knoregs

Last spring while working on a Saturday morning making a delivery in a residential area, I saw a lady setting up a yard sale. I asked her if she had any bikes and she showed my a kids bike. I wasn't interested and was about to leave when a man came out and pointed to the corner of his garage. I saw a few bikes hanging from hooks in the ceiling so I asked which one? He said the Cannondale so I moved a little closer and saw it hanging there by its rear wheel. No front wheel, no seat post or saddle, no pedals. But I did see the Superbe Pro cranks so I asked how much? He said $40. Hmmm... 'Do you have the other parts?' I asked. He scrounged around for awhile and sure enough he came up with the other parts and even threw in a Ti rail Flite saddle. We ended up agreeing on $29 because that's all the cash I had on me. (Wasn't planning on garage sailing)

So it's been in the basement since. But with all the Cannondale related posts in the last month or so I've been inspired to build it up.

Here is the catalog pic...


And a few of mine completely torn apart sitting in basement...


The only thing not original is the seat. The catalog lists the saddle as a leather Vetta racing. I have a Turbo from the late 80's I'll use. The chain and tires are FUBAR. The catalog lists the tires as Panaracer Tri-Sport 25c so I'll use Panaracer Pasela 700x25c. A new SRAM chain, white bar wrap and cables and she'll be ready to ride.

Should have less than $100 into it by time she's done.

~kn

pumpguy

Sounds great. All I can see though, is red X's.

knoregs

Geesh... let me try the pics on another site.

canopus 

I hate not having good garage sales in my area...Congrats....and... you make me sick.

noglider 

Wow.

knoregs

Forgot to mention the pedals, they aren't original either. Catalog shows 'em as Cyclone. Think I'll keep my eyes open for some old Look type pedals. In the meantime I'll put my spare set of Speedplays on.

~kn

knoregs

That's the only time I ever had luck at a garage sale and it was completely a freak occurrence.

Was checking out your '85 Flickr photos... Very nice! Original paint?

~kn

matt0ne

Dude! Holy Crap - Black calipers and levers: sexy stuff!!

rat fink

Sweet find! Is that a Faggin I see in the background? I can hook you up with some Look pedals and cleats. PM me, if interested.

knoregs

Yup... Sure is. It's a little beat by I have plans for it. Left chainstay has a little knock in it. Had a stuck stem that I had to cut off. Melted the frozen part right out of the fork steerer. I was thinking of painting it pink and calling it the Pink ***.

Sounds good.

~kn

knoregs

My tires showed up this weekend and I had a few hours to spare so I got a little done on the '85 Cdale. New grade 25 bearings in the BB and Headset. Mounted the crankset, stem, bars, calipers, levers, derailleurs, and ran the brake cables. Swapped out the 85mm Cinelli 1A stem with the same in 140mm.

Did all this while standing in a river which was running through my basement. Our spring thaw has started.

Here's how it sits in the stand until I can find a few more hours of time to finish up.

canopus 

Yep, both of them are original paint. I have no idea what happened to the '84's decals though..

HPSFroadrunner

Original paint on the R600 (?) in the background? The purple/black fade one. If so, what year was that. I really like it.

knoregs

Yup the paint on the purple one is original, a '92. Shimano 105 stuff mostly. The frame is a little bent. I was hit by an old guy in a Cadillac while riding that one.

~kn

RFC

Looking forward to seeing the complete restoration. Congrats.

knoregs

Just an update pic. Ignore that funky loop of brake housing on the rear der. I didn't have any derailleur cable housing. I didn't wrap the bars yet because I'm undecided on the long stem. I may need to put the shorter one back on. This is just your typical 'the frame is too small for me, let's try and make it work' routine.

So I'll take it for a ride tomorrow and see if I can make this thing work or not.



~kn

rccardr 

Those bikes were designed to use brake cable housing on the RD. Just cut it shorter.

thorpej

knoregs- that is a sweet bike. A little over a year ago I picked up an SR500 frame + fork on eBay (for around $250) and used it as a project bike to work on with my kids (then 3 and 5). The frame was nearly flawless. The bike looks practically brand new.

Those bikes are a joy to ride. Here's mine - it turned out great. Since these photos were taken, I've since swapped on some closer-to-appropriate-vintage Dura Ace for the drive train (front and rear derailleurs, crank, and BB).

https://66.147.244.179/~vintagm8/node/690

Chris_in_Miami

That's a gorgeous Cannondale thorpej, great job!

kralizec

that frame is sooo small. but I love that color. I wish my touring bike was that color instead of this damned GAUDY RED.