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1987 Cannondale ST400

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1987 Cannondale ST400

Old 07-12-15, 11:24 AM
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1987 Cannondale ST400

Just picked this up off of craigslist for $80. I am a total newbie to cycling, so bear with me. Love backpacking, camping, endurance sports and would love to try touring on this thing. I want to know what upgrades to make, but most importantly I want to learn as much as I can about the mechanics along the way. Apologies if any of these questions aren't well formulated (I only half know what I'm talking about because of google!)

My main question is where to start with upgrading?
The tires have a slow leak and are old so I'd like to add new ones (probably vittoria zaffiro 1 1/4)
The brakes were hugging the rims. I've adjusted so that the rear works fine, but I can't get the front centered no matter what. There is a set of shimano 105 dual pivot for sale on nashbar, and still I've read that others build up with tektro r539 (both are about $55). I'm concerned the 1 1/4 would not fit with these brakes.
The shifting is friction (i think the ll bean model had lower end RD and shifters than the regular that year), and I'd like to go to index. Can i upgrade my RD and put in bar end shifters for 6 speed? If I start going down that road is it worth it to just wait and upgrade the entire component set? I've been reading that others have fit larger cassettes with 130 hubs no problem even though it is an aluminum frame. It seems like it would be easier and possibly cheaper to look for the 8-10 sp parts than piece meal for the 6 sp, but I am probably wrong.

Not crazy about black, but don't want to spend the money to paint. It was done by the previous owner and is an okay job (replaced the robins egg blue color of the llbean original). Instead of staying with the black and red I'd like to make it look that year's ST800 (i do like the black and brown with white lettering).

I'm not even sure of the questions to ask, but I'd figure I'd have to start somewhere if I want to do it myself. Any info is helpful thanks!!!


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Old 07-12-15, 12:10 PM
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For 80$ great score! You're going to have a lot of fun, and some frustration, making this bike yours. To answer some of your questions:

The tires have a slow leak and are old so I'd like to add new ones (probably vittoria zaffiro 1 1/4)
That's a good idea, tires look tired

The brakes were hugging the rims. I've adjusted so that the rear works fine, but I can't get the front centered no matter what. There is a set of shimano 105 dual pivot for sale on nashbar, and still I've read that others build up with tektro r539 (both are about $55). I'm concerned the 1 1/4 would not fit with these brakes.
As long as the brakes have enough reach, you should be able to run 1 1/4 tires on there. While you can likely get front to fit by adjusting the barrel on the caliper or simply opening it up a bit, single pivot brakes + heavy touring load = poor stopping power, so dual pivot would be the way to go.

The shifting is friction (i think the ll bean model had lower end RD and shifters than the regular that year), and I'd like to go to index. Can i upgrade my RD and put in bar end shifters for 6 speed?
From what I know 6 speed index does not exist or is very rare, you're better off going 7 or 8 speed.

If I start going down that road is it worth it to just wait and upgrade the entire component set? I've been reading that others have fit larger cassettes with 130 hubs no problem even though it is an aluminum frame. It seems like it would be easier and possibly cheaper to look for the 8-10 sp parts than piece meal for the 6 sp, but I am probably wrong.
Actually you're quite right! Finding a donor bike with the parts you need is usually the way to go.


Enjoi! And good luck.
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Old 07-12-15, 12:46 PM
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Good find. Don't upgrade to index right away, try out the friction shifting for a while. Swap in a new Shimano TZ20 6 speed freewheel, should make shifting much quieter and easier.

You will learn that 10 speed systems don't make the bike ride any better, you're still going to be dealing with a similar range of gear ratios, you've only got more options in between to adjust your cadence.

There's no reason your current brakes shouldn't center as long as your wheel is seated in the dropouts correctly and is dished properly and you're adjusting the brakes properly, new brakes won't fix those problems if they exist.

I've got an '83 ST500 and I really enjoy it, you got a great deal. Don't go overboard on changes immediately, it's easy to get excited, but ride it for a while to really figure it out before you spend a bunch.

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Old 07-12-15, 01:00 PM
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Centering the front brake should be a piece of cake; just back off the recessed bolt on the back of the fork crown and wiggle the caliper back and forth as needed and retighten. (Or it it's not a recessed bolt, then the nut, and whatever combo of backing washers it may have; usually a lock washer and a flat washer.)

