t.braxt

Thanks. But I guess I should've clarified better. After taking them put, can you reuse them or buy new ones?

bradtx

The original guides/pins are reusable. There maybe some original guides available, but it's a needle in a haystack search. Reproductions available here: cannondale cable guide by eclg on Shapeways . I'm testing a full set on my beater bike and they've survived one crash, so far.

Brad

OldsCOOL

Yup, jiggle the frame around upside down and they drop out.

1989Pre 

Nice choice of paint, Olds! My painter is holding off on painting my frame, too (I am only 1.5 degrees south of you). I love the big downtubes on those Cannondales, and you know how fond I am of aluminum forks.
Does a crit frame have a different geometry than typical road?

brandenjs

Sorry, I had to post another teaser photo. I love this bike. Converted it from the DT shifters to STI's.

OldsCOOL

Yes, but not too drastic. The headtube angle is a bit steeper. I'll need to check the TT length between the SR and Crit but I do know it is 1/2" shorter than the road race Trek 460.

Warmer weather isnt too far off!

OldsCOOL

What can I say? It's menacing and elegant. How much post is left in the tube??

brandenjs

It stilll has about 1 1/2 inches to the minimum insert line. I could probably stand to drop it a little. It is a little menacing on climbs because these frames are so stiff.

OldsCOOL

You ride that hard, I can tell. Mine is going to be built for speed but ya gotta love the Black Lightning image.

noglider 

There's a lot of variation in road racing frame geometries. If I'm not mistaken, there's less among bikes built for criterium racing. Crit bikes are tight and nimble. The first time I tried a crit bike, the handling frightened me!

I'm finishing up a CAAD7 which might be considered a crit bike, the first one I own. Test rides have been promising.

OldsCOOL

This build hopefully will be finished by the end of April. When it's painted I'll let it cure a week or two before adding decals. Cant wait and I'm running out of little things to do.

OldsCOOL

There is a noticeable difference in headtube angles between road race frames and criterium series. You can see the difference in specs when accessing the vintage cannondale site "catalogs" and looking at the '87 frame specs. The difference is enough to give the twitchies for sure.

I hope your CAAD build goes well. Sounds like a fun bike.

shoota 

Boy that's for sure. Even though it's a rough, twitchy ride one has to remember what the bike was built for, crits. I think Cannondale succeeded there

OldsCOOL

When I first got on this '85 Trek with 72deg headtube angle it was an introduction to the twitchies....as is every first ride of the spring. You just dont do quick motions at all until the first few miles. That 's with 72deg angle on a purpose built road racer. The C-Dale Criterium Series I'm building has 74.

noglider 

I finished it on Tuesday and took it for a ride. It was fantastic. I went into a restaurant and locked it up outside, and someone promptly stole it. So I had it for one ride. I think in the future, I'll be much more careful. I was stupid to "feel lucky that day." I must have been high from the ride on a new bike.

I will also build another one like it. I don't know when. I never rode such a great bike. Efficiency was amazing. Comfort was excellent; what's all this about Cannondales being harsh? Maneuverability was unbelievable, and it was not the least bit twitchy.

Here it is, just before I rode it.

bradtx

Once the 2.8 series of Cannondale road race bikes became available, the Cannondale crit specific bike's years became numbered. Why? Well, with all of the geometry juggling, fork rake changes and so on the difference in trail became only .3". The emergence of integrated shifters, better brakes and better tires put less emphasis on the ability to turn very sharply at speed and more so on accelerating out of the turn.

In my experience the difference comes down to that extra .3" of trail of the road race frame provides a bit of warning via a front end push when approaching maximum lean angle for a given speed using equal tires. The crit frame without the extra .3" of trail will turn in slightly faster, but there is little to no warning and one often simply low sides the bike once traction loss becomes imminent.

Brad

bradtx

That is very sad to read, Tom! Fingers crossed in hope of recovery.

Brad

oddjob2

@noglider, Tom, very sad to hear that your C-Dale was stolen. That sucks, especially since you locked it up, cable or unlock? Did this happen in NYC or Hudson Valley?

I feel fortunate, in GP, I just use a very thin cable lock, but rarely away for more than 10 minutes in those cases.

I think the fact that you look to have 28mm tires may soften the ride up. Also, you have a CF fork on it.

OldsCOOL

Ugh. I'm sorry to hear that. That is just terrible.

OldsCOOL

I have one such corner that is way tempting to hit at speeds of 25+mph on a true 15mph country lane with clean fresh blacktop. Last year I dove into it with the neighbor's car on my butt. I think he wanted to watch me. I was shocked how quickly the apex and shoulder wanted to suck me in but I refused, the Tange forks on my Technium PRE dug in hard and my tire skittered quickly before I shot out the other side. My neighbor had a free show that day.

I wont be doing that with the criterium. Not with that nasty little slide characteristic.

noglider 

@oddjob2, it was on the upper west side of Manhattan. Normally, I use a good lock, but I trusted my friend's cable. You know how easy those are to cut. I don't know what I was thinking.

Interesting comments about cornering. So if a bike corners well, does this mean there is less warning when it starts to slip?

bradtx

Very possible that on the crit. bike that the turn would have had no drama from the front end.

In my experience, yes. The turn can be successfully traversed faster on a bike with that .3" less trail, but will give less feedback at the limit. Similar to comparing a Crown Vic to a Mustang on an auto cross course.

Brad

OldsCOOL

I understand that part of it. It's the rider I dont understand yet.

OldsCOOL

The frame was shot with the final primer tonight. Hopefully later this week the color coat will be complete. I hung the frame over top of two electric space heaters to heat the frame and general area to good effect. Outdoors temp was 45F.

OldsCOOL

Paint is complete. Going to let it cure several days and the. Sand off a little booger on the rt seatstay and reshoot. May do some colorsanding later, we'll see. Looking nice.

I'm aiming at the first week of May for the first ride.