Cannondale CAAD2 Beast of the East

[dancingjack]

I'm finally able to get around taking some photos of the red devil! Woohoo!!!

Got this bike used from a family friend in 2002 as a teenager and this kick started my passion for mountain biking. The frame has gone through numerous phases. It was till 2009 that I transferred all the parts onto my Klein Mantra. Since then, it has laid in my bedroom shelf till a month ago.

The other half complained that the Klein Pulse I had build for her was too big and so out it went. And since this was lying around, I dusted it off and started the project.

I wanted this bike to be a weight weenie project while keeping the cost low and usability at the optimum level. Luckily, I chanced upon a donor bike, a NOS Trek Y22 and transferred all the groupset and Litespeed titanium seatpost over.

Standing at around 8.5kg, this is pretty much the set up I've have been dreaming of for this bike and I am extremely satisfied! Enjoy guys!!!

 

[whyterider]

Beautiful, I love the way you have matched up the stem (what is it?).

I am not usually a fan of gold components but this works well on the Beast!

I too have one of these from the same era, some stock kit and some changed, been sitting idle for many years but on seeing yours I may well have to start planning a face lift!

Good work, well done

 

[raidan73]

This is one of those bikes that I remember lusting after BITD. Hope to get my hands on one one day and this just makes me want one even more

 

[merckx]

superb!

 

[dancingjack]

Thank you for the compliments gentlemen!

I got the stem from a local retro freak. It's a 50mm Kore stem to reduce her reach. And yes, I usually try to avoid gold anodized parts as they look "cheap" on most bikes but I got inspired by a friend's Morati Titanium with gold Tune parts all around. Trust me, it was stunning and definitely a sight to behold.

I am most certainly thankful majority of my biking life was with this bike. The ride, feel and ability of the frame is second to none. It is extremely fast, responsive and stiff at the same time. Unfortunately, I am not able to do a proper comparison to my other Kleins as I do not have a full rigid version to pit against.

The greatest asset to this bike is the standard sizings i.e 27.2 seatpost, 1 1/8" head tube & threaded BB. I save a lot of hassle hunting down for parts especially comparing to my other Kleins.

whyterider: time to give it a well deserved facelift and enjoy the ride!

 

[Sidekick416]

NICE !!!

LIKE !

 

[dancingjack]

Hello local Ti God.

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

Nice! My friend had a life Long love of Dales kick started by one of these bikes. They have a high bottom bracket don't they?

 

[dancingjack]

Nice! My friend had a life Long love of Dales kick started by one of these bikes. They have a high bottom bracket don't they?

Thank you mate! Yes, the BB is higher than most bikes by an inch or so. Which means it's vital to stay rigid as i used to be on an Indy SL which was cool but affected the geometry a fair bit.

 

[trevron73]

Here is mine a '97