If your front wheel is a little bent (as is very common on old, used bikes), finding a sweet spot for centering will be a bit of work and will require you back off on the brake cable more than is optimal, but it can still be made to work without rubbing and with adequate stopping power. This will let you ride it while you gain more knowledge and decide how to go about upgrading. A donor bike is usually the cheapest way to go, but it could take awhile to find the right one.

If you're thinking of getting rid of the black paint, do yourself a huge favor and find a powdercoater who knows how to do bike frames, rather than repainting it yourself. The one in my town does a full strip, prep and coat for about $125.
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Old 07-12-15, 01:16 PM
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Tires don't leak, but tubes do. If you are planning to ride a loaded touring rig, skip the Vittoria Zafiros; they are more sporty than touring. Give Panaracer Pasela TGs a try, the ride is plusher than the VZs.

Brake adjustment
Park Tool Co. » ParkTool Blog » Sidepull Brake Service

I think the others suggestions to wait to upgrade the drivetrain are valid.

BTW, here are mine below.

ST400


LL Bean - stem to be replaced and then up for sale
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Old 07-12-15, 04:34 PM
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Thank you all--I really appreciate the help. It's be a fun few days learning an entirely new vocabulary.
@oddjob2 those are gorgeous.

I think my problem with the brake is when I go to retighten the bolt after realigning, it always knocks it out of line again. After doing it enough times to be frustrated I'm just going to try again tomorrow. Thanks for the links!
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Old 07-12-15, 06:06 PM
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I use a thin wrench to hold the brake in place while I tighten the mounting nut. There should be some flats next to the return spring. 12mm if my memory serves me right.
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Old 07-12-15, 08:25 PM
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I own several Cannondale ST series bikes, and have updated several of them.
If you wish to go to double pivot brakes, make sure that you get calipers with the 47-57mm reach.
Tektro 538 or 539 are a good choice. I believe the 539 set opens wider to accommodate removal of wider tires.
I run 700 x 32 tires on my ST's set up for touring.
My only complaint is the rear brake bridge leaves little room for fenders.
Switching to 700c rims helps.
There are still some 6 speed bar end shifters floating around out there. Seek and maybe ye shall find...
Otherwise, there are ways to mount standard shifters on the bar ends with gizmos available.
Rivendell and Jagwire are 2 suppliers that come to mind.
If you eventually do decide to upgrade to 8 or more speeds, I have several hub suggestions so that you
can put 8,9, or 10 speeds into 126mm dropout spacing, but it requires some wheelbuilding skills.
Though many people have forced 130mm hubs into the 126mm dropouts without incident, I have always
chose not to do so.
Plus, it is a pain to always have to spread those stiff frames to get the wider wheel in there.

As for centering your calipers, the old mechanics trick is to place a screwdriver blade (flat) across the caliper spring
just beside the pivot bolt, on the side with the wider gap between pad and rim.
Then CAREFULLY persuade the brake to shift a bit using a mallet or hammer on the butt of the screwdriver.
Tap gently at first, then increase force as needed til the caliper shifts toward the center.
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Old 07-13-15, 05:31 AM
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Originally Posted by BradH
I use a thin wrench to hold the brake in place while I tighten the mounting nut. There should be some flats next to the return spring. 12mm if my memory serves me right.
Originally Posted by Ronno6
As for centering your calipers, the old mechanics trick is to place a screwdriver blade (flat) across the caliper spring
just beside the pivot bolt, on the side with the wider gap between pad and rim.
Then CAREFULLY persuade the brake to shift a bit using a mallet or hammer on the butt of the screwdriver.
Tap gently at first, then increase force as needed til the caliper shifts toward the center.
Great suggestions on centering brake calipers. I'll add one more that I've developed.

With the mounting bolt/nut a bit loose, and with the calipers adjusted to a good distance from the rims for best braking performance, squeeze the brake lever tight to engage the pads against the rims at their full force. While holding the lever tight, tighten the mounting nut. 9 times out of 10 this will center the calipers on the rim. If it doesn't, I usually find that the pivot points on the caliper are in need of lubrication, which in most cases solves the 10% failure rate.

