Hello, new to cycling and picked up a t700 for $200. It's in great shape except for a quarter - sized rust spot on the fork near the wheel hub. I wanted to just swap out the fork, but I have no clue what specs or materials to look for in a new fork? How do I know what sizes, lengths, etc to look for? Thank you!
https://knowyourbike.com/cannondale/t700/1994

There are a number of things you'd need to know:

• Wheel size. (Yours is almost certainly 700c.)
• Do you need cantilever brake bosses? (Being a touring bike, you probably do have cantilever brakes.)
• Threaded or threadless headset? (Yours is likely threaded.)
• What size headset? This could be either 1" or 1 1/8" for your bike. Bikepedia says the '96 T700 had a 1 1/8" headset, but it doesn't have a listing for the '94. To be absolutely sure, spin off the top locknut and measure the fork's steerer tube diameter.
• How long a steerer tube do you need? This is directly related to your frame size. The fork's steerer tube needs to be long enough to reach all the way up through the frame's head tube and have enough length left over for you to screw on the headset.
• Do you want your replacement fork to have rack mounting attachment points and/or fender eyelets?

If your bike has a 1" threaded headset and your frame is in the 54 cm (21") ballpark, I may have a fork that would be a pretty good match and I'd be willing to ship to a U.S. address. It's from a Cannondale H400 hybrid, but has touring bike characteristics: cantilever brake bosses, rack mounting points, and eyelets. I wouldn't ask much more than the price of shipping. Let me know if you're interested and we can exchange measurements to see if it would be a good fit.

Or if it's just surface rust, dunk it in some Evapo-Rust, apply some touch-up paint, and be done with it for little cost or hassle. (Nail polish & Testors model paint are popular choices for touch-ups.)

Wow, thanks for the info. It is a 60cm frame, so I doubt yours will work. As for the other specs, I'll have to check on those. I'll need to look into what "bosses" and "brake bosses" are. Thank you for your response!

Cantilever brake bosses are posts on the fork that anchor each arm of a cantilever brake (or linear pull "v brake"). Cantilever brakes are commonly found on touring bikes, but not on most other road bikes.

You could also just sand off the rusty spot on the fork and repaint that part of it.

Pix?