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Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff 2010 for commuting - review

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Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff 2010 for commuting - review

Old 01-15-11, 12:37 PM
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Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff 2010 for commuting - review

Background

The Scott sub 10 that I reviewed in a previous thread is getting a bit old and creaky (but is still serviceable). So it was time to get a new commuting bike. I have been thinking of building up a Rohloff bike but since I have never had a Rohloff hub before it would have been a bit tricky to predict exactly what parts I would need. Hence to reduce the headache I went in the end for an off-the-peg solution. The perfect Rohloff/disc brake bike doesn´t seem to exist or at least is not easy to track down but the Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff looks about as close as you can get without remortgaging the house. Evans bike shop (UK) had a sale on (2099 GB pounds) so I finally dug deep and bought one.

I have only had the bike for a week and have been making a few mods and have only cycled the bike round the corner but I though the bike forum members might be interested to see it. I intend to follow up this post with a more in depth review as I use the bike reporting my experience with it.

Specs

Here are the original specs 2010 model (frame size L)

# Bad Boy SI classic headshok Rohloff
# Fork Cannondale Fatty SI Ultra
# Rims Cannnondale C2 black
# Hubs Shimano XT/Rohloff Speedhub
# Spokes DT Swiss black/black
# Tires Schwalbe Kojak Bad Boy Edition 622 x 28
# Pedals Octopus
# Crank Truvativ Stylo 1.1 42T
# BottomBracket Truvative GigaXpipe
# Chain Z610HX black nano finish
# RearCogs Rohloff 16T
# FrontDerailleur No
# RearDerailleur Rohloff Speedhub
# Shifter Rohloff Twister
# Handlebar Cannondale Urban flat handlebar black 31.8
# Stem Cannondale Headshok stealth
# Headset Headshok bearing
# Brakes Auriga Sub - black rotors (edit the rotors don´t look black to me?)
# BrakeLevers Auriga Sub black
# Saddle Fizik Pave black
# Seatpost Cannondale C3/Gorilla Park black chrome 31.6
# Extras Grips: Cannondale "Cityscape" black chrome rings

Mods

The most urgent mod for commuting is the tyres- The Schwalbe Kojak tyres (although light and speedy no doubt) don´t look too solid for commuting and I think would give me a flat on average every two weeks so I put some Marathon plus tyres on. There is not enough clearance for some 28 x 1.5s on the rear so I just put the same size as the originals i.e. 622 x 28.

I also added some Ritchey medium length bar ends for comfort.

and some basic Shimano click pedals to replace the Cannondale Octopus pedals

3M spoke reflectors and Cateye lights.

also an SKS clipon mudguard(fender) to the back. But the front SKS mudguard wouldn´t fit on the front fork as there is no recess in the fork where an SKS mudguard clips on (Cannondale forks seem to have this unusual feature).

an old bottle holder

oh and nearly forgot the big chinese bell- a bit of an eyesore I know but quite handy

First impressions

I have only ridden the bike around the block so far but have noticed

Good points

The Rohloff hub (need I say more)

The bike weighs about 13 kg which is quite good for a large size bike with the Rohloff hub

The bike looks really beautiful in matt black with reflective decals.

The double seat post clamp is genius- with my last bike I had major problems with the seat post slipping and this will not happen with the bad boy.

The handlebar grips with screw clamps are also great as I could mount the bar ends without having to start cutting bits of grip off. I really like that.

Bad points

There is not much clearance at the back frame for a larger tyre- this makes the bike less suitable for winter commuting- this was quite surprising for me after the Scott sub 10 which would fit quite wide tyres even at the back.

The inner tubes only have a short valve stem which is not really long enough. Why didn´t they use the long valve inner tube so I could pump the tube up to full pressure???

The bike looks a bit too nice and may be a thief magnet- in fact I put some tape over the Rohloff logo on the hub to try to give the bike a bit of a lower profile.

The brake line passes quite near to the rear wheel and may not hit it but I have put a cable tie round it to make sure

First impressions-test ride

watch this space










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Last edited by royalflash; 01-16-11 at 01:45 PM.
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Old 01-15-11, 12:37 PM
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and here are the rest of the pictures




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Old 01-15-11, 01:01 PM
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Can you fit a luggage rack and fenders to the frame?
Report of the Cannondale eccentric bottom bracket are mixed. Some people find that it slips or creaks.
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Old 01-15-11, 01:03 PM
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the fork is backwards...
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Old 01-15-11, 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by thirdgenbird
the fork is backwards...
wow how did I miss that - there is indeed something wrong with the fork mounting -was that incredible incompetence on my part or on the part of the bike shop who did the main assembly I am totally confused now

and more to the point how do I fix it?
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Old 01-15-11, 01:50 PM
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loosen the bolt on the top cap, loosen the two bolts on the back of the stem, turn the fork around, snug up the top cap, and tighten the bolts on the stem.

https://bicycletutor.com/adjust-threadless-headset/
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Old 01-15-11, 01:53 PM
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thanks will do and thanks for not calling me an idiot cuz that´s what I feel about now.
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Old 01-15-11, 01:56 PM
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dont worry about it
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Old 01-15-11, 02:52 PM
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Originally Posted by MichaelW
Can you fit a luggage rack and fenders to the frame?
Report of the Cannondale eccentric bottom bracket are mixed. Some people find that it slips or creaks.
I am looking into the fenders at the moment. It seems like the frame is not really bristling with mounting points (there is only one mounting point on the back) so I got a clip on mudguard for the back.

