Thoughts On This "Abandoned Project Cannondale"?
 

As I've mentioned before, I'm looking for a high school commute bike for my 15 y/o son. He wants drop bars and a fast ride, with the option of fenders and panniers. My budget for the basic bike less accessories is about $200.

Well, Craigslist is turning up very little but the occasional high-priced turds. I have been looking for a older Raleigh, Peugeot, etc but it seems that any ugly but rideable gas pipe ten-speed with turkey levers, stamped dropouts and cottered cranks is going for $200+ while I'm thinking they are worth $100.

So now I am down in the netherworld of other people's abandoned projects. Well, I have a reasonably full parts bin and an excuse to wrench on a bike is always welcome. So, what do you guys and gals think about something like this

Vintage Cannondale Road Bike Project

The things I wonder about are
- I assume cable guides are missing; seems like $3.50 x 3 to Shapeways will fix that, right?
- Paint sounds wrecked, and my budget won't extend to repainting or powder coating; maybe I could strip the frame bare, polish it and rattlecan a clear coat?
- I can't tell if the downtube shifter is missing, or if the mount is missing?

Anything else you see? What would you pay, in a rather expensive market?

The paint around the RD hanger is missing. Does it mean it was bent? I would have a hard time paying more than $75 for it. I just bought a near mint H300 for $100.

For a flip or the stable? I am curious about the shifter/mount thing too. I am not sure when Cdale started building bikes but I don't think the RD is stock.

I would be tempted for $120. OH I could be wrong but I think this way bigger than 56.

http://images.craigslist.org/00S0S_4...46_600x450.jpg

Is there a specific size you're looking for? I'm wandering through the PDX CL right now and see at least a few bikes that meet your criteria.

Option #2 : Look at the SALEM CL. It's far enough away that the "Portland Premium" pricing comes down a bit, but close enough to drive without major hassle.

Hard to tell much from that photo. My gut feel says the sloppy repaint = stolen at some point, cdales do not rust so rarely a reason to repaint them. But to your question, a decent commuter style that will take fenders and rack in rideable condition is often 150-200 bike in normal market, in yours I would say 250+. If those wheels look good and no cracks on frame, the work to be done is fairly minimal. It does look like a 56 to me.

He's got someone looking at it tomorrow so I am second in line, maybe it will get taken or maybe not.

I think it is a 56 cm. I have a '92 Cannondale in 52 cm. The large tubing makes the sizing a bit hard to judge.

The paint on some years of vintage Cannondale was quite fragile, and I've seen them look quite ragged if owned by a sloppy and thoughtless person.

The RD is non-original, I'd guess.

Vintage Cannondales are funny. Three years ago, they didn't get much respect here (Portland), a cosmetically nice and complete/rideable ''80s, pre-brifter, SR- or R- road bike could be picked up for $200 or less. Now they are $100-150 higher.

I'm going to look at what seems to be a cosmetically very nice, complete, and older Schwinn Le Tour, which is being advertised for less than this project Cannondale. It is a better match for the low-end "student bike" that I originally envisioned getting my son. But I know this Cannondale, with suitable upgrades from my parts bin, will be a far quicker, faster, lighter, nicer bike. It could be a bottle rocket.

If you see something that looks interesting, I'd sure appreciate a suggestion or two. I have a hard time w/ CL, my attention span is short and I get frustrated wading through all the junk. Size can be 52 cm to 56 cm, ideally on the larger end of that range. Thanks.

I'll look at the Salem CL too.

The greatest CL discovery I ever made was the "grid" option. Shows the main picture for every ad before I ever click. Speeds things along bigtime.

Here's an older Raleigh. 53cm. Looks like it has some potential, but price may be high. If it's really a Reynolds frame, who knows?
If you want to drive to Redmond, this Nishiki International could be your winner.

[edit] WHOOPSIE. 1987 Sante-equipped Trek 1500 maybe?

^ Raleigh is tiny, Trek is a deal.

I'd say that's a 58, not a 56. And make sure the FD mount is on the frame before you buy, those things are impossible to find.

No readily available eyelets for rack or fenders, but hey, if he wants to go fast...

Curious: What's your take on the Nishiki? Looks like a pretty sweet bike from here.

Redmond is further than I will drive for this sort of bike. I've driven that far for a CL bike, but it was a 61 Bianchi. Also my son wants drop bars, so there would be a bit of extra work.

The Trek looks very interesting. I don't know anything about that model, but it looks speedy.

The Raleigh looks a little small, but a quality machine.

The Nishiki, while practical, looks awfully old manish from a teenager's perspective.

I'm loving the "grid" (gallery) view of CL - thanks for the tip, I never knew about that.

:thumb:

I too hated CL until I discovered that one night by accident.