jamesdak 

Ok, just asking here because this is the forum I spend all my time and the people who's opinion I trust. Mods please don't move.

I've been sorting out the mechanical issues on a Cannondale I bought mainly because it fits the patriotic theme that I like. I'm also doing some silly reduce weight stuff just to get it into the 16 range. So the Ultegra St-6600 on it are a bit sticky and the dust cover is missing on the one. But I also got a set of nice ST-7800 shifters with the bike so I'm going to swap those on. While doing that I also want to swap out the bars and put on new cables and housings. While the bike looked really clean and nicely maintained I've actually been finding a lot of gritty grime deep in the components and such. So now comes the part where I'm looking for suggestions based on looks more than anything. I have some black carbon bars in my size I can use on this or some white Ritchey bars in my size. If I go with the white bars' I'd probably shoot for getting a white stem also. So with those two options in mind I'm considering cable housing and colors. With the way the separate pieces of housing fit and sort of match the bike I'm considering several options. First is the use some existing red jagwire for both the rear brake section and the RD. That's the easy choice. Then up front is where I'm indecisive. I can use the white bars with white wrap and then either some white Jagwire I have or maybe get some blue. I can also stick with black bars and white wrap and then go with black housing, blue housing, or white housing. That's the real dilemma. Or....I can use all white housing over the whole bike as I have that on hand, or I can use all grey like is on there now. So many ways to go with this one. What do you all think?

Without there really being that much true white on this for a red, white, and blue scheme I do want to sort of maximize what white color I can on it.


The full bike as it sits right now.

Red back here is an easy call for me.

This is the trickier one. It seems the blue would be odd with the black bars but might work with the white.

Here again, this is where the front housing ends, white, blue, black...????

jdawginsc 

Blue cables in the back and red in the front. Red or white bar tape...

Or reverse the cable, red in the back, a red saddle; blue cable and blue bar tape in the front.

johnnyace 

As usual for you, that's a great looking bike. I would ride the hell outta that thing. Other than sticking with steel, I'm kind of moving away from the whole C&V thing. Looking forward to receiving my Hampsten in a few months, but I'll retain my '86 Peugeot for practical (such as winter riding) purposes, and my Motobecane GR for vintage/C&V rides and events.

RiddleOfSteel

Beautiful Cannondale--would be fun to find that color scheme in my size if they made it (I'll have to dive through the catalogs again).

I kind of think it's hard to lose whichever way you choose. The patriotic theme on this bike manifests as more of a 'colors in isolation' or 'colors in sections,' at least to me. There isn't a straight fade or color transition situation going on. The front section is blue, but the saddle is blue. The mid section is white, but so is the bar tape, the pedals, and the fork graphic. The red is a large section and seems to handle itself just fine. Black is spotted in the fork, spacers/stem, and seat post. The rims are black with plenty of white graphics/text to break them up in a noticeable and consistent-with-the-theme manner. Somehow that silver-painted crankset (which looks to be a 6750 variant, aka compact) does not detract from the overall composition. I think it's the mediator in all of this, as if it was black, the red/white/blue theme would be stronger, as would the impetus to bring those colors out even further. [Further 2x if the entire groupset was 6800 or something]

With that being said, if you're looking to 'corral' the expression of those colors, then red housings in the back and black or blue (aka something darker) in the front. I like the black spacers and stem as well as the loveliness of carbon bars, so I'd employ the carbon bars with white tape.

If we try and go with the 'color in sections' theme, then white or black cable housing in the back, white or black housing in the front, and carbon bars with white tape like the above suggestion. I think you're close as it is, and again, don't see a way that this looks any less good than it already looks now!

merziac

BLASPHEMER!!!

"other than sticking with steel", don't really need much more than that to keep the flame alive, all about the foundation no matter what you hang on it IMO, it will carry all the water and C+V rider down the road as they have always done.

jamesdak 

Thanks for the input. The other kicker is that if I can find a white Fizik Kurve Chameleon saddle that blue will come off. Where as my Klein has a smooth ride on the chipseal despite being an aluminum frame this one certainly feels a lot more...ummmm.....racier under me out on the road. A little more comfort would go a long way for my old bones, LOL!

John E

As evidenced by my mountain bike (see signature), I am a sucker for red, white, and blue paint jobs (or blue, white, and red, as in your case ). Other than a choice of blue and red under-seat bags, everything other than my frame is black or silver (aluminum, stainless, chrome). Now James has me wondering if I should have red, white, or blue cable housing instead ... . I am not giving up my black Brooks Team Pro saddle. I have seen white cable housing on someone else's KOM-10 (attached photo), and it looked OK, and that would let you "bring out the white" a bit more. As others noted, I don't think there is a "wrong" or "bad" color choice among those being considered.

due ruote 

I guess I am old fashioned, in the sense that I think all the housing should be the same color. I would probably go with black to pick up the spokes.

krakhaus 

I always think bar tape and saddle should match. So in your case a white saddle would look great.

tkamd73 

Awesome looking bike! I think you got enough of the red white and blue, which I like, going on there. If it were mine I’d just do the black saddle, cables, bars and stem, and be done with it. If the red, white, and blue hues don’t exactly match it doesn’t really work anyway.
We all know white bar tape looks good for about 2 descent rides, and then really doesn’t. Just my 2 cents worth.
Tim

Mackers

Purely for looks?

