BikeArkansas

For touring I ride a Surly LHT and am quite happy. My wife is ready to ride some tours and is considering a bike. She currently rides a Cannondale carbon fiber road bike which works well for her, so she is interested in a Cannondale touring bike.

My tour rides have been from 3 to 7 days. We will stay with that type tour rides for some time. She is looking at the Touring 2 because it is lighter than the Surly and has STI shifters. The gearing looks good.

Does anyone have experience with this bike that can give us some Pro & Con. I have found very limited reviews to date.

staehpj1

I have heard only good stuff about the Touring 2. I spoke to a few owners and they all loved theirs. I can't give a first hand review though.

njkayaker

It's been around for many years in various forms. While it's a great tourer, it won't be anything like her carbon Cannondale. That is, she should pick the T2 if it will work for her and whether it works for her has nothing to do with her other (very different) bike!

cyccommute 

I have a 2003 Cannondale T800 (the same as the T2) that has many touring miles on it. It's an excellent bike touring bike. Good and solid while under load with very few suprises. I can easily climb out of the saddle with a load and not have to worry about the bike wandering all over the county. Unloaded it is a bit heavier than a road bike but still a pretty good bike.

I think the T2 is a better bike than the T1 due to the 9 speed drivetrain. Finding 11-34 cassettes in 10 speed is difficult and expensive (IRD sells them for $165 each)

The only downside to my Cannondale is a toe overlap problem but I seem to be having that problem with lots of bikes today. My commuter has the same issue with fenders installed. It's not a huge problem but can be a little annoying.

The pedigree on Cannondales goes back further than just about any touring bike out there...maybe Bruce Gordon has been around longer. They started selling them in 1983 and, to Cannondale's credit, they have always had two models in their line...sometimes 3.

Doug64

My wife has the Cannondale T800, and has put in several thousand trouble free miles on it. The compact geometry makes getting on and off easy even with a duffle on the rear rack. I did put a mtn bike crank set on for the Pacific Coast trip, and she thanked me for the 22/34 gearing! One tour included a 3650 mile X-country trip. The first picture is the obligatory dip in the Pacific at the start of our Trans Am in 2007. The second is the wet start of our Pacific Coast tour this year. Third Victoria, BC last year. I believe that it is still made in the US.

Doug64

PS. She also uses it to commute to work. It is really similar to the T1. I think the main differences are the components. 105's or Ultegra vs Tiagra.

cyccommute 

The differences are a little more fundamental than the difference between Ultegra and Tiagra. The T1 uses a mostly 105 drivetrain. This means that your choices on gearing are limited. The crank is a 50/39/30 and the inner bolt circle on the 105 crank only allows for a 24 tooth low gear. The T2 uses a Shimano trekking crank (48/36/26) that is a mountain bike crank with a larger chain ring. The trekking crank allows for a 22 tooth low.

The T1 uses an Ultegra rear derailer which is being stretched past its capacity. Shimano says that they can only take a 27 tooth low on the cassette. Cannondale is using an 11-32 IRD cassette. Some people can make a road derailer work on a 32 but others have had problems. The T2 uses an LX mountain bike derailer and an 11-34 cassette. This is easily in the range of the LX. You might even be able to use an SLX cassette and push the low down to a 36 tooth cog. Even I would consider a 22/36 gear ratio to be stupidly low...but I still want it

The Tiagra front derailer on the T2 is also a superior triple derailer. It's wider and more forgiving than the Ultegra. I have both on two bikes and the Tiagra doesn't require nearly as much futzing as the Ultegra.

Overall, I give Cannondale cudos for having two touring bikes. It'd be nicer if their T1 were designed around touring equipment instead of race equipment.

10 Wheels

I rode a T-1 across the country this summer. Did not like the shifting on the 10sp.
many others on the tour had LHT's and they kicked my butt the whole way.

Get the T-2 or a LHT.

seaworthy

I bought the T2000 three years ago, and rode it across the US (Northern Tier) two years ago. I've had ZERO problems with it, and find it very comfortable and stable for touring with a heavy load. I have almost 8000 miles on the bike, and am still using the original tires.

The only major modification I've needed to make was to gear it down a bit by swapping out the granny gear for something a bit smaller.

BikeArkansas

As the OP on this thread I appreciate the information. I noted in my original post that I thought the gearing was good, basically because it is the same as my LHT and that gearing has worked well for me.
The 105 equipment on the Touring 1 did not appeal to me, and that has been confirmed on this thread. Thanks again.
Personally, I like the LHT, but with this information I will certainly support my wife's pick of the Touring 2.
The next step is to find her a good sleeping bag, for I think the decision on the bike is done. She says she does not need a tent because I will be carrying that. How come she gets away with that?

bobframe

Cuz she can.

