tastewar

I have a 1986 Cannondale SR500 which is almost completely original (bike is currently 3rd hand, so not 100% sure about all parts. Labels have worn off some, so hard to know for sure without a lot more expertise than I have. But mostly, I am not interested in being precious about it. Current plan is to remove all the parts, strip and re-paint the frame and fork, then build it back up. Still intend for it to be a "road" bike, so nothing too drastic there.

So my questions are:

1. What are the biggest limitations? The biggest one I can think of is the rear wheel spacing of 126 mm. I am not interested in trying to squeeze in anything bigger.
2. What are some good opportunities?
3. What would you do?

I am willing to put some $$ into this (in terms of parts), but will be looking mostly on eBay and Craigslist for parts. Seems like a 1x geartrain is unlikely, but curious whether anyone has tried such a thing on a similar bike. According to Sheldon, it's possible to do 8 of 9 or 9 of 10 in 126 mm. Worth doing, or stick with 2 chainrings + FD?

Thanks for any ideas! :-)

wheelreason

Your time, your bike your money, but why?!...

KerryIrons

I can't se why you are proposing to do this. This bike is for riding, so ride it and replace the parts that wear out. When that happens you can work out whether a given "upgrade" for the worn out part is worth it. Except for sentimental reasons, your proposal does not make sense.

cb400bill

Thread moved from General to C&V.

staehpj1

That is about what I thought. I'd just clean it up, replace any worn parts, and ride it.

rccardr 

You can put any modern component group on that frame but tire choice will be limited to 25’s.
You are intentionally making it more difficult by limiting options to 126mm when a 130 rear wheel slides in very easily but hey, it’s your ride.
A 7 speed HG freehub rear wheel can accept 8 of 9 or 9 of 10 that can be shifted with a 9 or 10 speed shifter, respectively.
Other than that, the world’s yer oyster.

PhilFo 

Make sure the frame isn't corroded. I saw numerous old Cannondales come into the shop with a little paint bubble in the chainstays or bottom bracket weld. A fingernail would go through the paint, corroded aluminum would present itself, and if the corrosion was bad enough, we'd have to tell the customer not to ride the bike. Road salt and old 'Dales do not play well together.

BTinNYC 

The 126 mm rear is not a limitation (this is steel, yes?).

I see your only limit to upgrades being no disc brakes. Which leads to no carbon fiber wheels (for me). Pretty small potatoes as limitations.

tastewar

I know this won't appease the "why" crowd, but part of it is boredom, part of it is that it's a project I can work on with my son, and hopefully some direct involvement with it will re-spark some dormant interest in cycling. No guarantee there, but it should be a fun project.

There's no obvious paint issue that would suggest corrosion, but hopefully stripping the paint would reveal anything troubling. What does corrosion on an aluminum bike frame look like?

Homebrew01

Aluminum. It's no big deal to spread the dropouts 4mm to be able to use 130mm gearing options. I run Campy 10 on the same frame.

KCT1986

No, Cannondales are aluminum in that era, all of them. The oval stays can't really be cold-set. Squeezing in a wider OLD wheel is possible.

cyccommute 

Cannondales of all eras are aluminum. It’s their thing.

Chuck M 

There is little you can do to appease the why crowd here or anywhere on the internet for that matter. But painting a bike sucks IMHO unless you are going to have it professionally done. And I am speaking as someone that has done bike projects that would make the why crowd lose sleep at night. Unless the paint is go godawful ugly you can't stand looking at it, I would leave it. Good luck with your project and I hope you and your son do enjoy it and it stokes the fire for another one.

KCT1986

KCT1986

Another option would be to respace a hub to 126mm OLD to open up more possibilities. Could be a good learning/teaching experience and project.

10-speeds on a 126mm hub SUCCESS - Bike Forums

I run my 1986 CDale with a hub respaced to 127mm and 9 speed Shimano brifter drivetrain.

Classtime 

We need to see pictures of this Cannondale.
I don't understand going 1X but Go for it. Maybe that excites your son? Then for sure do it. I have a very lightly ridden 1986 Cannondale with the original 126 spaced rear wheel that measures 130 between the rear dropouts so if you haven't measured yours yet, you should.

tastewar

If you tell me what it is exactly you want pictures of, I could. But seriously, it looks quite a bit like the SR500 in the catalog. Different saddle, different pedals, different cable housing, different brake hoods, but same color. I will measure the rear dropout spacing before making any decisions! Thanks for the note on that.

Bianchigirll 

No pics? Do you have experience painting cars or bicycles? I tried it once when I was in the Marines and I'll never do it again. I believe in last few decades most bicycles have been painted with a type of eletorstatic painting (or did I just accidentally descrio powderciating) and the finish is both quite thin and very durable. Unless you can bake the finish on and have a dust free place to do so you may not like the results.

Persoanlly I don't understand the who 1x10, 1x11, drivetrain because it seems to me you are starting introduce lots of sideplay to the chain causing more wear. Been a long time since I rode in that area but I don't recall too many hills that a goold on 2x6 or 7 drivetrain can't conquer especially with a 39t up front. Heck even down the Blue Hills you'd be OK with the stock drivetrain.

So just what components are on this bike? Suntour Cyclone derailleurs, SR cranks and DiaCompe brakes or is it the shipmano 105 group? IMHO that's good Journeymans gear and no reason to ditch it unless it's worn out or broken

How about a few pics eh?
Is it like this? Found this cruising the interwebs nice blue with 105

Classtime 

I just wanted pictures so I could suggest with more confidence that it doesn’t need refinishing.😉

tastewar

It doesn't really need painting, but my son works in a shop that has professional spray equipment, and he enjoys painting. So... won't be a rattle can finish. Will it be *as good as* the factory finish? Perhaps not, but that's OK. Components are almost all Shimano 600. Probably nothing needs replacing, and probably a good clean and lube would get it running quite well, but it might be nice to move away from downtube shifters, for instance.

One other question. The Shimano 600 headset that's on it (very similar to the photo here) I've always had to hand tighten quite frequently. It looks like it's not intended for a wrench. And advice on how to better tighten it?

KCT1986

Shimano had a special wrench for those. Think this is the right one. Don't know who else made something similar.

BTinNYC 

Hah! My motto remains "Often mistaken, never in doubt"

Bianchigirll 

"Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis" Tom Magliozzi (Unencumbered by the thought process)

Bianchigirll 

Frequently tightening it means there is something wrong with it or your doing something wrong when adjusting it.

If you're really careful you sould be able to use a standard 32mm headset wrench on the bottom and large adjustable on the locknut, but the correct wrenches are much better.

Bianchigirll 

OH that's where that wrench came from. I have or at least had the #7 and I think the actual allen is long gone but I still have the cheater sleeve. This is for the vaunted DA stem then?