Fitting a frame that shouldn't be....
 

Hi everybody,

I need your guidance on the second part of my restoration (of a bike that doesn't fit perfectly but I love because its so much fun).

I have an R600 cannondale from 99. It is 1 inch + a little in effective top tube length than my normal fit in similar geometry. I have a quill adapter and now have to order a stem. From my fitting, I tend to like a relaxed geometry and tend to never go to my horns vs. grasping the top of the hoods. Can you suggest a stem angle and / or length?

Thanks,

Jordan

Do you have any other bikes you like your fit on to compare?

I matched as close as I could the measurements of my Raleigh I'd been riding for five years when I recently got a '91 Paramount frameset and built it out.

I too got a quill adapter and use a threadless stem instead of the traditional "7" stem. A 17/107 degree stem gave me the flat horizontal stem look of the old "7" styles. If that appeals to you, then consider the headtube angle of your bike when looking at all the different angles they come in. Some only list one angle, but most can be put on upside down.

As for the handlebar height to seat height, It wasn't a big issue as the frame geometry of didn't need a long quill adapter.

The biggest for me was reach. So I just measured from where I sat on my old bike to where I rode on the bars comfortably. Then I looked at what that would be on the new bike and came up with a measurement for what stem length I needed.

Since on my previous bike I had friction shifting on the down tube and safety brake levers, my normal position was on the tops of the bars. knowing my build was going to require me to ride on the hoods or forward drop position to shift and brake, I took the reach of the handlebars into consideration of the stem length too.

If you don't have another bike to compare, then did you like your position of the bike with it's original stem? You can work out stem length from that too.

My Raleigh has a 100mm stem. All my calcs where showing I'd need something in the 70 to 80 mm length for the handlebars I was originally going to get. But a couple handlebar switches with different reaches my stem calc got out of wack and I wound up with a 100mm stem handlebars that my calcs said should require and 80 mm stem.

At first the 20mm extra reach bothered me, but it was just the oddity. No pains or discomfort. 600 miles later I see no need to change it and I ride on the hoods and forward drops with as much comfort as I do on either bike riding on the bar.

Is that 1" longer or 1" shorter? What about top tube height? Head Tube length?

You should be able to find a stem that is about 25mm shorter or longer than what you are currently using. But, as Iride01 mentions, you may also be able to adapt to slightly different positions. Perhaps favoring being stretched out over being too short (don't want the knees to get in the ways of the bars).

You should have a little vertical adjustment with your stem adapter.

Thank you both so much for the guidence, I am gonna try to show you some pics and some further measurement numbers, I have a few bikes to compare it with, problem is they have the relaxed geometry vs. the road bike geometry. I've had this bike for a long time and just can't give up on it, but I don't nessessarily want to dump a huge cash load into it either. I'll post some pics soon, I can't wait to get this quill adapter in so I can know how high the stem can sit, I think getting that in is the first major step. I bought a cheapy set of madspeed 9's wheelset for 200 bucks to get rid of the alexrim's i was running on there, just as a temporary fix. I run mavic kyrsium elite 11's on my bianchi and other high ends, but was thinking too that it may be overkill on this more vintage a bike

Gonna weigh the options. I'm thinking that a conversion to downtube shifters might be a nice change of pace, but then I worry about throwing off what I am used to and getting caught up on something it didn't originally come with. Plus I love the look of these new chrome retro parts, and bought a Deda seat post to match the 105 chrome.

If it came with DT shifter bosses, I don't see any problem with putting them on.

I have several bikes with different shifter types and locations. I inevitably reach in the wrong direction for my first couple of shifts, but then kick myself and it is all fine.