deburn

I picked up a 1995 C’dale T400 from CL today for 120.00! It’s in mint condition (to my eyes at least) and much better than the pic in the ad. I’m very excited and feel I got a good deal!

I've attached some pics. Here's what I could make out from looking at the bike (going from rear to front - please forgive and correct my incorrect terminology):

Nimbus EX 700 x 32 tires
There's a sticker on the wheels that says Sun L18
Sovus hubs
Front and Rear der - Shimano RSX 100
The brake pads are Shimano & the thingy that the pads are attached to are Altus SLR
crankset - RSX
Sticker on frame says it's handmade in the US!
Dia Comp brakes
Brevettato handlebar
also Planet Bike fenders, Blackburn rack, Ascent lights

My intention on getting this bike was to have something I could use to ride around town, run errands etc. (probably not a good thing to say on the Touring forum!). I also wanted something I could leave locked outside a store for a couple of hours and not worry that it might get stolen. This bike, to me, looks so good that I think it might get stolen. What do you guys think? I live in Cambridge Mass.

The bike is a little too big for me (I've been riding an old mtn bike around town which was probably small for me, so I think I can live with slightly big for a while esp at this price – and the handlebar (or stem - forgive the wrong terms) sticks out 2 inches which makes it more of a reach.

Any suggestions about how to achieve a less stretched out position and adjust a 58.4cm bike to a 5’10”, 32” inseam guy, without a large expense? My Lemond Buenos Aires is 55 cms – which fits me well (I do know about the importance of fit)

Thanks!!
-db-

Bridgestoned

Looks like a great deal. The Ferrari red just screams, 'take me home!' I wouldn't tempt any takers for a minute.

That single bolt quill stem is going to make stretch ajustments a bit tedious. As in removing handle bar tape and brake levers each time you change the stem out for a shorter/better reach.

You could get a quill stem adapter, which allows for fitting a ahead style stem (of any length, rise and price) to get a shorter reach, without removing the parts on the bar itself. Just need to buy those 2 items, abt $15 - $20 each. Adjusting your saddle forward, but not too much is the other option.

I did the same for my 1994 Cannondale R 900.

wanders

Get a shorter stem with a 10 deg or so rise. Should be less than 25 dollars.

You should feel guilty about the price you paid for that.

big john

I have one of those! It's a great load carrying bike, and great all-around. I put a Nitto stem to raise the bars a few inches.

deburn

Thanks for the replies! Unfortunately I dont understand the terms you're using, specifically

single bolt
quill stem
ahead style stem
rise

I've learned a lot from this forum when I bought my new bike and before buying this bike but I'm still very much a newb so detailed explanations would be appreciated - thanks!!

Thanks! I love the color too

I do feel (a little) guilty about what I paid

Lou627

go to the lbs and ask them for a stem that doesnt go out so far and angles up somewhat. Theyll know what you want. Or for an adjustable stem. Not before you bring the bike to the police dept and wait 3 months for the owner to claim it. Kidding, good find.

kipibenkipod

As other before me said, you should replace the quill to shorter and raised a bit.
If you want to see some images of this part, just search for "quill bicycle" in google images.
As for the bicycle size, touring bike should be bigger then racing bike, so you are in the right track. Just lower the saddle and raise the stem. This will give you upright position.
If you still feel stretched, you can consider replacing the crank arms to shorter ones, but check with others if its a good move, in the aspect of injury.

Kfir

Bridgestoned

[QUOTE=deburn;7164528]Thanks for the replies! Unfortunately I dont understand the terms you're using, specifically

single bolt
quill stem
ahead style stem
rise

I've got a quill adapter and ahead stem on my 1991 Bridgestone MB !.

3 - 4 inches of height adjusment and a high rise stem. Quill diameter is an inch and stem's 1 1/8 inch. Your LBS should show you some examples.

The background while irrelevant, looks good too

Nigeyy

I think the board members should report you for theft at that price...... Congratulations!

Only one word sums this up: SCORE!!!

Nigeyy

Sorry couldn't see the bike in the picture.....

[QUOTE=Bridgestoned;7165738]

staehpj1

If I was your size, I would sell the bike at an obscene profit and buy one that fits. I will add the caveat that I prefer smallish frames though.

That bike is a beauty though.

deburn

Thanks for the explanations and for being patient with me. I think I get it now. I'll take it to the LBS today.

You know this is the first time I can remember that I got a really good deal like this! I dont know why, but I am feeling guilty. I'm sure this isnt a stolen bike and I didnt do anything wrong. I have thought about selling it because of the size but also because I dont think I can leave it locked outside while I'm in a store, which is one of the main reasons I wanted another bike, but I'd feel like an unscrupulous flipper (not those who buy old bikes and put in a lot of labor to make it look good and then sell it for a decent price

I guess I just cant believe my luck! I'm going to take it for a nice long ride once I figure out how to adjust the front fender which got moved while I was getting it home in my car and is now rubbing against the front tire.

