imprezaman

I am 16, so buying an expensive bike is hard so no its not a $4,000 dollar bike, but its still a Cannondale!!and its handmade in the U.S.A!! F300 hardtail, its nice!! I can't wait! This saturday I finally get it, I have been waiting for a long time. When I get it, I will post a pic. Anyway, its $529, and thats a bit much for me, but I need the bike so, there you go. I know you guys spend a lot more and go for like Rockhoppers, and Gary Fishers, and Cannondale Jeykls, but you see its my first real mtb. bike, and so I have to start small.

skiahh

Good for you, imprezaman! You'll get to that $4K bike if you want it someday, so in the meantime, enjoy your new C'dale.

a2psyklnut

Dude, congrats on the new bike! The F300 is a great bike. Sure, you pay a bit more for the Cannondale frame, but they spend a little more time building it, so as far as I'm concerned it's worth it. Plus, the frame is the heart of ANY bike, you can always upgrade components as they break.

BTW, Cannondale welds their frames THEN heat treats the entire frame making the welds stronger. Very few manuf. do this (if any).

A lot of people like to bash Cannondale's, but just ignore them. They're just jealous! Cannondales are great bikes.

L8R

Zin

Dude, thats a lot of money for me too! I'm a 30 something father of 5! Finding 500bux for a bike takes a bit of doing for me too! My first real MTB was a used bike, so your a step ahead of me...

Don't worry about what anyone else thinks of your new ride. Just ENJOY the heck out of it. The price tag does not increase your enjoyment of it.

Now, get out there & have a blast!

bentrim

Just went to Cannondale's website to take a peek. Nice! Looks like it will fly over a technical single-track.

I like the new, "all-mountain" category; a bike that's designed to go up as well as down a mountain like an XC, but can take rough stuff.

Thinking about eventually converting my Cove freeride hard-tail to more of an all-mountain so it's lighter.

As for it NOT being a $4000. At over $500, it's still a serious set of wheels. I would probably take it over a similarly spec'd Rockhopper -- and I'm a Specialized kinda guy! Besides, unless you compete, or really hardcore, not many people really NEED a $4000 bike. It would be nice though to have if I won a lottery...

Get a Kryptonite lock, AND a cable lock (to secure the quick release stuff) for it.

Dannihilator

Congrats on the bike, but I have a hard time accepting them after seeing the one my friend was riding break on impact. This friend is nolonger with us, took his own life this past Febuary due to his injuries, but the bike he was on was a Gemini, and he was dropping a 20' drop to flat. This was his first time screwing that drop up, he always nailed it with his bike before the gemini, was a brand new bike as a matter of fact.

bentrim

Always sad to see someone go before their time especially if they're a good friend...

As far as Cannondale goes. To be fair, yes, they do have their detractors (as well as fans) but I don't think they have any more or any less official product recalls than any other well-known manufacturer according to this site: https://www.bikehighway.com/recalls.htm

However, sadly the Gemini is listed as a recalled bike and this is certainly too little too late for the friend you lost.

But as the recall lists shows, few major bike manufacturer are immune to recalls. Faulty products can occur anywhere, any time.

As an example, I've heard Specialized bashing too at review sites like Epinions (hardly an objective source). Somethings are true, like the link pivots coming loose on the Stumpjumper FSR's. It's happened to me within two months of riding it from new -- although there's no comparing this to the tragedy of your good friend. But I still enjoy my SJ so I think the lesson is anything can go wrong in an inherently dangerous sport, and nothing is infallible.

Our best defense is to remain vigilant and to let our community know about product failures in the most objective manner possible.

a2psyklnut

Not just defending Cannondale or Specialized, but all manufacturers. Regular maintenance by the bike owners would probably eliminate about 50% of the warranty or recall issues. I've got an Intense Uzzi, the MSRP on the frame alone is $1,750. Guess what? I still go through before each ride and tighten up all my suspension pivot bolts. Why? One ride I snapped my main pivot bolt. Another ride, the rear end felt loose, I looked down to see the rear pivot almost all the way out. These are mechanical products, they require some care and attention.

Now, the other 50% of warranties and recalls are due to people using these bike outside their intended purpose. If you are riding a lightweight XC hardtail, don't use it for urban assault where you're dropping 4' loading docks to flat. If you do fine, but don't put in for a warranty claim when you snap your frame.

As far as your friend dropping 20'. I imagine ANY bike eventually failing after repeated drops like this. Also, there is a pretty good margin of error in hitting a drop like this. Sure it was a new bike. Maybe that had something to do with your buddy crashing. Maybe he wasn't as comfortable on the new bike as his old one he'd done repeatedly. It's hard to tell after the fact and pure speculation. I've seen plenty of bikes from every manufacturer have problems not just related to warranty but mostly from mis-use. Case a 10' gap on any bike and you'll snap the front end off.