Best of luck on your project. 6 speed index does exists, but most frequently in MTB shifters for flat bars. Finding 6 speed indexed downtube shifters, however, is very possible.
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Old 07-13-15, 05:34 AM
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For the cost of nice Tektro or 105 dual pivots, I wouldn't mess with the old brakes. Get some with replaceable cartridge pads. If you think you might want to upgrade to 8+ speeds someday, get Tektros with 57mm reach. Those will allow you to use readily available 700c wheels. Mounting the 130 wheels in your 126 frame is a non issue, lots of experience with that on this forum if you look.
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Old 07-13-15, 06:46 AM
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A great frame and a pretty nice bike that can be made into an awesome do-anything bike with a modest investment...well, at least modest compared to what a comparable new bike would cost you.
A few examples:






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Old 07-13-15, 09:20 AM
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I guess if everyone else is showing off:

The '83 ST500. Mostly original, added Deore XT rear derailleur, Brooks B17, Cane Creek aero levers, SKS fenders and Jim Blackburn front and rear racks.
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Old 07-13-15, 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by pastorbobnlnh
With the mounting bolt/nut a bit loose, and with the calipers adjusted to a good distance from the rims for best braking performance, squeeze the brake lever tight to engage the pads against the rims at their full force. While holding the lever tight, tighten the mounting nut. 9 times out of 10 this will center the calipers on the rim.
I love it! Can't believe I never thought of that one myself...
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Old 07-13-15, 03:08 PM
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First of all the bike you found is a grail bike. While most of the grouches in cycling won't admit it and want to pretend that their old boat anchor Olmo, Colnago, or Cinelli is something special, the reality is that riding vintage lugged steel bikes is like collecting and driving a restored Model A car. However, the Cannondale ST (sport touring) bikes were truly exceptional, and more akin to owning and collecting a Westfalia Campmobile combined with a Shelby AC Cobra. Most people don't realize that the Cannondale ST line is EXACTLY what inspired Grant Peterson at Bridgestone and much later at Rivendell. The Cannondale ST touring series pretty much represents everything that Grant ever advocated, believed, or held dear (save frame material). If you could only own one bike and it wasn't a Cannondale ST, its the wrong bike.


Here is what you need to know about Cannondale ST series frames:


There is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE between the bottom of the barrel ST400 frames and the top-of-the-line ST800 and ST1000 bikes, save paint choice & quality. The entirety of the differences were in the components builds. The single exception to that is that true touring bikes use cantilever mounted brake sets, not road calipers. So an ST800 frame will look like a Cyclocross bike and use cantilever brakes. Most Cannondale ST bikes were Sport Touring bikes and used road calipers.


They were designed to be your one and only bike. You could actually effectively race on them (lighter, stiffer and faster than anything contemporary to it). Yet you could load the bike down with front and rear racks and tour on them as well. The next iteration of the Cannondale frame design from the ST series was a teensy bit lighter (the 3.0 Series frames). Those 3.0 were tested by Bicycling magazine as the stiffest frame sets they had ever tested on their 'tarantula' testing jig. Touring bikes in the 60s/70s/80s were awful when loaded due to the steel frames. First they were heavy, and sluggish to ride (regardless of the "steel is real" cult steel just doesn't make a 'fun' bike to ride) and they were compromised by frame flex, especially at the bottom bracket when loaded for touring.


Enter Cannondale. Most people don't realize how how ungodly expensive the Cannondale ST bikes were. You can walk into a high end bike shop today and walk out with a 10-speed racing bike dripping with Ultregra for cheaper than people had to pay for the top end ST800 and ST1000 bikes then. That's THIRTY years later. There was a very rare window where the craftsmanship and materials choices coming out of Cannondale, Klein, Yeti (etc.) was incomparable in terms of how the bike performed compared with the alternative. I still say everyone needs to own a Mark Nobillette custom bike at one point in their life, to truly own a bike built by a master craftsman perfect for them and custom, but the point is that the materials of the Cannondale were just so much farther ahead of the curve.


