Always things to learn. When the bug bit me about 10 years back, I was so excited to find old bikes, I didn't even concern myself with how they fit me. :lol:

It's the rare Cannondale SR that can fit a 28 mm tire, on rare occasions a 25 mm tire is too large.

Brad

I never liked doing it that way. As replacement wheels are yet to be found at this point, might as well measure and match.

Still, the cheapest solution is a different front derailleur.

My '89 SR2000 (essentially same frame) fit Continental Grand Prix 700x28s with exactly 1mm to spare tire-to-FD-mount and front-tire-to-brake-caliper. Tire to rear brake caliper had 2-3mm. No rubbing or noise, even on out of the saddle sprints. As always, your mileage may vary. You should be fine with a 700x25 or 700x26 tire, IMO. If you live in a bike friendly area, see what the local CL has for used wheels. Hope you find a solution soon, these old Cannondales are a ton of fun.

That. This is a FD more like a braze-on.

Hey, did you guys consider the difficulty of finding a clamp on type that would even fit the large tube? Or am I missing something here?

Go the wheelset and dont mess with a super fine racing bike.

Thanks again to everyone offering advice and imparting knowledge.

In terms of wheelset requirements, I need 700c and it needs to be freewheel compatible, right? Is there anything else I MUST, or should, consider besides the obvious (money, looks, etc)?

Hello,
By 1989, freehub/gear-cassette combos had replaced thread-on freewheel units for the most part. You can find your bike's original spec on the Vintage Cannondale website (check the '89 catalog scan). FWIW, my road-race geometry SR400 can fit some 700*28c tires on its original rims; however, I have not experimented very much. Best of luck!

Yes to 700C, not necessarily to freewheel compatible. You can put any modern era 130 OLD freehub style wheel in there and use a 4.5mm spacer behind a 7 speed cassette. By 1989 most Cannondale SR framesets were 128 spacing anyway, so it's only 1mm of spread- nothing to be concerned about. And used 130 OLD wheelsets are often less expensive and better quality than available freewheel style ones.

I have a copy of the scan thanks to oddjob2, and for my model it looked like it is a Suntour 7 speed freewheel

Yes, I have the same bike with the Suntour freewheel. The components are Edge/Accushift, so you really want to get a "Suntour AP" freewheel here or on eBay for the finicky indexing to work flawlessly. Mine has an AP chain too which has interestingly shaped links. I haven't tried to get a regular 8-speed chain to work, but it probably will.

I'd get black rims.

Funny, I just got 4 NIB Avocet 27 X 7/8 tires from the bike co-op tonight.