Hi Everyone!

I’m new to road biking (I’ve done a lot of mountain biking) and I’m in the process of purchasing a used bike. I’ve been a runner for many years, and I’m tired of healing from my injuries. After many years, I’ve determined that my body type should be riding on something.

I’ve found a used cannondale on Craig’s list, but can’t figure out which cannondale it is so that I can figure out what it is worth. There’s no label on the frame to determine what it is made of exactly, I do know that it is aluminum alloy. I also know that it has ultegra components.

Can anyone give me there best guess as to which Cannondale model this is, and their best guess of the age?

If you know any this else about it, it would be a big bonus to me.

Recommend, or not??

That you in advance for any help you can give!!!

Ben

You could scroll through old catalogs at Vintage Cannondale - Cannondale Catalogs

Early CAAD from the late 1990s ?? The serial # can sometimes be deciphered for more info.

The older the frame, the more likely it is that parts have been replaced and are not original.

CAAD5 Ultegra

CAAD 5 for sure.

I would name it Melvin.

When I saw the thread title this is what I was expecting. Melvin is perfect, I have nothing to add

Looking at my CAAD 5 the seat stays do not look the same. My 5 is with 105 but the decals clearly label the frame as CAAD 5. I would think there would be some CAAD 5 identification even with Ultegra unless the frame has been repainted. That aside it looks nice.

What are the differences in the seat stays? It could be one of the later CAAD 4 frames that had an integrated headset. Here is an ebay CAAD 5 frame that looks identical.

Good information, thanks for the help!

Hard to say. Could be a Caad7. Fork, wheels and seat post aren't stock, was most likely bought as a frame and built up.

You could send Cannondale your serial number and they could tell you. Here is the link to serial number codes- Vintage Cannondale - Information and Help

This ^

Probably CAAD5 or newer. I think 5 is where they started putting cable stop on the head tube. I don't see that exact paint scheme in any catalogs but that doesn't mean anything. As long as it's in good shape it's a good frame, the fork might be an upgrade over stock and it's got ultegra. It would easily sell for $300-500 where I live. The question is how much are they asking?

Judging by the absence of downtube shifter mounts, the frame is no older than 2000. The crankset is Ultegra 6600, which would date it between 2006 and 2009.

P.S. That said, I can't find any match for the paint scheme or the feature combo in the catalogs. Paint scheme is extremely plain for a 2006+ frame. Wheels aren't stock, fork probably isn't either. The closest match in terms of overall frame appearance and color seems to be 2001-2002 R400 (which would make it CAAD3).

I think it has been repainted. Large logo on top tube and down tube looks wrong to me.

And I can't find any 2000 or later model that says Cannondale on the top tube. They put the model name on the top tube

Caad7

The paint and decals look factory to me. Warranty replacement frames don't have model names on the frame. Just email Cannondale customer service.

Note there's no "Handmade in USA" on the seatstays, either.

Anyway, I think CAAD7 was when they moved the cable stops to the headtube.

After some more thinking, I agree that it's CAAD7. As observed above, models before CAAD7 did not have cable stops on the headtube. Models after CAAD7 did not have holes in the dropouts.