I've always felt that the Cannondale ST touring frame was the true bike grail find. The beauty of the bike is how often even the lower end stuff can be found with epic components. When people were dropping $1250 on a bike in 1983 or 1987 they weren't skimping on other kit. Interestingly, neither did Cannondale. Grant Peterson at Bridgestone was inspired by the eclectic component selections that Cannondale spec'd on their ST series bikes, and took that to the nth degree later. This was the peak era of function, fit & finish in bicycle components. A high end Suntour Superbe Pro deraileur or Nitto bit would be forged in Japan and hand polished before anodization. Mavic derailleurs were built with expensive titanium mounting bolts and used clips to be completely rebuildable.


There are only two issues with the ST series frames: 1. They use 630 (27") wheels instead of 622 (700c). That's only 8mm total difference, and effectively only 4mm of difference radially should you ever decide to change to 700c, but don't! There is nothing magical about the 622 (700c) rim standard anymore than there is anything magical about a given wheel/tire size for cars. That's part of the whole inanity about the 650b wheel craze. So many people are just wholly ignorant that it isn't about the size of the wheel but the proportional relationship between the frame AND the wheel size. For any bike size over 58cm anyway, the 630 wheel size rolls faster than a 622. With large sizes, and Cannondale made the ST up to a 27", or 69cm c-c and 73cm c-t, the subtle increase in wheel size makes the bikes feel just a bit less like having small clown wheels. I would never ever recommend swapping to a 700c wheel. The 630 (27") wheel rolls better, incrementally, over bumps on dirt roads while touring and handles pave and bumps just that much smoother. Its not like a 26" mountain bike wheel to a 29er (also just 700c) but its not nothing either. You can find good 27" rims vintage from Mavic up to the epic Module 3 & 4 touring rims. Velocity made some Dyad rims in 27" and should be still if they were smart. You can still get their synergy rim in 27" for sure.


When a Cannondale ST was truly dressed up, in its top end glory, like the ST800 it came with a wet dream build. Dark Brittish Green paint including the front & rear touring racks painted to match the frame, and ALL three touring water bottle cages painted to match the frame as well. Brooks or and Ideal leather saddles w/copper rivets (before anyone worried about enlarged prostrates), the only built for Cannondale Suntour Superbe Pro triple front derailleur and Superbe Pro long cage rear, Nitto Technomic stem, Sugino AT half-step triple crank, Suntour Superbe Pro pedals, gorgeous brown leather (to match the saddle) Cannondale pedal straps (two decades before the Velo Orange/Rivendell/Bobish cult was matching Brooks leather accessories to everything). The rare as hens teeth NGC 982 black cantilever brakes (now worth HUNDREDS a pair!), the Nitto 135 Grand Randonneur handlebar, the then standard Super Champion touring rims, kevlar belted touring tires before the touring community even knew what kevlar belting was, Suntour Superbe pro indexing down tube shifters, Cinelli cork tape, Nitto or Suntour Superbe Pro seat posts, Stronglight Delta headset.


https://www.vintagecannondale.com/year/1986/1986.pdf


I've been lucky enough to find two such 1986 ST800s. Those bikes retailed for $799 in '86 and the Suntour Superbe Pedals and the Brooks saddle alone are worth about $300 today. If you were fool enough to part out the entire bike, and sell a pristine frame w/racks and cages you could make about $1500 just on Craigslist. The black NGC 982 brake calipers will always pay for the cost of purchasing an ST800, unless the seller really knows what they have.


The thing is that these sport touring Cannondales weren't just marketing or hype (Rivendell or Santana, come to mind). They really were more efficiency, they really were lighter and stronger, they really were and are faster than any other touring bike you'll likely ever see. I always laugh out loud when I see some fool who built up some tank heavy Surly Long Haul Trucker. I always go talk to them about their bike. They think they've discovered some "newish" aspect of cycling and that the nexus of that is the LHT. Almost always you'll discover in the conversation that the joy of the plan and the build didn't reconcile with actually riding the bike. They are ungodly heavy, heavy steel bikes just aren't fun to ride, let alone to tour with. You can race on a Cannondale sport touring bike in a pinch, and it would climb stronger, sprint faster, and be more efficient than any vintage steel bike regardless of the racing pedigree. Cannondale was viral to world cycling, and Klein to a much smaller degree. When Cannondale released the 3.0 Series frames (lighter and less stiff/strong than the ST series) it essentially killed the high-end steel road bike economy. The huge names of Olmo, Colnago, Cinelli, Masi, Gios, Pegoretti, Pinarello, Bianchi all lost relevance significantly. No one ever won a Tour de France on a steel bike after 1994. Aluminum is was and always will be able to build a lighter, stronger, faster, and more efficient bike than steel. Everyone copied Cannondale/Klein and aluminum race bikes won the GC in the Tour in '95 Pinarello (Miguel Indurain) '96 Pinarello (Bjarne Riis), '97 Pinarello (Jan Ullrich), '98 Bianchi (Marco Pantani).


