4Rings6Stars

I've been searching for a small Cannondale to build for my girlfriend as a lightweight and faster-than-her-hybrid commuter. Well today I scored two.

The red one is a 1984 SR900 originally built up with Campy NR/SR. The spray bomb green/orange one was an 85 SR300 built with Suntour Cyclone. Both the same frame though.

I started building the red one up tonight as a 1x7 because I was anxious but I don't have all the parts yet. Still need a few small things to finish it (new tires, Campy D-shaped brake barrel adjusters, single speed crankset, different saddle). I don't love the stem but she prefers a more upright riding position. Oh yeah...she thought the orange fork looked better than the red one

The other one I think will be a winter repaint project--not sure what color I'm going to go with or how I'm going to do it (borrow my brothers paint gun or use house paint + brush method...). I might just spray bomb it black and build it up as a city beater for myself. I prefer a slightly larger frame can make this work.

Couple small issues.
1. I wish these frames could take wider tires.
2. Rear dropout alignment on the green one is not 100% perfect. Close and will probably work but not perfect.
3. Campy shifters were included with the red frame because they were "stuck". I soaked them in PB blaster and the nds came off okay but the drive side bold sheared. Will probably have to drill it out. Right now I have it rigged to use the nds to run the RD cable and it seems to be working okay.






Preliminary build

pastorbobnlnh 

Looks like a fun project!

Time to invest in a screw extractor and the appropriate sized tap to clean up the threads. What sized front chainring will you use?

rccardr 

You can also remove that downtube boss (it's riveted on) and get the thread out from the other end. Maybe.
Nice score! Those are, what- 50cm? 49?

bradtx

4R6S, I took my '89 CR out yesterday for a third and final shakedown ride following a mini rebuild. This is the first bike I've tried 25C tires (largest I can fit) purposly on a really crappy road and at ~90 PSI the ride was actually plush for my 190 lbs. The tires are Cont. Ultra Sports and I am going to try them out on the 2.8 also with a wheelset swap.

After looking at the green bike for a bit, I like it. Paint the red fork black and call it a day. It'll take a much longer look at the orange fork on the red bike, however. I don't know why it is, but black head sets, stems and seatposts seem to go very well with these old Cannondales.

Brad

4Rings6Stars

Pastorbob - It is a fun project. I really like building a bike for someone I care about vs. for for a flip or for myself. I want to use a 44t chainring. That is what I have on my 1x9 and it works well. I am also planning on getting a cassette with a little more range.

Rccardr - I may try that method is it relatively easy/clean process to remove and then reinstall the boss? Strange, the green bike has shifter bosses that use a rod threaded through the frame. Also, I'm not sure how to measure the frame...center of bb to top of top tube is 49cm.

bradtx - Thanks for the tire suggestion. I'm sure I can find something that will work but my x30 Paselas I have on hand were a no go.
re. the colors... I originally was just getting the orange/green bike and she liked it (she's a little funky) but when she saw them both in person she chose the red one. Don't blame her one bit. And believe me, I tried to talk her out of the orange fork. Oh well if she likes it and rides it that's all I care about.

bradtx

4R6S, I agree that there's tons more enjoyment building a bike for a loved one!

Brad

brockd15 

Yeah, as long as she rides then that's a good thing...but man, a solid orange fork on a solid red frame! I'm no fashion pro, but aren't red and orange never supposed to go together, at least as anything more than accent colors?

It reminds of a time at a Rangers game when I saw a guy wearing black jean shorts, a navy shirt, a brown belt, and white shoes. I think that breaks almost every fashion color faux pas there is.

4Rings6Stars

^^I think if that guy paired a jean jacket with his outfit and achieved the Canadian Tuxedo in combination with the color clashing he would have spontaneously combusted or something.

I agree about the orange/red combo though. I'm going to try to find a 1" threaded carbon fork to use instead if I can't talk her into switching back to the red fork.
Might try out this Nashbar fork if they switch back to 20% off.

reducedfatoreo

Lovely frames! How'd the winter project turn out?

I've got a quick question: I'm just south of you here in NYC, and I just got a lovely '85 SR900 from my father-in-law, who no longer rides. The front derailleur boss snapped right at the threads in transit, and I've been looking for a replacement boss. I'm fixing this one up to be my commuter, so if you upgraded your down tube shifters and no longer need the bosses, let me know, I'd love to buy them from you!

Let us know how the rest of the project went. I'm really eager to hear if you got the Nashbar carbon fork...that might be a really good idea on these old rides.

javal

great score! Cannondale frames are quite distinguished. They seem identical, is that right?

Homebrew01

Can you post a picture so we can see which version they are ?

I think he will need them no matter what, either for shiftlevers, or as bosses for cable stops if using integrated shifters as I'm doing.

reducedfatoreo

Here's a quick shot:



I'll get a more comprehensive photo gallery together in a separate thread early next week if you need different angles.

bradtx

reducedfatoreo, Can a shifter or a housing stop fit over the stud, maybe with some file work and can a screw be threaded into the stud? If so, and the stud isn't loose, it should still be useable.

Brad

wrk101

+100 Screw extractor of the proper size.

4Rings6Stars

The red frame is still sitting in my apartment with the bolt stuck in it. Extractor screw is the plan but that project is far down in the queue. I will likely just sell the frame as-is at some point. The ugly green frame is now beautiful and purple and is my girlfriend's ride. Repainted and built up with 8s Tricolor/RSX mix and added a carbon/titanium Serotta fork. I'll update with a pic later but don't have any recent pics uploaded.

@reducedfatoreo - I'm not sure what you can do... some of the years have shifter bosses that mount on a threaded rod (part number A095A which I believe is out of production) and some are riveted. Yours appear to be riveted. I bet you could carefully remove the riveted bosses and adapt the threaded one to fit if you could find one.

I bet you could make these work, but might take some creativity. https://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-...-AL-FRAME.html

Homebrew01

That's what I was thinking too. Is the riveted boss threaded all the way through ? If so, the good boss could be used as an anchor to use the replaceable boss on the broken side.

reducedfatoreo

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've started a new thread here, so as not to hijack. @Homebrew01, it looks like it is threaded all the way through, so hopefully that'll work!