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Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff 2010 for commuting - review

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Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff 2010 for commuting - review

Old 01-16-11, 11:20 PM
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fork tip has threads , as does the fork crown ,

a set of Esge chromoplast fenders are a cinch to mount.

Suspension seatpost would be a good addition..

Odd that Cannondale exports EU stuff thats nicer equipped
than they sell at home.

saying we, not serious cyclists, are not worthy..

Last edited by fietsbob; 01-18-11 at 07:42 PM.
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Old 01-16-11, 11:28 PM
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that's a nice looking bike. The prices I saw online are about what we pay for the hub in the U.S.
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Old 01-17-11, 10:30 AM
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Great build.

I have a question on your front fork. Is it built to handle curb drops and the like or is it more suitable for small bumps/grooves of the road?

I have a rough urban commute that makes me go through parking lots and some curb drops and would consider that model if the fork was built for that abuse.
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Old 01-18-11, 01:28 PM
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I can´t report my experience with it yet but the front fork looks quite tough and I am sure would not be out of place on a real mountain bike. I think the wheels (maybe even the skewers- I have bent them before on other bikes hammering over kerbs) would be the week link if you started some real kerb jumping as 28 inch hybrid wheels don´t usually stand up to this as well as 26 inch MTB wheels.
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Old 01-18-11, 01:44 PM
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nice bike royalflash. i tried to buy a cannondale "street rohloff" in 2005 but it was only available in europe.
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Old 01-18-11, 05:53 PM
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Beautiful bike. If I ever get to the Continent I'm getting this bike: https://www.quitmann-ms.de/eng/big_apple.html Standard w/a Rohloff, Schwalbe Big Apples, Brooks saddle, etc. Will take over an old Schwinn in a box and come back w/one of these.
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Old 01-19-11, 09:31 AM
  #32  
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I rode the bike for the first time properly today (not far though yet-just commuted to work). A nice ride and it felt quite fast. The bike feels quite long compared to riding a 26 inch wheel bike (if you have to carry our bike up narrow stairs every day this might be important to you) and not quite as sure footed when manouvering over obstacles, e.g. kerbs, since the tyres are quite narrow compared to those on my other 26 inch wheeled bikes.

The brake performance was adequate but I would not say that they are the most powerful disc brakes I have used. Maybe they will improve as the pads bed in. More important for me with disc brakes though is reliability. So we will see how they perform in the longer haul.

The twist grip gear change was not quite as good as I expected as with one twist you can only change about three gears at once. So you need to do quit a bit of twisting sometimes to slow down particularly. Also it would have been nice if the gear numbers had been highlighed a bit more on the grip in a different coulour as unless you are cycling in bright sunlight you can't tell what gear you are in. And with the Rohloff of course you cannot even look down at the cassette for a clue.

There was some Rohloff whirring noise in the lower gears as has also been reported elsewhere.

I put another SKS clip-on type mudguard (fender) on the front. I found that they do an adapter that zip ties onto the fork specifically for use with Cannondale forks due to the lack of a recess in the fork crown. I might try a set of real mudguards later but these will be Ok for start.

One thing I forgot to mention before is that the handlebar if it falls round can hit the top tube. It is a good idea to put some tape on as protection here.

It really needs a Schmidt hub dynamo and maybe a carrier and it would the ultimate non-snow/ice commuter I would say.

Anyway I will keep you updated. Happy commuting.
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Old 01-19-11, 10:16 AM
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The power of disk brakes does indeed increase once the pads wear in after a few dozen stops. Disks are particularly sensitive to proper setup as well, and since there were a few other issues with setup of the bike (I still don't understand why you had to do it yourself if it was purchased from a shop and not online) I'd double check that if you still find the performance lacking in a few days.

With regards to the gear indicator, don't worry about it. Once you're familiar with the bike, you'll gain a sense of where you are in the gear range at any given time.
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Old 01-19-11, 10:56 AM
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i bought it from a bike shop in the UK online and had it delivered to Germany. Hence the need for some self-assembly. But it is no big deal. I like to work on my bikes myself. The disk brakes are already improving on the journey back home.
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Old 01-19-11, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by royalflash
i bought it from a bike shop in the UK online and had it delivered to Germany. Hence the need for some self-assembly. But it is no big deal. I like to work on my bikes myself. The disk brakes are already improving on the journey back home.
Gotcha. One of the best things about bikes is how user-serviceable they are. You won't regret becoming more and more self reliant.
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Old 01-19-11, 10:29 PM
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Originally Posted by royalflash
i bought it from a bike shop in the UK online and had it delivered to Germany. Hence the need for some self-assembly. But it is no big deal. I like to work on my bikes myself. The disk brakes are already improving on the journey back home.
Go here for detailed instructions on adjusting the alignment of your disc brake calipers:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...isc-adjustment

Scroll down halfway to where it says "The procedure for Avid® mechanical caliper pad alignment is as follows".

It's simple to do, really. Undo the cable, slightly loosen the caliper mounting bolts (enough so the caliper can wiggle), tighten the pad adjuster so it grips the brake rotor, then retighten the mounting bolts and reattach the cable.

It'll take maybe five minutes per wheel.

