pete in response------
with exception of the "actiontec" fork sharing the same monoshok design as the "headshok", isnt that really where the similarities end...???
The internals of the two forks were completely different, and dare i say it, the headshok was a 10 fold improvement, both in its performance and life expectancy..? I understand your point they do look very similar, but i think what helped Cannondale build their first HeadShok was the air spring contained in the head tube. It features a lock out and slides on 4 sets of needle bearings.
this was in 1992, action tec released there fork without any of this in 1991, action tec had 44mm of travel cannondale had 50mm,upgradeable to 60mm.
perhaps it was a case of the "ideas good", but how can we make it useable, and affordable for a production range of bikes...? not just a frame and fork package with a retail price of $1000.00
what are your thoughts on this..? i wonder because of the similarites.... did the actiontec company, have any contact with cannondale at this point in time, even if only on a consultancy basis..? were there patents for each fork design..?
can anybody shed any light on this, as pete says the similarities, are certainly evident.?
For me, the fact that cannondale made this system a usable alternative to telescopic forks, and brought this to market and accessable to the worldwide consumer base.....is cool.
It was inevitable that eventually telescopic forks would become better(less flexy). But the cannondale route,(although never a personnal favorite of mine) did offer there own in house alternative to outsourcing, from U.S brands manufacturing in the far east.
And whilst i agree i dont think that product branded coda, Manufactured by other companies is at all cool, it is certainly my first memory of a company choosing to do this, on this scale, and thus breaking down the the strangle hold that shimano had at the time.
(and whilst this is expected to be profit related, as others have suggested.) The truth of the matter is, the consumer expected to see shimano!!! ....SHIMANO held the cards and dictated price etc, perhaps due to profit/availiabilty/lead times etc, cannondale saw the need to create there own brand name/image, to negate the the shimano issue, and make effective changes in mid production run with out having to bere the effects of the global giant/brand leader shimano....???
For sure, this became common practice for many many manufacturers, and is rife today..my case in point... Trek owned and branded Bontrager components? trek do not manufacture every product labelled bontrager, but they do outsource to other far east manufacturers, that they can dictate too, rather than, the manufacturer of "said" component dictating to them.
Im still not sure if i would call this cool, but from a business point of view, it did set a precedence, and i suspect help with cashflow and aid in fast Manufacturing spec changes, and also help with lead times from build date to shop floor.
) for half an hour just staring at there super v 4000 and then I saw a photo of Missy in Sierra Nevada in 97 riding on just the rim