BTW, let me put in my vote for the Mont Bell U.L. Super Stretchy line of bags. Very comfy bags, but I'd be very conservative on the temp rating. My "30F" bag quit on me at 38F and I went running for my capilene, down jacket, wool hat and wool socks. The new 15F bag is plush, stretches just so....very nice bag. Not cheap, but nice.

cyccommute 

Big Agnes bags are a great system. Not terribly expensive either. Check out their sample sales here

BigBlueToe

I'm going to hijack this thread since I can't seem to start a new one. Something to do with my browser they say???

Can anyone recommend a good lightweight tourer, or even tell me if I should look? I have an LHT which I love, but it's very heavy. When my wife finally agrees to try touring with me, I'd like to get her a new bike. I'd like something strong, but it would be nice to find something lighter than the LHT. It might make touring more palatable.

Does such a bike exist, or would the weight difference be negligible under a touring load?

Is the Cannondale such a bike?

10 Wheels

I would go with the Cannonade T-2 9 Speed.

I rode a 10 spd T-1 3700 miles ...... It is a nice bike except for the 10 spd gearing.

BikeArkansas

Things change. My wife placed an order with the LBS for a Surly LHT. Will be in later this week. I thought it would be the Cannondale. Personally, I perfer the LHT, but I tried to let her make up her own mind. Her main concern was with the bar end shifters, but she went with it anyway.

She ordered the front and back racks along with fenders. She was bugging me today to order the handle bar bag. She is satisfied with some panniers I had.

All we need now is a break in the weather around the Christmas holidays for a trial tour ride of a few days.

10 Wheels

Smart Wife....

cyccommute 

The T2 would be a good choice if it fits and she wants a traditional drop bar. The smallest Cannondale touring is a 17" if that is a concern.

If drops aren't her cup of tea...and they aren't for everyone...consider a hybrid. The Trek FX make good flat bar touring bikes as do the Sirrus from Specialized. There are others.

BigBlueToe

She rides a 54cm road bike and a 17" mountain bike. I'm not sure how inches to cm works in road bikes. Would the 17" tourer be similarly sized to a 17" mountain bike? (An old, rigid Rockhopper.) She actually prefers her road bike for commuting. She likes the "racier" feel of drop handlebars and narrow tires, and likes to ride fast. That's why I was thinking she'd be happier with a lighter tourer than a heavy one.

Thanks for the input.

oldride

BBT - Check out the Specialized Tricross Sport. It's lightweight and capable. You may need to change the gearing but that's no big deal.

cyccommute 

Cannondale does the S, M, L, XL thing. A medium is a 49 cm (19" ) with a standover of 30.1" which might be on the small size but a large is a 53 cm (21") with a standover of 31.5" which may be too tall. Based on her mountain bike dimension, the medium might be the best fit.

If you have an REI close by, you might be able to test ride one. Or they have a touring centers link that you might try.

BikeArkansas

Surly LHT for touring. Once a bike is loaded the two pounds difference between one bike or the other makes no difference. The load is normally 30 to 40 pounds, or in my case even more. It seems like a LHT does not care how much you put on it, the ride is still good. The gears are already there. The solid feel is always there.

If the bike is to be used for other purposes with little or no loaded riding a Surly LHT might not be a good choice.

BigBlueToe

I don't think she'd use a touring bike for another purpose. She already has a sporty road bike.

As for getting her an LHT, I have a confession about our relationship: she has an aversion to matching. If I put on the same sweatshirt as she has on, she'll change before going out. She can't brook the thought of matching in public. Matching jerseys? Don't make her laugh. My tourer is an LHT. So the idea of getting her one and having matching bikes might be out of the question. (Does riding matching bikes qualify as matching? Hmmm.)

BikeArkansas

Similar situation here. My wife ordered a Surly LHT, but most definitely in a different color. Also, my fenders are silver, so she ordered black fenders.
As I found, she can get the same model bike and make it look very different.
Very interesting that the situation is so similar.

cyccommute 

Good for her! Why go with the rest of the herd? Matching anything in a couple is creepy. Matching anything in identical twins is creepy Fortunately, my wife and I are so dissimilar in size that we never match.

Honestly, however, the LHT is every bit as good a touring bike as the Cannondale...even if it is just a young brash upstart The fact that the Cannondale weighs a little less is just icing on the cake

adablduya

i have a 2007 cannondale T1. been very happy with it. plan to go transam in early 2010. used to have a 96 cannondale T400. rode the east coast in 97.

i have a concern with the 50-39-30 spread up front, esp. the 30t. not low enough ? i'm thinking i might swap out the 50-39-30 for the 48-36-26 that the T2 has. can i just swap out the rings on the same crankset ?

also, why the mentioned concerns about the T1 10-spd drivetrain ?