one boozy night out in Waterloo I caught sight of this lairy blue thing sitting in a shop window. Decided to return the next day to have a proper look at it, and to my surprise saw that it was reduced from £699 to £450. Nobody in the shop knew much about it, a few assistants argued over whether it was a Trials frame or a 'Trails' frame(?!) and the shop mechanic just grunted at me when I asked what size BB I should buy to go with it.
It looked roughly the right size for me anyway, there was nothing anywhere near as exciting elsewhere and I needed to get back on two wheels, so I bought it and took it to a much friendlier shop near my work (the now-defunct BikePark in Covent Garden) to get it sized up for a nice XT BB and suitable chainset - I intended to run it as a 1x9 on slicks from day one as I'd never used the two inner rings on my old GT. The genius Aussie (ex-Cannondale Team) mechanic there specced the Cyclone chainset that's still on it - the Blackspire 46T ring sits in the middle ring position, something that wasn't possible with Shimano chainsets at the time. I didn't have the dosh for Race Face or Middleburn!
Anyway, I stripped the old GT of its components and transferred what I could to the Cannondale, though the seatposts were different diameters so I treated it to a Thomson Elite 27.2x410mm.
I rode it for a winter (with that bling frame wrapped in old inner-tubes after being chased through King's Cross by armed scrotes shouting "He's got a f***ing CANNONDALE!" one night) and then the upgrade process slowly began.
I found that the seatstays flexed outwards a bit under heavy braking, so I looked at buying a nice CF brake booster for the old V-brake on there, but was talked into slinging an HS33 on the back instead. Loved it, a proper fit-and-forget item. Didn't buy a front one as the forks just didn't need it.
Then, riding home from work one night some silly sod stepped out onto the road at the far side of a junction. It was rush hour and I was at the front of a group of 5 or 6 cyclists, really going some. Braked, stopped in time to avoid the pedestrian, but the two guys directly behind me didn't.
My rear wheel folded, derailleur was torn clean off, and a bruise formed immediately on my forehead. Brilliant.
Back to BikePark (who were open late, and about 400m away) to assess the damage. I left the shop on foot, with a severely damaged wallet having agreed to buy a pair of handbuilt Mavic X517 CDs on M570 LX hubs, an LX rear mech, new cassette & chain, and an LX front V-brake to finish it off. Oh, and a new derailleur hanger!
After collecting it from the shop with all the new bits installed, I decided it was time to take off the old inner-tubes and let that paint job see the light of day.
The bike stayed like that for a while, and then inevitably my rain-soaked 20-mile-a-day commutes killed the rear hub. I had Merlin build me up a 36h X618 CD on a black Hope XC hub, and that rear wheel is still on the bike today. Bombproof.
I later had Condor Cycles build a 32h X618CD onto my front LX hub once the old X517 had reached the end of its life.
As bits broke, I bought nicer bits as replacements - an old Deore DX shifter was replaced with an M952 XTR, the old Turbo saddle with a Selle Italia SLR Trans-Am, bars & stem upgraded, etc.
Rear mech is now an RD-6500 Ultegra, and cassette is 6500 Ultegra 12-23T 9spd.
The bike has been run on 1" folding slicks of various types (my favourites being the now-unavailable Hutchinson Top Slick Gold) as it's always been a street bike, but I have on occasion stuck knobblies on there and ridden it off-road. It's not very good off-road!
Only in the past year has this bike been relieved of its daily duty - I built a modest road bike from a 2007 LeMond frame a mate had lying around.
Enough of my yakkin' though, here are the rest of John's great pictures. Hope you like the bike!
Cheers
Neil
New guy here, thought I'd post up about my old Cannondale.
Photographs by John 'Prolly' Watson
I bought this brand new as Frame & Forks in January 2000 from Evans Cycles (Waterloo) after I snapped a chainstay on my old green GT Borrego commuter.
I'd been looking for a lightweight hardtail f+f but at that time of year most of London's shops were still stuffed with cut-price Christmas completes, so my search for a tasty bit of Kona, Orange or Pace wasn't going very well.
Came extremely close to buying a Voodoo Hoodoo, but one boozy night out in Waterloo I caught sight of this lairy blue thing sitting in a shop window. Decided to return the next day to have a proper look at it, and to my surprise saw that it was reduced from £699 to £450. Nobody in the shop knew much about it, a few assistants argued over whether it was a Trials frame or a 'Trails' frame(?!) and the shop mechanic just grunted at me when I asked what size BB I should buy to go with it.
It looked roughly the right size for me anyway, there was nothing anywhere near as exciting elsewhere and I needed to get back on two wheels, so I bought it and took it to a much friendlier shop near my work (the now-defunct BikePark in Covent Garden) to get it sized up for a nice XT BB and suitable chainset - I intended to run it as a 1x9 on slicks from day one as I'd never used the two inner rings on my old GT. The genius Aussie (ex-Cannondale Team) mechanic there specced the Cyclone chainset that's still on it - the Blackspire 46T ring sits in the middle ring position, something that wasn't possible with Shimano chainsets at the time. I didn't have the dosh for Race Face or Middleburn!
Anyway, I stripped the old GT of its components and transferred what I could to the Cannondale, though the seatposts were different diameters so I treated it to a Thomson Elite 27.2x410mm.
I rode it for a winter (with that bling frame wrapped in old inner-tubes after being chased through King's Cross by armed scrotes shouting "He's got a f***ing CANNONDALE!" one night) and then the upgrade process slowly began.
I found that the seatstays flexed outwards a bit under heavy braking, so I looked at buying a nice CF brake booster for the old V-brake on there, but was talked into slinging an HS33 on the back instead. Loved it, a proper fit-and-forget item. Didn't buy a front one as the forks just didn't need it.
Then, riding home from work one night some silly sod stepped out onto the road at the far side of a junction. It was rush hour and I was at the front of a group of 5 or 6 cyclists, really going some. Braked, stopped in time to avoid the pedestrian, but the two guys directly behind me didn't.
My rear wheel folded, derailleur was torn clean off, and a bruise formed immediately on my forehead. Brilliant.
Back to BikePark (who were open late, and about 400m away) to assess the damage. I left the shop on foot, with a severely damaged wallet having agreed to buy a pair of handbuilt Mavic X517 CDs on M570 LX hubs, an LX rear mech, new cassette & chain, and an LX front V-brake to finish it off. Oh, and a new derailleur hanger!
After collecting it from the shop with all the new bits installed, I decided it was time to take off the old inner-tubes and let that paint job see the light of day.
The bike stayed like that for a while, and then inevitably my rain-soaked 20-mile-a-day commutes killed the rear hub. I had Merlin build me up a 36h X618 CD on a black Hope XC hub, and that rear wheel is still on the bike today. Bombproof.
I later had Condor Cycles build a 32h X618CD onto my front LX hub once the old X517 had reached the end of its life.
As bits broke, I bought nicer bits as replacements - an old Deore DX shifter was replaced with an M952 XTR, the old Turbo saddle with a Selle Italia SLR Trans-Am, bars & stem upgraded, etc.
Rear mech is now an RD-6500 Ultegra, and cassette is 6500 Ultegra 12-23T 9spd.
The bike has been run on 1" folding slicks of various types (my favourites being the now-unavailable Hutchinson Top Slick Gold) as it's always been a street bike, but I have on occasion stuck knobblies on there and ridden it off-road. It's not very good off-road!
Only in the past year has this bike been relieved of its daily duty - I built a modest road bike from a 2007 LeMond frame a mate had lying around.
Enough of my yakkin' though, here are the rest of John's great pictures. Hope you like the bike!
Cheers
Neil
