I have to remember at how much of a visual paradigm shift the original '83 Cannondale models were, on top of being aluminum. But "butt ugly"??? Nah, that's too much. But magazines gotta do some hot takes to keep the readership. And for all of the lack of tradition, Cannondale kept the horizontal and near-horizontal traditional diamond frame look the longest of the major brands in road racing.

Those early bikes did have some pretty bowed tubes, even my '91 SR. Kind of a bike "yikes" from a QC and brand reputation standpoint, but the hyper highlight blue looked epic.