Mountain Biking - I Finally Got One!!!! Now Some ????

I just bought my first mountain bike!!!!! It's an 08 Cannondale F6. It's a sweet ride, but now I have some questions. The rear der. is Alivio and the shock is Rock Shox Dart 2...an upgrade from the stock Rock Shox Dart that comes with the bike. I'd like to upgrade rear der. to Deore or higher and also get some disc brakes. The der. will be easy, but I don't know much about the frame I have or the wheels and whether or not I can easily upgrade to disc brakes. Does anyone know how easy this would be? The hubs say Formula on them and the rims say WTB. I'm assuming these parts are stock. I checked the Cannondale website, but it doesn't offer too much info on whether anything is disc ready or not.

thanks everyone and I can't wait to hit the trails this weekend!!!

You need to look to see if your fork and frame have disc brake mounts. The fork mounts look like this:
http://www.pricepoint.com/images/TECH_pages/TECH_Disk_tab_type.jpg

and the frame mounts look like that, but on the rear-triangle of the frame, back by the rear wheel, somewhere.

Also, you need to look at your hubs, if they are disc-compatible there will be 6 bolt holes, something like this: http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/catalog/medium/FHM756AZL.jpg

Hope this helps.

Why upgrade so soon? My suggestion would be to leave the rear derailleur and ride it until it needs to be replaced. Then upgrade.

You bought the wrong bike...
If your planning to do all that, you should've bought a model that has what you need.

You bought the wrong bike...
If your planning to do all that, you should've bought a model that has what you need.

I got this bike for $250 from a friend. It's in LIKE NEW condition, so I figured I'd pay less than half of what it lists for, and upgrade. Does the frame suck or something? A set of Avid BB7's only costs like $120 and a rear der is like $60, so what's the big deal? It's not like I'm gonna shell out $500 on upgrades. I just want discs, anything wrong with that?

Now....besides opinions on whether I bought the right bike or not, does anyone know if the F6 frame is compatible for disc brakes? ...the original question....not whether or not I should be doing upgrades on my bike

I agree, you bought the wrong bike. You should have bought the F5.

Would've been cheaper than doing the upgrades to this bike.

Just ride it until things start to fall off, and upgrade at that point.

I agree, you bought the wrong bike. You should have bought the F5.

Would've been cheaper than doing the upgrades to this bike.

Just ride it until things start to fall off, and upgrade at that point.

Well....the F5 and the F6 have the SAME frame! I got the F6 for $250, so I think i did alright considering it lists for twice that much. I could put almost $400 in upgrades on this frame for the price of the MSRP for the F6. I don't plan on doing that many upgrades...just disc brakes and a Deore der. which can be had for like $50 or $60. The shock is already upgraded to a Dart 2 and not the original Dart, which is stock on the F6. So exactly how would it have been cheaper to buy the F5???? Explain it to me please. I spent $250 on the bike, a set of Avid BB7's runs for about $120 and a Deore Derailleur is like $50. So for a GRAND TOTAL of $420, I have a decent bike, for MUCH less than the F5 or stock F6 for that matter.


Again, can someone please tell me if the F6 frame is EASILY adaptable for disc brakes? That's the question. I don't need some moron telling me I shoud have bought an F5 b/c it would be cheaper, b/c obviously it would NOT be.

From this pic I think I can make out tabs on the fork and in the rear.

http://www.chapter2cycle.com/cannondale3.jpg

Thanks Santiago!!! The F5 comes with disc brakes and it's the same frame, so I'm guessing the F6 can add them without too much trouble. I'm trying to google though and see if anyone can tell me for sure b/c I'm getting the brakes online.

Thanks Santiago!!! The F5 comes with disc brakes and it's the same frame, so I'm guessing the F6 can add them without too much trouble. I'm trying to google though and see if anyone can tell me for sure b/c I'm getting the brakes online.

I forgot to mention that your wheels need to be disc compatible and it does NOT look like those wheels are. Do you have the bike and a camera? Take a pic of teh left side of both wheels. We'll be able to see the hubs and the tabs clearly.