Early 80's Cannondale.. HELP
 

I used to ride my friends Cannondale road bike in the early to mid 80's. I loved it and it is kind of what started me out. I can't remember the model it was, it's right on the tip of my tongue though. Does any one know any of the models made in the early 80's?

Thanks

They were "SR" followed by a number (400, 600, 800) for their racing models and "ST" followed by the same numbers for their tourers. I think that's pretty accurate. I don't recall them naming models except for the relatively limited "Black Gold" back then.

All SR or ST frames were pretty much the same and they came with steel forks in the early days. Componentry differentiated the models.

I bought a SR 600 frame in 1985 (or pretty close) and put on a 600EX gruppo (cheap b/c Shimano was switching to SIS and friction was at closeout prices and rode with a college club. Still have the frame and most parts but ride other bikes mostly. I always liked my Cannonball and never felt the ride harsh but started college riding after college football and was on the larger size.


:beer:


edit: When I say the frames were the same I meant all of the SR frames were identical and ditto for the ST. Obviously the two styles had different geometry and other features.

I don't think it was an SR or ST. It had a name. Maybe it was an earlier model than I thought.
Thanks

Owned a limited production C'dale in early 80s. They built 150 of them; believe model number was either 1200 or 1500.
It had a small decal on top tube stating: No.6 out of 150 on it. It was in the days of fairly heavy, and ugly, TIG welds and this frameset had all the heavy welds hand-filed down real smooth. Came in only one color, a nice pale metalic-type blue, exept one of the bikes was painted black at buyers request. It was sold as a frameset only.
Built it up nicely with then top-o-the-line components.
Early C'dales were identified by number, with the 400 being the least expensive.
They also produced their first mountain bikes with a strange wheel choice: 26" wheel on the front and a 24" inch wheel on the back. Believe that was only done for one year.
Also we test rode one of the 2 C'dale prototype tandems for 3 months, 2 years before the official unveiling of their tandem. The first couple years, the tandems were sold as road framesets only.

Rudy and Kay/Zonatandem

Cannondale introduced their first bicycle in 1983 and it was known simply as the Cannondale aluminum bicycle. In 1984 it became the Cannondale Sport/Touring bicycle when the Cannondale Mountain bicycle was added to the line.

The model numbers came in 1985, as described by Walter, with the addition of SM prefixes for the mountain bike models. My literature shows an ST400, ST500, SR300, SR500, SR900, SM500 and SM600 for that year. After that, things really started to proliferate.

As Walter states, the frames within any prefix were essentially identical and the differentiation came via the components. Perhaps if you could remember some of the component models, then we could identify the bicycle model.

Mine is a SR600 so I probably bought it in 86 then. I think I have the owner's manual still but haven't searched. Came in a color called "sea-sprite green" which I still think one of the more distinctive bike colors I've seen. Don't think Cdale has used it much, if at all, since the mid80s.

Didn't Cdale actually begin as a camping supply mfgr? I have a vague memory of them selling conventional tourers (Japanese imports I'd imagine) in camping ads before they became a bike and (nearly catastrophically) a motorcycle company.

I don't claim total recall here at all and could be way off.


:beer:

Walter, I'm glad you mentioned the Sea Sprite Green colour, because that is what is in the 1985 catalogue for the SR500. It prompted a revisit and a little closer reading indicates that the SR600 was the tubular wheelset version of the SR500. It used Mavic GP4 rims and Wolber Neo Pro tires in place of the Ambrosio Elite rims and Panaracer Tri-Sport tires on the SR500. The tubular option added $30 to the price. The other colour option for that year was plum.

Cannondale's operations started in 1971 out the converted Cannondale train station in Connecticut. Reportedly, founder Joe Montgomery did not have the money for a new sign, so he chose the train station name for his company. The first product was the Bugger bicycle trailer which was originally meant to carry camping gear, groceries and the like. It eventually morphed into a child carrier, at which point I'm suprised they did not change the name! They diversed into bicycle related camping gear such as panniers and sleeping bags prior to manufacturing their aluminum frames. I'm not aware of them having distributed Japanese bicycles, but you may well be right. Your recall seems pretty good to me!

So maybe it was 85 then. I thought it was as I graduated from undergrad in 87 and had gotten married in 86 and was pretty sure the bike predated marriage. (My then girlfriend/now wife was in the same club and she confirms.)

I bought it f/f only. Cdales were pretty good deals. $250 I think was the price and it gave you a frame with which you could build up a 21-22# bike w/o going with real light wheels and wouldn't flex either. Good thing for me back then.


:beer:

If you search for "Vintage Cannondale Catalogs" you will find a great resource for trying to identify your old Cannondale. They have catalogs for nearly all the years and you can deduce your model.