Aluminum bikes transformed great aggressive climbers like Marco Pantani, who could literally ride away from the field. Unfortunately, this era also began the doping era and every great cyclist has been connected (Ullrich, Pantani, Armstrong, and essentially everyone since). Still aluminum bikes disrupted how the gran tours were raced. The climbs became more aggressive allowing riders to attack with more efficiency. Sprints became more aggressive as more wattage was getting to the road. Time trials became more aggressive as frames lightened and became more efficient. Carbon and doping would transform the gran tours again starting with Armstrong, but aluminum paved the way on the pave.


Three things were paradigm changers in the world of cycling over the last 75 years in my book: 1. Suntour's slant parallelogram derailleur patent. 2. Shimano's Centeron "technology" sloppy derailleur pulley, 3. Cannondale's aluminum frames.


You only have to see the success that Cannondale aluminum frames had in the Giro, Vuelta, and Tour to understand how these humble ST sport touring frames paved the way for the gigantic cycling force that Cannondale would eventually become before the fall.


In my mind you take an ST Cannondale and recognize it for what it is. A now priceless frame worthy of whatever components you can find for it. Phil Wood hubs (you don't need the Phil Wood BB, the Suntour BBs have adjustable chain line and are as good). I like a Mustache handlebar as I've found the Nitto Gran Rando bars too narrow for my 6'7" frame. It's just so comfortable. However, if they fit me, I'd swap back to the Nittos in a second. I use Kelly Take-Offs to bring the down tube shifters from the down tube stops up to the handlebars (both on the mustache bar setup, and with drop bars). I like my indexing Superbe Pro 7 indexing shifters, but be careful the indexing spacing for Suntour is different from 6 (5.5mm) to 7 speed (5.0mm) and requires a different freewheel. Suntour got wacky at the end, and some spacings are different even within speeds. However, you don't choose your shifters by your freewheel, you choose your freewheel by your shifters. I also like putting other kooky high-end esoteric components on Cannondale ST bikes. Sachs New Success made a 7/8 speed indexing group that was more expensive than Dura-Ace. You can get this with a 126mm freewheel hub or more rare find the 130mm free hub. The New Success Ergolevers were manufactured by Campagnolo, and use Shimano 8 speed spacing (no one knows that). I like the New Success down tube shifters on Kelly Take-Offs. There is a reason that Pantani and Armstrong used to forego the STI/Ergolever for the front derailleur on mountain stages (much heavier). The Kelly Take-Offs give you shifting within a fingers reach like Ergos/STI but are more classic and so much lighter. You can get the Sachs New Success brake sets in calipers for ST bikes that take road calipers and in cantilever (more rare than the NGC 982 black cantis). My other favorite build is to build up ST bikes with Mavic SSC 8-speed indexing. Again down tube shifters mounted on Kelly Take-offs. Mavic hubs were available in 36/40/48 drill and most people don't realize that while those hubs introduced the sealed bearing hub to the peloton (Lemond won a Tour on Kelly won stages on Mavic SSC bikes), those hubs weren't just strong enough to race on but were strong enough for the Mavic Mountain bike group. The axles neck down to get through the bearings, but probably only take a back seat to Phil Wood in terms of freewheel rear hub axle strength, and not by much. Its easy to find a double/short cage Mavic derailleurs but harder to find the triple and long cage (not just the medium) Mavic derailleurs. The long cage was only available in the Mountain group, but its the identical derailleur with just a sticker and a longer cage than the small/medium. The Mavic seat post is hard to find in 27.2 and worth too much to really enjoy riding on (could fund another ST Craigslist purchase). Mavic chains are impossible to find for 7/8 speed. You can find a rare HG rear free hub with the 571/2, but the proprietary Mavic free hub and cassette are more prevalent and to be avoided. Finding the Mavic cassette (HG) to complete the french gruppe is super hard. You can get the Mavic stem and Mavic bars, but I'd be wary. Many have failed over the years, and they aren't better than the Nitto. Mavic SSC brake calipers for ST equipped road bikes are and were top shelf. Many UCI Cat 1 racers were pulling off Campy Record and Dura-Ace calipers and swapping on their Mavic SSC calipers for years. You can even build a Campy drivetrain on a Cannondale ST. Campy modern 10sp TT shifters are just down tube shifters, and you just need to replace the shift indexing ring from the 10sp one they come with to whatever you are going to run 6/7/8. Rear derailleurs are NOT speed specific, regardless of what anyone says, the width of the inner links of the chain didn't change from 6-10 speed (I'm not sure about 11). Campy used to sell different pulley spacers for the rear derailleur pulleys to make their 9/10 speed derailleurs backwards compatible with anything prior if there was clearance issues with some chains. So you can actually have a Campagnolo 6/7/8 speed indexing triple/long cage touring set-up on a Cannondale ST if you really want to work for it. Convert the modern 10 speed TT shifters though, as the previous Synchro versions of the same shifters (sold as down tube, then) had only a single, then a double spring retention mechanism inside. The modern 9/10 TT shifters, which really are just down tube shifters on bar end mounts, use the improved triple spring (just replace the shift disc). The cool thing about using Campy down tube shifters is you can match to just about any freewheel but the charts are so confusing. I'd get the Sachs New Success 8-speed indexing Campagnolo shift disk and use 7/8 speed freewheels and cassettes that are Shimano spaced.


