Originally Posted by
commo_soulja
Different perceptions for different folks.
Cannondale had a pretty decent xc/downhill team back in the late 90s and the team bikes were pretty lustworthy.
When I worked for Kozmo is Seattle in '99, I worked with a courier who was sponsored by them for DH. She called them "Crack and Fails". I'm sure they fixed whatever the problem was, but that moniker for them always stuck with me because:
Originally Posted by
Zephyr11
When I was in college, before I started biking, Cannondales seemed to be THE bike to have. At least around where I was, they didn't attract a d-bag crowd...they attracted everyone. If you rode a bike, you either had a C-dale or you wanted a C-dale. Of course, I went to college in Pennsylvania, so I'm sure that had something to do with it. Even now, it seems like 3/4 of the people I ride with in Pennsylvania ride C-dales.
Originally Posted by
pablosnazzy
at the time when cannondale was huge and tinker and missy were riding them, many dbags who had the disposable income and wanted to buy into the scene bought cannondales. on more than one occasion, at the time, someone said "oh, you ride bikes? i'll ride with you, i have a cannondale," as if owning the red bike automatically made them tinker or missy. seriously, one guy actually thought since he owned a cannondale i would be awestruck. there are dbags all over, in any hobby or lifestyle. but just like pbr is a "hipster" beer (and i still drink pbr) cannondale is a dbag bike. and just because i say it doesn't make it true, it's just the way i see it. my opinion.
To be clear, I am not saying that anyone who rides a Cannondale is a d-bag. Just that I too, noticed that d-bags in particular seemed drawn to them through some sort of catchet and perceived coolness they had in the late 90's.
...one guy actually thought since he owned a cannondale i would be awestruck...
I've had this experience too. Evidently I dissed Crack and Fails a bit for a time there, because a friend of mine recently picked up one and immediately asked that I not give him a hard time about it!
That said, I lusted after the mono-shock due to its lock-out feature back in the day.
I will say the gloves I and socks I bought from them recently both fell apart in record time. :/