alansupra94

Well I was in the market for a mountain bike to ride around and commute a bit with.

I bought a Cannondale Super V700 for $100.

Got it yesterday. Was pretty dirty.





Here is how I got after I cleaned it up.


There are a few things I could use some advice/opinions on:

1. What exact model is this bike? I know this sounds stupid but I can't seem to find the EXACT year.
2. What kind of front and rear shock is that? I am pretty sure I need to replace the front one soon.
3. Where could I get disc brake setup for it?
4. What kind of bike chain grease should I use? Also what kind of ball bearings are in the back wheel and what kind of grease?
5. What kind of tires do you recommend? I am pretty sure the ones I have are a bit shot.
6. Is there any kind of repair/maintenance manual?

Thanks,
Alan

dminor 

1. Should be a '97. Specs are here: https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B... 700&Type=bike
   Colors listed don't match yours but I found other known '97s on the interwebs that were that color (like THIS one).
2. It's a very stubby Fox Vanilla.
3. No, not without spending way too much time/money.
4. Use a good bike chain lube like Tri-Flow. Automotive chassis grease works just fine. Despite the naysayers . . . and the people who like to buy exhobitantly-priced little foo-foo cans with a vaunted P-name on them. NLGI-1 (as opposed to the thicker, standard 2) is even better.
5. I'll leave that to more knowledgeable commuters.
6. No C'dale specific probably. Zinn and the art of Mountain Bike Maintenance gets recommended often.

alansupra94

Sweet thanks for all the response!

1. I believe it is a 1997 too. I plan on calling up Cannondale to make sure it is the right year before I start replacing parts.
2. I was more concerned with the front shock. The rear one actually looks fine.
3. Ah damn . I figured there might be some bolt on kits for the rear and the front could get replaced if I update the front forks.
4. Will be ordering that off Amazon. I figured I could just use the same grease that goes into the tie-rods on my car but thought I would ask first.
5. Okay I shall wait as well lol.
6. I will look for those books.

Other questions I had after looking of the bike and thinking some more are:

7. What kind of seat do you recommend? Mine has couple tears so I know I will need a new one eventually.
8. What kind of pedals do you recommend? Mine came with some ones that read "animal" on them and were spray painted copper. It was peeling off so I just painted them with some gray spray paint I had in the garage since I was going to be replacing them anyways.
9. Is there anything else I should do right away on the bike?

Dannihilator

Deraillieur cables, that rear one is fraying and the housing, strands are pulling through.

alansupra94

Good eye! I was just ordering stuff on Amazon. Put in an order for this:

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Zinc-S.../dp/B002P7X0QM

Figured I could replace all of the cables one time.

Also:
10. What kind of tires should I get? Is there a special tire that I need or can I basically run any 26" tire?

xjustice09x

You can use any 26" tire as long as its not too wide. I would think that most tires 2.1" wide or less would probably fit.

My mountain bike is from around the same year as yours. With a 2.1 tire fully inflated I have to force the knobs past the brake pads with the brake fully open. Any wider of a tire or a tire with taller knobs may not easily fit.

v4racer

Definitely a 1997 - I have one as well.



If you can find a later model Headshock you can fit a front disc brake - I also have a 2000 Super V 400 and it has disc brake bosses on the fork and the swingarm. That would be the easiest way to go to disc - although if the Headshock needs a rebuild it might be cheaper to convert to a conventional fork.

They are a very nice bike to ride, once you have it set up to your liking I am sure you'll enjoy it.

jimc101

Tires, very area specific, find out what other locals are riding, try your LBS / MTB clubs for suggestions, as xjusticex09x notes your limited by the tire size, 2.1 was big BITD, now it's narrow.

Saddle, personal fit, you may need to try a few to find one you like, some LBS's offer demo saddles

For how too guides for maintenance, check out Park tools https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help, the Zinn books is good, but you can fins most of the stuff on the park site for free.

Pedals - Clipless or flats, & budget, for either long lasting ones aren't cheap, with good flats often more than basic clipless (like Shimano M520's) you may also want to looks at cycling specific shoes, for either flats or clipless.

For the cable you have linked to from Amazon, that's zinc coated, if you ever get the bike wet, or want longevity in the cables, get stainless steel, also, you will need outers.

Merckx fan 0511

I have a 97 super v 900, I find that bikepedia is pretty good for identifying the year by components, but anyways 100 dollars is a pretty good deal. The super v bike has a following and still fetchs a descent price.

georges1

it is a very well made bike, that you can upgrade with better components through time

alansupra94

Thanks for all the help guys.

I am currently looking to find a new front shock and fork since I found out that with an adapter it can accept any 1 1/8" setup. From here, I can get a setup that already has the holes for a brake calipers. For the rear, There are holes already there that I plan to make a bracket for (or if I can find a jekyll rear swing arm and runs a newer 6" travel shock) to run a rear calipers. Then, since I need new tires anyways, I figured I could scope craigslist to find a set of mountain bike wheels with tires that have mounting points for disc brakes.

Was much cheaper and easier to upgrade than I thought. Definitely was worth $100 to have a decent mountain bike.

v4racer

Good stuff Alan.

Lots of good info here for Uber V conversion:

https://tryonbike.com/forum/index.php/board,5.0.html

Leebo

Wow, instant antique. Good luck with pedal bob.

TiBikeGuy

Cannondale has a head tube reducer to enable the fitting of a 1 1/8 headset and forks on their Headshock bikes. But that was back in those days when the are no oversize headset or fork. But now you can get Fox forks in 1.5 in. I have not seen anyone fit a modern Fox fork on a older model Cannondale, but since the Cannondale headtube is also 1.5 in I don't see why it couldn't be done.