Road Cycling - Upgrading an old Cannondale?

I have an old Cannondale R400. I forget what year it is, but it was the last of the 2.8 series frames. I don't have many miles on it, the frame is in great shape, and have already replaced the fork with a carbon fibre one.

Lately, the RSX shifters have began to act up, and I wouldn't mind changing the cranks from 170 to 175mm.

I can either buy a new bike with full Ultegra, or upgrade my old bike for half the cost, picking and choosing exactly the components I want. Is it worth spending more money on the old bike, or is it better to retire it before the frame craps out?

Thanks.

Originally posted by arc
I have an old Cannondale R400. I forget what year it is, but it was the last of the 2.8 series frames. I don't have many miles on it, the frame is in great shape, and have already replaced the fork with a carbon fibre one.

Lately, the RSX shifters have began to act up, and I wouldn't mind changing the cranks from 170 to 175mm.

I can either buy a new bike with full Ultegra, or upgrade my old bike for half the cost, picking and choosing exactly the components I want. Is it worth spending more money on the old bike, or is it better to retire it before the frame craps out?

Thanks.

The answere is yes and yes. It all depends :D

What kind of warranty is on the frame? If you don't have that many miles on it, it can't degrade that much sitting around. If you go with Ultrega, it won't be that much and you will have a pretty nice ride.

If, however, the frame is stressed out, get a new bike.

From the sounds of it, the frame is fine and replacing the components seems your best alternative.

I have done this many times. I hate to pay the money for a new bike, so I just upgradeing.
Dave

I doubt very much that you have enough miles on the bike to really compromise the frame. I am a big rider. I am 200 lbs. I also ride pretty fast.

Over the years I have put over 30,000 on 3 different cannondales. One frame failed and that really was not fair. On that frame the rear axle fit into an extension of the chain stay that went past the rear triangle. And just to weaken it they flattened it at the end and drilled a hole through it. What were the designers thinking of? Well, that was the only model they ever did that to and I got a new frame out of it for free and of a more recent model too.

I am not a big fan of upgrading. Usually on bikes, they give you a pretty good deal on the whole package. I would replace stuff as it wore out. I would advise getting a new bike and using your old bike as your bad weather and bike to ride while your #1 bike is in the shop. But the frame is good enough that upgrading makes sense to. Your call.

The old 2.8 frames were very stiff and kind of started the Crack'n'fail reputation for Cannondale. It was a matter of a company trying to get too far ahead of the technology available at the time. My biggest knock on them was the stiffness of the frame; even my CAAD3 is a smoother bike than the 2.8 series framesets. I'd suggest you check out some newer bikes just to see what's out there. Cannondale actually has a frame trade in program where they take their old frames (and maybe complete bikes) for trade in towards a new Cannondale. It knocks the price down and you'd end up on a smoother riding bike that was still plenty quick.