According to Google, a 1994 3.0 is a rigid MTB (http://vintagecannondale.com/year/1994/1994.pdf) If he was riding an R300 road bike, I could see people telling him that it was a good road ride---though I bet modern indexed shifters actuated through brifters would be an eye-opener.

Ad for wanting to get a modern road bike and people telling him his 25-year-old MTB is just the same ....

This is like some guy riding in from the fields on a John Deere tractor and you are telling he shouldn't bother to get a car now that he is moving to the suburbs.

Even the R300, while probably valued by the C&V folk .... is not anywhere near as good as a modern road bike.

And if he really does have an R300 (which makes some sense if he is talking about 128-mm spacing) he has a chance to go from a stiff and unforgiving, race-geometry relic to ... well, a new Synapse, or Contend. The difference in comfort and ride quality without having to cram ultra-wide (for the road) tires would be significant.

Stykthyn, it seems a lot of folks here are interested in your old C'dale--I'd list a price and see who Really wants the bike. And I'd say ... if it isn't good enough for them, why would they advise You to ride it?

And if it is good enough for them ... sell it and put the money towards upgrades or save it for tires and cables and chains ... or flowers for the wife ("Look honey ... I got you FLOWERS!!!!!!!!! (and a new bike ...." ))

Pretty much every manufacturer makes nearly identical bikes at whatever price point. A grand buys about the same amount from each of them.

My advice is to visit Trek, Giant, Specialized, and Cannondale websites and see about what they each offer for about what you want to spend. Likely some LBS near you has one or more of the brands. Also, that way if they have a brand that you haven't researched, you will at least be able to judge if the components are in line with the asking price.

Find a bike which Really feels right, or looks right, or is last year's model on sale, or was ridden for 100 miles and returned because That buyer didn't do any research. Test-ride some different bikes and ask about things like "race" versus "endurance" geometry (which you will know about because you visited the websites) so you can get an idea about what styles and sizes suit you best.

If it were me, I would shop online, because I know about what sizes I can ride and can read a geometry chart. You can pretty much always save a couple hundred shopping online---If you are ready to do basic assembly and adjustments. That Nashbar is a sweet deal and I don't recall seeing more bike for the money anywhere (though BD has some decent stuff sometimes) (BikesDirect and Nashbar/Performance Bikes (same owner) are the two big online retailers.)

Something to remember about Nashbar and Perf Bike--- Both will take back any return within a year, for no reason at all. Just box it up and ship it back and you get a full refund less a small restocking fee ... so even if you bought a bike from there and it didn't fit, you could send it back and get the right size for less than an LBS would sell the the same bike.