Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - anyone know much about Cannondale touring bikes?

Good? valueable? I'm looking at an ST400 (about 1990...not that 'vintage') that would be to use for actual touring. Apparently, there's nothing more than routine maintenance & packing bags to keep this one here from being ready for going on tour...should it be worth a couple hundred bucks? Anyone got experience to compare these vs. contemporary steel touring bikes? If there are any ST series experts here, I 'm curious whether there's any difference in the frames between the different models. I'm guessing not, but fwiw, the 400 is the lowest in the series.

As an aside, I'm wondering if anyone knows what kind of grip shifters Cannondale was putting on their touring bikes in the early '90s. I have another bike that's got these (bar end grip shifters) and other than that I've never seen/used them before. Maybe I've just led a sheltered life thusfar....

thanks

Touring Cannondales have slightly more relaxed geometry than the race models. Other than that they use the same aluminum alloy and the same tube diameters.

I wouldnt pay much for an older well used entry Cannondale.

and cantilever brake bosses, lower BB height, etc...but yeah, I hear ya'

My 1987 T600 had standard downtube shifters. I would rate the Cannondale touring bikes as pretty desirable, but not as desirable as the vintage steel bikes.

As far as components, I would go to the vintage Cannondale site. It should give you insight into that.

I dug through all the old catalogs 'til I found the one that matched this one...looks like '90 for the year. It also looks like c'dale stuck with downtube shifters 'til '91 or '92 when they went to these bar end grip shifters. Don't know why they didn't believe in bar end shifters, but that's easy enough to change if I wanted to. The 400 has not particularly impressive components, but in this case they're all there & they work. The bike's got front/rear racks & panniers to go with it, so in theory it would be pretty much ready to go after some minor tuning/fitting. Since it seems like calling any road bike a 'touring' bike was the thing to do 20-30 years ago, I'm kinda looking for a gut-check on how the aluminum Cannondale frame does for touring.

(I have two Motobecane "Grand Touring" bikes and I sort of question whether either was ever actually intended to be used for loaded touring....they do seem to have a long wheelbase & slightly lower BB, so maybe they're good...just a lot of points to attach racks or bottle holders and by the early '80s I would have expected that).

I briefly had one and was pretty impressed. A real touring bike is the one instance where I would consider going with aluminum. I kind of regret selling mine (would've been a good foul weather loaded beater commuter), but I threw it up on CL for $350 and someone bought it.

It was a late 80s CT400, and had downtube shifters.

that's encouraging to hear. thanks.

My only problem with the T600 is the 23 inch size is much larger than my 23 inch Miyata touring bike. I bet there was 1 to 1 1/2 inch difference in standover. I bought mine at a garage sale (typical GS pricing), so I was not concerned about fit. I was either going to flip it, or my 215ST Miyata. After cleaning it up, it was effectively one size larger in frame, so the Cannondale went on to its new home. I sold it to a guy looking for a 24 inch touring frame. The Cannondale was perfect size wise.

in this case, it's the same thing except the size of this spot on for me (even though, like yours, the actual number makes it sound too small). The catalog has frame measurements too, btw...which has to make Cannondale one of the best (and most simply done) documented marques online. It's not garage sale pricing, but it's not Ebay pricing either. Thus I have bikes on CL now....lol

I also had one (500 level) for a brief time and was impressed (surprised) by how well it rode for an aluminum bike. I think the relaxed geometry does a lot of good with that frame and the stiffness is sort of reassuring with a load. Still, having a really comfortable saddle can't be over-emphasized. I wasn't impressed enough to keep it, but never intended to anyway. Still, it was good enough to make me reconsider my prejudice against AL bikes (and it was super cheap, that helped)...try one, you may become a convert.