Thanks Wizard, that was a great explanation an what I was trying to say but didn't get in depth with my reply. The Mercier has the old (cheap) roller bearings but the Cannondale has the cup design but both are properly adjusted. I know this because the Cannondale had an irritating squeal to it, almost like the brakes were slightly dragging. It turned out to be the front axle, hence why it was greased and adjusted. Squeal gone, wheel spins for several minutes on the stand and a short ride confirmed it was the axle and proper adjustments have been made.

I will try again with a different seat when the new cassette gets here. Mathematically, the new cassette puts the overall gearing between the two bikes nearly identical. It sure is a trial and error process to get a bike properly set up and that's why I asked for help from this forum. Thanks everyone, but keep the ideas coming.