The Cannondale F300 is a good entry level hardtail. It will provide years of good use as long as you maintain it regularly. Just be responsible for your own actions. Realize, this isn't a Dirt Jump bike, or an urban assault weapon.

Good Luck.
L8R

Hamburgler

congrats on the new c'dale.
to the other person...
sorry to hear about your friend, but can you really blame the bike? 20 feet to flat should not be done period, that is abusing the bike and one should expect things to go wrong.

imprezaman

Sorry to hear about your friend, but I won't be doing any drop offs like that...I can assure you, I just got into Mtb. So all I know is that I like it, I have a lot to learn. Anyway, I am glad its a good bike cause I wasn't sure yet...thanks dudes.

Portis

Whereas, I can see how you could have a negative association with Cannondale, I don't see where it is an appropriate response to a 16 year old that has just invested conceivably a large percentage of his income on a new bike.

You should be very happy with your new bike. It sounds really cool. I am 34 years old and don't have as nice of a bike. Enjoy it. Be safe and make good choices and you will enjoy your bike for many years to come.

imprezaman

Well I got it...went for my first ride, and I have to say that it was definetly worth it, I thought I was going to take it easy, but once I got on the trails, and hit the first downhill, that all went out the window, anyway the bike has great balance, I was going up stuff I couldn't go up before! The bike really does make a difference...its amazing.

Dannihilator

Just the Gemini I have bad relations with, the rest I hold nothing against.

bentrim

...But thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention since we now have learned that the Gemini is a recalled model.

Imprezaman, congratulations. Hope you can give a more detailed review down the road...

imprezaman

Sorry about the undetailed info, hows this...
The balance of the bike is great, the trails this time of year are really torn up from the hunters, and so it makes it hard. There is one spot where It was a very steep incline with ruts, with my old bike (the Sherpa), I lost balance, and couldn't climb the hill, but the c'dale was much easier to stay on, and I flew right up it. Probably a combination of new tires for better grip, and a much lighter bike. Most of the downhill spots are very rocky, with large size rocks the size of your fist! Plus they are sharp, so it really is bumpy on your bike. I was suprised becuase its a hardtail, and so I assumed it would still be bumpy, but it seems that most of the hit is in the front, and I was able to come down faster than I usually can. Hope that will clear it up for you...

KleinMp99

Just went to the cannondale site to check out the bike. I think its increadibly stupid how they have their top of the line jekyll to their lowest end hardtail IN THE SAME CATEGORY!

bentrim

I think the whole idea is to categorize them by intended use (XC, Freeride, downhill, All Mountain) and then subcategorize them (full suspension/hardtail, descending MSRP price,...).

Many bike companies do that. Even Specialized breaks their MTB's down between "Competition" (XC), and "Recreational" (Freeride) and then breaks it down further by high-end (e.g. S-Works) to budget-end (Rockhopper).

Haven't seen many manufacturer sites that categorize their bikes by price.

bentrim

Very nice. It looks like it has a nice assortment of brand name parts...Mavic wheels; always a bonus!

But why Cannondale couldn't throw in some Avid V brakes (which cost next to nothing) over their house brand is beyond me?

djbowen1

20' drop onto what? not flat ground?

Maelstrom 

Thats what it says

bentrim

20' is like a two story structure. That's insane if not foolhearty. I don't know a skilled motorcycle dirtjumper that would do that on a Honda CR 250, let alone a bicycle.

Sure, I would give anyone kudos just for being ballsy enough to try that but my common sense says that there's a fine line between demonstrating high level skills, and doing a plain foolish stunt that belongs on "Max X TV", or "Jack Ass".

Maybe, I'm just getting old...

Maelstrom 

I don't disagree...I watched one kid try a17 footer to semi flat (very hard slight tranny) This was an exceptional rider sponsored by norco and working towards a decent pro career. He landed it, shattered his front wheel while the rebound bucked him up and over the bike. Broke is ankle and his shoulder. Definately balsy, but he won't drop to flat anymore on big drops.

math2p14

If someone is using 6000series alloy then he definately has to heat treat the frame after he welds it, otherwise the frame will break within hours. So this means that Cannondale is not one of a few companies that heat treats frames post-welding. If a company produces 6000series tubed frames which are not heat treated after welding,,,,then you are better off walking...

That said, congratulations for the F300

imprezaman

Is the a Finnish Flag as your Avatar?? I wan't to go to Finland...

rasheed

if you mean math's avitar, if i'm not mistaken that's greece's flag.