Thanks again!

cyccommute 

Quill stem which your bike now has



Adapter to replace the quill stem



Threadless stem



Your quill is has a single pinch bolt under the neck where it clamps the handle bar. This makes changing the handlebar or the stem difficult. To do it, you'll have to unwrap the bars, remove the controls (usually both sides because you don't have enough cable for what comes next), slide the bars out of the stem (sometimes a frustrating puzzle), change the quill, and repeat the above steps in reverse order. It's a time consuming job and not one you want to repeat too often to find a stem length that works for you.

Threadless stems have a face plate with 2 bolts that clamp the bar in place. Like this



Loosen the face bolts, the bar drops out, loosen the stem pinch bolts, remove the stem, install the new stem and put it all back together. An 1 to 2 hour job just became a 5 minute job.

You are stuck with the threaded fork (I wouldn't change it because of the color and the bike) but you don't have to be stuck with the quill. If you need a different length stem, do the conversion. It's worth it.

Lurker1999

I saw that bike on CL and emailed the owner. Unfortunately it's too large for me. I did do some digging around. The owner stated it's a '95 T400. If you go to www.vintagecannondale.com and look at their catalogs there is no such animal as a T400. I went back all the way to '85 and couldn't find a reference to this model.

You can view the '95 catalog here at this link. You can see the only two models offered that year are the T1000 and T700 on pages 35 & 36. Neither of their touring models for that year come in red. However if you keep flipping through the catalog to page 46 you come across the R400 and R300. The R400 comes in "Viper Red" and I think the bike is either a R300 or R400, more likely an R400.

I can't quite match the wheels or hubs to anything in the catalog so I suspect they're not original to the bike. The rest of the components seem to be inline with the R400.

deburn

Thanks a lot for the detailed response and pics! Going to the LBS this afternoon

So what are you saying? That it's a fake? Why would anyone go to so much trouble for a 13 year old bike and then sell it for 120.00?

Lurker1999

I just thought I'd clarify that you may not have bought exactly what you thought you had purchased since I was puzzling over the lack of information about that specific bike myself. I'd be most concerned about fit than the exact model number though. At $120 if it's ready to ride that's a pretty good deal regardless, especially compared to the overpriced junk that usually populates the Boston craigslist bike section.

I'd speculate the original owner forgot what exactly he bought and made an honest error. From the ad it sounded like the bikes he was selling were just taking up space in the garage. Plus who knows when the last time he rode it was? From your photos it's not clear whether the lettering on the top tube is an R or T followed by the numbers 400. That's what makes me think it's an R400. Perhaps you can compare your components to the catalog and see what's original and what's been replaced on the bike.

kipibenkipod

Well,
I went and downloaded the catalog, and looked on the r300 r400, and his bike is not those bikes!
I will explain why.
The rear triangle of the R300 is very narrow (chain stays are short) which you can see from the pictures of the bike that the rear triangle is much bigger, even with the pics he posted.
Another thing was the breaks. In the R300 photo they don't look like cantilevers, they look like a 105 type.

Kfir

deburn

Where would I find the serial #? That would solve the mystery! It does say T 400 on the bike though. I turned the bike upside down (is that the bottom bracket?) and I found 2 alpha numeric rows bisected by the wires from the gears, which seem to cover part of the info, indicated by the large gap below:


GD B 00241

126 4 T5W23

there maybe a 3 before the T, it's not clear

btw I also ended up buying a Trek Mountain Lion 60, 16" 6 speed boy's bike for when my son outgrows his current xmart. He said he paid 200.00 for it new and sold both of them to me for $144.00 which is all the money I had on me.

cyccommute 

BikePedia lists the T400 as a 1995 bike. I've seen the same bike in the same color in a catalog but can't find it any more. There's one in Denver for sale on Craigslist for a whole lot more...$400.

kipibenkipod

I'm looking on 1987 brochure and there is the ST400. It doesn't have cantis, but maybe its a start. Also the 3 before the T seems like S ;-)

Lurker1999

The vintage cannondale site seems to confirm that the OP bought a 1995 Cannondale.

https://www.vintagecannondale.com/info.html

GD = 1995, April

The last sequence is the frame code but there's no index on how to read it. I'm really curious now what this bike is since there are others that have this bike, yet at least in that particular catalog, it doesn't exist in either model number or color.

wrk101

Not sure you can make a 58cm Cannondale fit a 5-10 rider. Your other option is to flip it, pocket the profits, and buy another one more appropriately sized.

Nice find by the way!

Here's a quill stem that I just bought for my 1990 Giant that has a face plate with two bolts like a modern stem (no pinch bolt). Agree, the pinch bolt style quill stems are a major pain....

deburn

The specs on BikePedia that cyccommute found are very similar to what I have. Weird that they would have that data and the catalog would not!

Thanks wrk101. I took it out for my first real ride on it today. This is the first time I'm using downtube shifters (brifters on my 2005 road and grip shifters?? on my 1997 Raleigh mtn bike) and I was amazed at how smoothly the gears shifted. I was on mostly flat roads so I didnt change gears too often but it seemed like you could change multiple gears simultaneously (dump?).

I wasnt able to take it to a LBS today but I lowered the seat as much as I could which didnt help much. The ride seems to be really taut: I could feel every bump and stone on the road. Is this normal? Could the tire pressure be too high? I thought touring bikes were supposed to be more comfortable.

Anyway I am thinking that I should sell the bike...let's see how I feel tomorrow!