I read about the problems with the eccentric bottom bracket before I bought it and looked into the bottom bracket design. It looked to me like the main problems are difficulties with adjustment mainly freeing the wedges and the creaking. Both problems seem to be potentially solvable so I didn´t let it put me off. But I will let you know how it works out in practice.
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Old 01-15-11, 03:14 PM
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I have a FiftyFifty with that bottom bracket set up. I use a long thin punch to knock the wedge out from the other side after taking the screws out.
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Old 01-15-11, 03:43 PM
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bobdell

thanks for the tip

I also found this which describes another possibility maybe?

https://hobbes.ucsd.edu/tandem/Maintenance.faq
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Old 01-15-11, 04:15 PM
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I've had a R'off hub bike , a Koga WTR, for a number of years, In foul weather
I really appreciate the linear nature of one gear following the other, so I don't
have to figure out which derailleur gear ratio combination is Next..

Schmidt or a Shimano Alfine front hub will give you a disc hub with a generator,
a worthy upgrade, for practical commuting..

LED head and taillights ..

I like trekking bars, with curves and more handgrip options
than straight bars and bar ends,

though people rave about the Ergon integrated Grip/Bar End,
offered in a mixed length kit for grip shifters..

https://www.rohloff.de/en/company/index.html
has the whole manual online, made more useful
since my printed one is in German.

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Old 01-15-11, 05:49 PM
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Originally Posted by thirdgenbird
the fork is backwards...
The handlebars look upside down, too (at least compared to how I would install them).

This is a really neat bike. Not enough Rohloffs being built into major manufacturers' bikes, IMO.
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Old 01-15-11, 06:24 PM
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In picture #2 of the first post it looks like your wheel is only sitting about halfway in the dropout. A bike shop did the assembly?
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Old 01-15-11, 06:32 PM
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OP, I like your bike. Too bad they don't sell the Rohloff version here in the USA.

Your fork is backwards, and the handlebar is probably upside down.

Too bad tire size limited to 28mm. I think this frame was designed to accommodate 26" wheels originally, but i may be wrong.

I still have my 1995 CAAD3 M500 hanging around, as a spare. It's been modified greatly so that the frame and rigid Pepperoni Al fork are the only original parts. I couldn't afford the extra cost of those newfangled suspension forks on the next-step-up F700(?) model, which was $200 more at the time.
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Old 01-16-11, 03:25 AM
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Originally Posted by silver_ghost
In picture #2 of the first post it looks like your wheel is only sitting about halfway in the dropout. A bike shop did the assembly?
The bike shop did the initial assembly but I just had to finish off putting the forks the right way round, attaching the handlebar, putting the wheels on and inserting the seat post. Well one out of four isn´t bad unless anyone notices any problems with the seatpost assembly .
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Old 01-16-11, 03:32 AM
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A Schmidt hub on the front would be the ideal solution. I have Schmidt hub dynamos on the other (two) commuting bikes and it wouldn´t be to difficult to do as the front hub just looks like a normal Shimano XT with the normal 6 bolt rotor attachment. But I might wait a while seeing as how much cash I have just spent.
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Old 01-16-11, 04:13 AM
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Originally Posted by royalflash
The bike looks a bit too nice and may be a thief magnet- in fact I put some tape over the Rohloff logo on the hub to try to give the bike a bit of a lower profile.
Have to admit I really quite like the "stealth" Rohloff look ... Will have to bear that in mind if I ever scrape together enough pennies to get one! Probably only works with a black hub and an all/mostly black frame, but still something to remember!
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Old 01-16-11, 04:27 AM
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more pics

I really appreciate all the helpful replies and nice comments and I have done some more work on bike assembly and taken some more pics so you can see the mounting points for fenders at the front and rear.



to take the rear wheel off you have to undo that knurled knob on the cable box, remove the cable box (bottom of picture) then and unfasten the quick release skewer like a normal wheel. Reattaching the cable box can be a bit fiddly but is not too arduous.On the above picture you can also see the only fender/carrier mounting point (not easy to see at the back of the frame). I don´t know what those screw holes are further forward on the frame.

here is the only fender mounting point on the front.






not much tyre clearance at the back- I tried a 1.5 width and it would definitely not fit.

that lever at the top of the headshock is controls the stiffness of the suspension
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Old 01-16-11, 04:27 AM
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and the last two


a Rohloff hub hides underneath the tape- not a very good disguise for the clever thief as the bike has a few other Rohloff-type clues

here you can see the SKS clip on mudguard. I have one on another bike and they work quite well. Also you can see the Cateye TL-LD1100 rear light. It is very bright and definitely not street legal in Germany.
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Old 01-16-11, 09:35 AM
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From your pics it looks like you should be able to fit a set of full coverage fenders. Seems a shame to have the bullet proof Rohloff hub and disc brakes, but no full coverage fenders for the rainy/slushy days.
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Old 01-16-11, 01:11 PM
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she looks pretty well sorted now
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Old 01-16-11, 01:44 PM
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thanks yes I am liking the direction things are going now. I would not be averse the the idea of getting a set of fenders but it can just be a hassle getting some that fit right. Has anyone fitted fenders to a Cannondale Bad Boy and has recommendations maybe?- a bit of a long shot maybe.
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Old 01-16-11, 02:49 PM
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I definitely think you could fit some fenders in there. I mounted a set of 700x45mm planet bike fenders to an old Trek 520 with less clearance than that.
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Old 01-16-11, 11:07 PM
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top picture in # 19 , threaded pair of holes is for a kickstand, Pletscher makes one that bolts on there.

https://www.pletscher.ch/wDeutsch/pag...ct=17&navid=10

Theres another version, the length adjustment is a pair of screws, attaching the foot end..
rather than using the hacksaw to adjust the length, you can make it longer too.

https://www.pletscher.ch/wDeutsch/pag...ct=18&navid=10

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