Sirrus Rider

Hummn! I just got thirsty all of a sudden..

bradtx

rccardr, Nice work indeed, thanks for the pics. The orange one would look good with the black Cannondale decal on the top tube (and model designation if it wasn't originally sold as a frameset) and the seat stay decals, IMHO.

pastorbob, In the last 20 years, or so, I think I've heard most of the C'Dale neg. quips.

Brad

rccardr 

Well, it took a year to find the very best Shimano 600 parts worthy to hang on this NOS rose colored 58cm Cannondale SR frame, but it's finally done. Rides really well. Wore my all-black Team USA Mobility outfit with it this morning & probably looked like I was part of Team Victoria's Secret.






...and, especially for YOU, BG:

RFC

Excellent. I recently did the same thing to my '88 Blueberry.

Grim

Some really nice bikes you have refurbed!
Love my three C-dales. I would like to find another R600 or better in a 63cm to build up.

Homebrew01

This thread makes me think I should refurbish mine. I've got 3 or 4 road frames from 1984-88 (or so) sitting around. 1 is still built as I raced it, with mostly C-Record parts. Another is an old rain commuter, and a couple of bare frames.

I wonder how they ride compared to my CAAD8 and my vintage steel.

Roger M

That is the best looking pink bike I have ever seen. Great skills you have, and a keen eye for mixing colors. Nice work.

nosefortrouble

I totally agree with everyone here. So clean, so sharp, so damn cool.

FZ1Tom

Purty lookin' bikes! I wonder if I can find an old C'dale frame and make it a fixed/single-speed low profile commuter? Their Al frames are famously stiff and that would go well with such a drivetrain. I'd be a little hesitant of having to lock up such a bike outside unless I could remove the decal (maybe just leave the headbadge only).

Tom

EddyR

Here is my Yellow 1987 Cannondale Dura-Ace. It is all stock except I replaced the seat and stem.It has 1200 miles on it when I bought it four years ago on CL from the original owner. I ran it with STI for two years and changed it back to down tube. I got the original receipt with it and the guy paid $1500 for it in 1988.
Ed

BlueDevil63 

Retromod with Shimano 105 levers and derailleurs, tektro brakes, FSA crank, Mavic/Fulcrum wheels. Chemically stripped frame and wet sanded with 600 for a "brushed" finish. Also stripped stock steel fork.

DSC00566..jpgDSC00560..jpgDSC00558..jpg

sauze

You could I would think, need a chain tensioner due to the vertical drop-outs. (not a huge hurdle)

rccardr 

Yeah, I've seen some guys convert these to single speed because of the stiff frames. Not my thing, but I think they avoided the chain tensioner by using an 'ideal' chainring/cog combination that required no tensioning. Seems to me I stumbled on such a table of ideal ring/cog combos on the Interweb...

Anyway, next up on the build list are two lovely projects:
* A green metallic 58cm SR frame done up with black Shimano 5600 series FD/RD and a black compact Truvativ crank with an 11/25 cassette. Gold decals, Brooks B17 and matching honey leather bar tape, brown cable housing, gumwall Panaracers, black Alex wheelset, 9 speed DA downtube shifters. Kind of 60's Raleigh-esque but 'Murican. THIS ONE IS MINE!
* A clone of the Yellow Submarine but on a 59cm mid-80's SR frame with 7 speed HD cassette, Omega rims, red decals, bar tape and housing, Ritchey saddle, Shimano 600 FD/RD. Not sure of the crank on that one, might wind up with a Sakae double.

Look for these in mid-September, after we get back from Italy. Hoping to find a few nice 58cm frames over there to ship back home...

hhliao

That is a very nice color Dr. Cannodnale.
Does the bike have a modern 130mm hub squeeze into the 126mm rear dropout?
I was thinking about doing the same thing on my 93 R400 but was not sure if it was okay to do so on an Aluminum bike.

THEJAPINO

I built a single speed '91 SR400 non-criterium geo and found that 42/16 worked nicely using a half-link. The chain was a little slack but it never fell off. I tried running it fixed and there was too much slack in the drivetrain however!

Nice cannondales btw

WNG

Love your builds Dr. Cannondale! Looking forward to more.

rccardr 

The pink bike has a 126 rear hub, but I've done a bunch of 8/9 speed 130's in the past year or so. You don't have to cold set the stays, because many of the frames of this era were actually 128's so they accept a 130 without any trouble whatsoever- just a little budging.

The Original Yellow Submarine (an '87 ST) has a 130 hub with 9 speeds and I've put over 600 miles on it in the last two months without any problem.

Eddy, you know that '87 is my Grail Bike...

hhliao

Thanks. This is good to know. I'm probably going to take this route.
The other thing in doubt is the three plastic cable holders on the top tube. If I want to do a respray or powder coat, do I need to remove them?
(One of them was already broken off from the frame, and I glued it back with epoxy.) Are there better quality replacement for these?

rccardr 

Yes, you will have to remove them to refinish the frame well using any method, and they are not typically reusable.

The good news is that top tube cable guides are FINALLY available again through Cannondale (see a local dealer or call Mike's Bikes in CA and have them use the NEW number). Bad news is that apparently they had to go to a new supplier as they had run out of the old ones so now they come individually instead of in bags of three, and they cost something like $9 each.

hhliao

Thanks again for the valuable information. Any tips on how to remove them without leaving any small parts in the top tube? The broken one that I mentioned in my previous post left tiny plastic pins in the top tube. For a while they were just rattling in the top tube and I couldn't get them out. Almost drove me insane every time I went over a bump. Eventually, I tilted the bike and let the parts slide toward the seat tube and drip some super glue into the small hole where the top tube joined the seat tube. Definitely not an elegant solution, but at least the broken off pins are now firmly stuck in the top tube and do not rattle.

rccardr 

Sure. If you press the small pins down through the mount holes in the cable guides, the pins fall into the top tube.

Then remove the headset, shake the frame with the headtube down and they fall right out. If you're careful (and lucky), you may be able to re-use one or two of the cable mounts by putting the back into the top tube holes and then pressing the small pins back in.

rccardr 

Mrs. Doc was out of town on a business trip all week, so I was burning the midnight oil down in the Lab. Here are the results:

1987 Cannondale SR 58cm in metallic green, Shimano 600 drivetrain and brakeset w/anodized 105 levers, Alex 500 rims on Formula hubs, 7 speed HG cassette, PD slug with a Ritchey stem (if it was a keeper I'd have used a powder coated Nitto) and Colnago bars (31.8, hence the Ritchey).



..and just for you, BG:


1984 Cannondale SR 56cm in metallic gold. This one got the entire Shimano 105/Rigida/Maillard setup from my low-mileage Tempo, although everything was disassembled, cleaned and regreased. Used a newer braze-on 105 FD, too, as well as some more modern decals. I really like the way the gold and black work together. Blue pedal straps have been replaced with black ones.





All in all, a very productive week!

Roger M

you never fail to impress me. You have a great eye for colors. I really like the green bike.. as well as the gold. Do you have a photo of both bikes side by side?

rat fink

I like the bronze bike. The newer decals are a nice touch. Vintage Cannondales can look surprisingly modern.

divineAndbright

Nice.. like that pink one. soon all I will own is a couple 'o Cannondales, no vintage ones though.. but hey. Im awaiting a caad8 frame in the mail which will be my main roady. Gonna have it powdercoated pink. I have another caad 8 hanging on the wall, which is too small to be anything but a TT bike for me.. I actually had it powdercoated pink./