The point is that whether you put Camagnolo Record, Sachs New Success, Mavic SSC, Dura-Ace, or Suntour Superbe Pro from a barn find, the Cannondale ST (sport touring) bike is worth whatever you can afford to build it up with. I think it should be the best bike in the stable, or the only bike if budget and space are limiting. It literally inspired Grant Peterson at Bridgestone, and the ST800 continues to be the bike/build that define the Rivendell ethos. He was wrong then and is wrong now about steel, and I challenge anyone to ride an identically equipped Rivendell compared to an Cannondale ST. The Cannondale will be lighter, faster, more efficient, climb better, and be more fun to ride. Literal rocket bikes that changed the paradigm, and strong enough to tour with or ride on dirt roads or bike camping to boot. Makes a modern boat anchor placeholder for Velo Orange bits look like the cheap imposter that it is.

Whatever you use make sure your upper derailleur pulley is the floating type if using vintage components. The Shimano Centeron patent expired, but there is reason to ever use a non floating upper pulley on vintage rear derailleurs with indexing groups. The shifting is so much worse without using one. Kelly Take-Offs or Suntour Butterfly shifters or some other such shifting solution transforms the bike to modern shifting convenience.


A grail bike. Congratulations. Its a treasure, treat it as such.

Last edited by mtnbke; 07-13-15 at 03:13 PM.
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Old 07-13-15, 05:08 PM
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C'dales of that vintage are excellent--stiff, light, and durable. The welds are finished very nicely and they climb quite well if you do your part. No change you suggest is irreversible, so dive in and you'll also have a hobby!
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Old 07-13-15, 06:25 PM
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mtnbke..... You made my day! You view Cannondales as I do. Own several and recently acquired a Cannondale Tandem. It is truly heaven. Out performs my sold off Santana by a wide margin. Thank you for the GREAT Post! I've owned and raced on Colnago, Guerciotti, Serotta, etc. Still take my Cannondales over them. And for those that say they are harsh rides. Never experienced a harsh ride on any of them.
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Old 07-13-15, 06:34 PM
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Ahhhhh. I've missed the succinct words of our beloved @mtnbke. Where have you been? We always need more aluminum love and ferrous vitriol. Sorry @cmoran1357 mtnbkr came to visit.
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Old 07-13-15, 07:01 PM
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I thought @OldsCOOL was the Numero Uno Cannondale Brand advocate until I read @mtnbke's dissertation. I think it was longer than any term paper I ever wrote. Nice job!
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Old 07-13-15, 07:52 PM
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Originally Posted by oddjob2
I thought @OldsCOOL was the Numero Uno Cannondale Brand advocate until I read @mtnbke's dissertation. I think it was longer than any term paper I ever wrote. Nice job!
Dang, that is an epistle.
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Old 07-13-15, 08:21 PM
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Man, I've missed his posts...
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Old 07-14-15, 03:23 AM
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Originally Posted by jgscisum
mtnbke..... You made my day! You view Cannondales as I do. Own several and recently acquired a Cannondale Tandem. It is truly heaven.
I'm envious. Racing a tandem fascinates me, not to mention a Cannondale tandem.
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Old 07-14-15, 05:09 AM
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Originally Posted by oddjob2
I thought @OldsCOOL was the Numero Uno Cannondale Brand advocate until I read @<a href="https://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=160550" target="_blank">mtnbke</a>'s dissertation. I think it was longer than any term paper I ever wrote. Nice job!
The challenge is that mtnbke usually posts nearly the same "sermon" or "lecture" on the rare occasion that he/she posts.