Get rid of that stem and get a -17 degree one

3alarmer 

...I have had one, and only one Cannondale frame (older than that one, and with a steel fork.) The only way I can stand to ride it is with the widest tyres I can fit between the stays, which is 700x28's on mine. Yours is newer, so you might be luckier in that regard.

jamesdak 

LOL, well it does have to be rideable too. Funny how we all see things like that though. For us C&V guys that looks odd. Then you set up a threadless stem level like our beloved quill stems and they give you crap about that too.

Case in point, the Fishlips. Lot's of negative comments about how the stem is setup on this.


Even the builder of this one said it's designed for a stem with a positive rise.

jamesdak 

Normally I think along this line. But, I just found a NOS Fizik test saddle that is blue, red, and white, for $30. Got it coming my way to see how it looks.

jamesdak 

Yeah, I've had some thoughts along this line. It's certainly harsher than the Klein or Schwinn 684 I have. I am wondering if the speed issues with it aren't like what I experienced with both my Madone 5.9 and Scott CR1 Pro. They were certainly light, stiff and capable of being fast. But on the rough chipseal I ride on they just proved slower time and time again than the steel bikes and tended to beat me up on long rides. I'm thinking this Cannondale is so stiff I'm getting the same effect from it. Still, I'm going to give it a chance to prove me wrong.

squirtdad

with that and everything else, I would do white cables......course I kinda like white cables overall.

USAZorro

I may never reach acceptance of an aluminum frame. Not your concern, as we should all ride what suits us. I'll grant that the welding looks better than 99% of the aluminum frames I've seen, so that's a definite plus.

tricky 

I am going to chime in even though I think you're going for something that's more bombastic than I would build, but, you asked, right? I vote for white saddle and white bar tape (or just matching the bar tape and saddle.) I am leaning towards sticking with the grey housing since it will blend in with the components more and let the loudness of the red white and blue come from the more structured, linear components of the frame, bars, and saddle. Black housing works too. Black = all business and that implies speed in my mind. It also matches the black spokes.


TL;DR: Match the saddle and bar tape. Black or grey housing color.

DMC707 

Some of the curmudgeons might not agree, but that bike is hedging closer to C&V territory than you think . ( 27.2 post, 10 speed, alloy wheels with rim brakes, aluminum frame on a high end build , etc ) - plus whether we are from the USA or France, we can get behind a Red, White and Blue build !


I personally like white, although it can be aggravating to take care of --- Id go white seat , tape and housing, and im mostly of a mindset that the post, bars and stem should be roughly the same finish , so if you have the white bars and stem, would make sense to find a white post . PRO (Shimano) made them for a while and may be available

Your patriotic saddle would also look good on the otherwisw white trimmed motif as well

Charliekeet

I say keep the blue seat! Love it and it's less common. Maybe change to white cables, but I think you need the two sections of blue (the seat and the head tube etc.) for balance.

jamesdak 

Well, no final decision yet but getting closer to having to make one. Today the three new Fizik Saddles came in. All are R3 versions and were nicely priced. Question will be which one and can I ride the larger saddles. To be honest though the Arione one seems the same width as what's on there right now. I think the Aliante will tie things in better with the touch of red on the size but I'll come down to if the winder saddles bother me or not. I figured it was worth the gamble since i may be able to move them on if they don't work.





I also put on a brand new set of Look Keo Blade pedals. After a ride today I'll probably swap out the current Vittoria tires for some new Veloflex Corsa Race 700 x25 with latex tubes inside. Then once the Dura Ace 7800 calipers come in I'll have to make my decision since that's when I'll be swapping out the bars, putting on the ST-7800 shifters, and redoing the housing and cables.

jamesdak 

How it looks with the preferred saddle on there. I like the splash of red that helps to tie it together. Now to see how that saddle rides under me.

RiddleOfSteel

Somehow now I think the boldness of that saddle (blue but now with red!) is now demanding the bar tape changes. What color? I don't know. Just something that can match or balance the intensity of the saddle's blue.

jamesdak 

Well......here's how it was pretty much finished up. Partly decided by the fact it's what housing I had on hand. Another part of the decision is that if the large size Fizik don't work for me then I'll go back to a white saddle.

Had a little issue with the real old FD. Not a big deal though as I had a FD-7800 stashed so I just put that on.

The bike is now sitting at 16 lbs 8 ozs as in this picture.


Raining outside so I just grabbed a quick pic inside.

I've also got some 1190 gram tubulars coming in for this.

jamesdak 

Tubular setup is in and on. I do like how it toned down the busy looking bike a bit. Man does this quickly become an illness though. I'm sitting here now thinking that I really do need to swap out the Ultegra RD for the 7800 Dura Ace one and wondering how much more weight would a Dura Ace 7850 save over this one. Must resist the sickness!


Never would have thought I'd have a bike so light.

Doh, Garmin mount is on it. That's another oz added, dang it!

Nicer look now despite still being quite a busy looking beast. Wheels compliment the fork too, especially in the sunlight.