opinions?!

[Bunks-TJ]

i am looking to make a transition from mountain bikes to something more efficient, for 100 rerasons. i came a cross this ad and was wondering how people with more knowledge than i, feel about it

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/bik/617895429.html

i know the oldre 3.0s were steel and people either loved or hated them on account of their rigidity. there were also aluminium frames out there, but aside from that i don't know much. i have emailed the owner for more information, but have not heard back as of yet.

is this reasonable?
how is the price?
will my 200lbs kill this thing?
should i not waste my time and continue to look elseware?


any information you would like to share would be appreciated

thanks

[bdinger]

The only thing that makes me wonder is why there seems to be a dent in one of he seat stays?

Regardless, I'd be all over it for that price. ALL over it. Why can't my local CL be like that? *sob*

[wayne pattee]

That looks like it could be a good one but look it over really good. I'm in the market for an older road bike too and went and looked at one yesterday and it turned out to be a womans bike but really nice shape for about 15 years old.
Good luck with your hunt.

[Bunks-TJ]

thanks. i always have trouble with price points on used bikes. it is hard to tell value. :)

The only thing that makes me wonder is why there seems to be a dent in one of he seat stays?
*


i think those were on there from the factory. it was a thing cannondale did if i remember correctly

similar "dents" can be found here:

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/4858/daleyi7.jpg
http://spellbound-guild.com/cannondale.jpg

[Bunks-TJ]

That looks like it could be a good one but look it over really good. I'm in the market for an older road bike too and went and looked at one yesterday and it turned out to be a womans bike but really nice shape for about 15 years old.
Good luck with your hunt.

any suggestions about what specifically i should be loking for? what parts on a road bike take the most abuse?

[bdinger]

In that case.. "buy it now" comes to mind :)

[Ray Dockrey]

Yeah, I am almost positive that dent is there to help give clearance for the shoe.

[Bunks-TJ]

so it seems like it is at the very least worth loking at!

any votes for "Pass"

[Tom Stormcrowe]

Look for microfractures at the welds.....miniscule cracks in the finish at the weld joins CAN be an indicator of this.

any suggestions about what specifically i should be loking for? what parts on a road bike take the most abuse?

[jhcore]

I'd actually be kind of wary of buying an aluminum bike of that age. I say "that age" because I /think/ Shimano 600 was more-or-less phased out in the mid-80s. Anyway, without knowing how hard it was ridden, I would think it would be hard to tell how much life is left in that frame. Remember: aluminum fails catastrophically, and there may be no outward signs of stress or fatigue.

But...hey, sorry to sound like a jerk or an alarmist. These are just my 2.7 cents. In any event, I hope you end up with a bike you love!

[BikEthan]

Those cantilevered dropouts on the old C-dales always made me nervous, especially as a Clyde. Personally I'd go for something a little newer.

[wrk101]

For a little more, $300 to $350, you should be able to find a couple year old bike with little mileage on it. I found one with 2.5 miles total on it for $320 (Trek SL1000). The newer bikes will have brifters, which I think you would like a lot more than down tube shifters.

At the same time, this sounds like a reasonable price for a Cannondale. So if it is what you want, go for it. Not much depreciation left at the $200 price point. I don't like that the seller is pretty far off on the bikes age. It sounds like it could be 20 years old, not 10. At the same time, it is pretty routine on Craigs List for sellers to get the age wrong (seems like it is always wrong in one direction....)

[v1k1ng1001]

I'm going to back the nays in this case. It's certainly better than nothing but those old Cannondale frames ride like a brick. So unless your streets and paths are 100% smooth, I'd rather see you put another $200 into a bikesdirect model or find something else on ebay.

[Bunks-TJ]

wow big swing the other direction.

this is not a bike that is next door to me, it would take me about an hour and a half to get there so maybe i will not bother. i DO have a bike, a fisher sugar 3, but i am looking for somehting a little more streamline :D since the FS eats all my power.

maybe its back to the drawing board ;)