mtnbke never seems to take the hint, that we on C&V don't really care for bashing anything vintage, whether it is steel, iron gas pipe, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, wood or bambo. Yes we all have our favorites, and he can have his as well!

But to trash what others like and enjoy, is just bad form and bad manners.
Originally Posted by OldsCOOL
Dang, that is an epistle.
More like a tirade or a typical speech by a despot.
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Originally Posted by rccardr
Man, I've missed his posts...
Doc, I do hope you have your tongue firmly planted in your cheek. If not we need to have a conversation on L'Ombre.
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Old 07-14-15, 05:11 AM
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Originally Posted by pastorbobnlnh
Ahhhhh. I've missed the succinct words of our beloved @mtnbke. Where have you been? We always need more aluminum love and ferrous vitriol.
Lol!
After reading your post @mtnbike I had to take myself to the woodshed for some flogging for recently selling my 1986 ST 400.



However I am keeping my 1990 which is in worse cosmetic condition but has the canti brakes which are much better for loaded touring. I just never bonded with the 86 like I did with this one and you are correct they are great all purpose bikes. This will be one of the last to go when I need to whittle my bike numbers down.

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Old 07-14-15, 05:17 AM
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At any rate, we love Cannondales for their ride, style, geometry and adaptability to our riding style. My '88 Criterium Series is still the beast and helps me catch and beat riders much younger than my 57 years.
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Old 07-14-15, 07:50 AM
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Excellent bike and great deal. I would just replace your brake pads with Kool Stops and ride it as is for awhile. Do some research on here and other sites to figure out what you want to do, what you like, then see where it takes you.

Good to see mtnbke is back in action. I think the earlier mtnbke "epistles" convinced me to find my own 27-inch Cannondale ST (I'm also 6'-7" and rode too-small bikes for many years) after I broke my 64cm frame (aluminum Fuji). I found a like-new '87 ST-400 just like the OP, except it's white. It was 1.5 hours away so I called the seller, offered full price ($300 I think...) told him I was leaving immediately, and was happy about the drive and the price. Soon after, I saw a 27" '88 ST 1000 and bought that one as well. It wasn't "like-new" but had all the good bits (canti brakes, superbe, Brooks, etc.) mtnbke mentioned, and it fit. So, obviously based on my experience, you got one helluva good deal, and your bike looks like it's in great shape.

I think mtnbke offers some great advice on upgrade options, if you're not too offended by his mainly (I think) tongue-in-cheek, pot-stirring jabs at steel bikes. The Rivendell stuff he mocks (Lugged Steel Bicycles, Wool Clothing, Leather Saddles & Canvas Bike Bags from Rivendell Bicycle Works) is also worth checking out for some different ideas on bikes, fit, etc, if you're interested in such things. Regarding upgrades, I found it easy to fit 130mm rear hub on my '87 (which has 128mm spacing), so future upgrades are certainly an option. In addition to what's posted here, check out rccadr's many Cannondale pictures for ideas and inspiration on the potential your bike has.

Good luck and have fun with it! Also, be careful -- I have found this classic and vintage stuff can be addicting. I went from my two broken frames (also broke a Nishiki that I never got rid of, for some reason) to 8 (or more?) unbroken bikes hanging in my basement. After the second Cannondale, I just felt obligated to buy tall bikes when I saw them...
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