Also, if the rotor is a little warped so it goes "zing zing zing" against the pads, just bend it a bit. Look inside the caliper to see which way to bend it.
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Old 01-20-11, 02:43 AM
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One other think I liked was the headshok gadget in the fork - normally I am not a big fan of suspension in commuting bikes as it is usually not needed and just adds a load of weight but when you jump off the kerb onto the street the Headshok gives the feeling of the front wheel landing on a little pillow. You don't feel like you are abusing your wheel so much. Also the Headshok doesn't give any perceptible loss of efficiency normally and can be turned off with the adjuster. So surprisingly good.
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Old 01-21-11, 08:44 AM
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Originally Posted by BarracksSi
Go here for detailed instructions on adjusting the alignment of your disc brake calipers:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...isc-adjustment
thanks for the link but the disc brakes are hydraulic - apart from the caliper position adjustment (which seems Ok at the moment) there is not much you can adjust
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Old 01-21-11, 02:52 PM
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They gave you hydraulics? I had to settle for BB5s when I had mine (although it didn't have the Headshok, either).... I'm jealous.
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Old 01-21-11, 03:33 PM
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Brake's manufacturer should have a PDF online,

If not perhaps the dealer can get a print copy to mail to you.
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Old 01-21-11, 07:27 PM
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If you get tired of those hydraulics, take a look at avid bb7 disc brakes.

You can buy them as cheap as $45 ea here in USA, they work very well, require little maintenance, don't squeal, are mechanically simple. It's hard to find fault with them.
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Old 02-06-11, 05:48 AM
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Here is the latest stage of the the mods (I have mentioned some before):

I have added a Schmidt SON hubdynamo on the front
Pitlocks on the front and back wheels
Busch and Muller Lumotec IQ fly RT LED light on the front attached with the Schmidt edelux holder for oversize bars
A Busch and Muller seculite plus LED rear light (the mounting bracket is a front bracket with some home made modifications)
SKS shockboard mudguards front and back
3m spoke reflectors
inner tubes with longer valves (60mm)
Shimano click pedals
Marathon plus tyres
chinese bell
cateye TL LD 1100 rear battery light (very bright with flashing mode)
cateye front light holder for EL series


With all the snow at the moment and modding I have not really had chance to ride it properly yet. But now I think it is ready for some serious use.

The wiring doesn´t look cosmetically very nice as I don´t have any decent electrical connectors at the moment but I can work on that once the bike is in full working order.

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Old 03-05-11, 07:46 AM
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I have been using the bike a bit more as the weather has been improving- my initial impressions have been confirmed so far - nice fast smooth ride-you really have the feeling of riding a luxury bike- something special . I would really have preferred 26 inch wheels with some more tire clearance particularly for winter but the 28 inch wheels are ok. It feels like you have some advantage at higher speeds but as most of my commute is city I don´t really need higher speeds and would really benefit more from the advantages of 26 inch wheels.

The riding position is good for a commuter not to low or high. The handling is nice and the Rohloff gives quite a smooth and stress free feeling. You can´t always shift under load but can easily shift always with no load on the pedals so it is kind of opposite to a normal derailleur bike in that way. The twist shift is a bit frustrating. I don´t know why they have rigged it so it is opposite to a motorbike throttle. If you are used to a motorbike you will naturally twist down to shift up and vice versa. The Rohloff twist shift works in the opposite direction. So with this and the difficulty in seeing the gear indication numbers on the twist shift it really takes some time to get twisting in the right direction when speeding up or slowing down.

As I bought the bike in the UK the brakes are rigged up the opposite way round to my other bikes bought in Germany which is a bit of a pain (right lever operates the front brake). I not thought of this when I ordered the bike but as I don´t intend to use the bike in real winter conditions it probably won´t cause any problems.

But the real test will come I think when I have to adjust the chain tension using the eccentric bottom bracket which as I have read is bit tricky with these bikes. I will report back when I have done this as to how easy it is.
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Old 03-05-11, 01:08 PM
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FWIW, your local Bike shop should be able to switch the hoses,
and bleed out any air that gets in there in the process,
to Un Moto the Brake lever relationship.
You can also easily switch the 2 cables at the rear shift box.
to reverse the rotation .

I like the spoke reflectors. tire reflex band gets grody-dark from rim Brakes..

Picked up a reflex ring in NL 20 years ago, wish I could find another pair, or so
It laced amongst the spokes , and was also inside of the brake track ..

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Old 03-05-11, 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by royalflash
The bike shop did the initial assembly but I just had to finish off putting the forks the right way round, attaching the handlebar, putting the wheels on and inserting the seat post. Well one out of four isn´t bad unless anyone notices any problems with the seatpost assembly .
Holy crap, that's how bikes come out of the box... except they usually come with the rear wheel installed -- did your shop do *any* assembly at all...?
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Old 03-05-11, 05:39 PM
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I don´t know how they arrive from Cannondale but to be fair the bike was bought mail order so you can´t expect it to be fully assembled.
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Old 07-14-11, 01:17 AM
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6 months later and the bad boy has been used every work day for commuting 22km round trip and so far no issues. No adjustments or anything needed yet.

Great bike
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Old 07-14-11, 06:52 AM
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Not relevant to the review but I would like to say that the Schwalbe Kojaks are great tires for commuting, I've been using them on my Dahon Mu SL Sport for quite some time and even in rainy weather it's a good tire.
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Old 07-14-11, 06:20 PM
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Looks like a great bike. Probably so nice that I wouldn't want to leave it locked up outside where it could potentially be stolen.

How easy is it to remove the rear wheel in case of a puncture?
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Old 07-15-11, 08:43 AM
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How do you like the Head-Shok for commuting? do you leave it locked out?

its taunting me to install some slicks on my old F600 Super Fatty DL.
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