Cannondale Super V - Uber'd

I bought a 2002 Cannondale Super V from the retrobike forums back in September which needed some (read quite a lot) of work.

The bike was in a very used state. The paint was poor - bubbling in places, mismatched cranks and generally just a bit tired. When I initially rode it round the block the forks (Fox Vanilla RL 125s) seemed to knock on compression and the bike was a bit blurgh.....

So I set about gathering information about Ubering the Super V (from the mtbr forum and tyron bikes forum).

Seemed fairly straight forward, cut and drill and replace the shock, should be able to handle that.

I decided to update the components utilising the services of ebay and regular shops to keep the build to an acceptable budget.

The wheels seemed in good shape (though I later found the rear rim to have cracked so I replaced the rims with my mate's (member - HopeAM) Mavic 321's as he'd recently switched to 650b.

I kept the Hope hubs (bulbs) and brakes (Hope C2), the headset (FSA), tyres, handlebar grips and forks but have replaced the rest of the components.

I upgraded the shock to a TF Tuned and Pushed Fox RP3, Thomson post, spank spoon bars, syncros stem, nukeproof saddle (was in the bargain bin at Wheelbase - found when on my hols) and I've gone for a Deore based 3x9 groupset with an SLX rear mech.

I have rebuilt the forks and they are great now. The knock turned out to be caused by an elastomer the previous owner had placed inside the spring, I'm guessing to firm them up. Not sure.

I've had the frame powder coated in a candy red by Impreziv Finishing in Darlington (found after a random conversation I had with a guy from Darlington when I was working in Bristol) he is very reasonable and loves Raleigh Burners so seemed like a good place to go. The red looks great in the sun.

I've just built it up over the last couple of days with the help of Andy (HopeAM) as we've been working nighshift together so had free afternoons/evenings. Just had a ride round the block this evening and it feels great though I do need to add some more pressure to the shock.

So please find my bike below (after and before.....).

Hope you guys like it.

Thanks

Nick

Re:

It's a beauty, looks stunning in the daylight with the fresh paint.

The original silvery grey finish would match my f600 but the red is far preferable.

Is ther anything to limit seat post drop so it dors not foul the rear suspension?
Proflex frames had a weld blob to prevent seatpost dropoping out of the seat tube.

Nearly typed a very different message, as I thought it was 'before' and 'after', not 'after' and 'before'! I think that looks great. Nice work.

Re:

Hi, thanks for the positive comments. There is no blob to limit the seatpost. It is a good idea though. I'm a tall guy so I don't think it will be a problem for me and went for the 330mm post to minimise the risk. The seat collar is tight.

I was thinking of doing it the team Volvo blue but I'm glad I went to the red.

Re:

The red & black look good together, and the bit of yellow added in makes it even more "Cannondaley"

I like the position of the bottle cage too, very handy.

Re:

The bottle cage was a Christmas present off my brother, it's a cannondale one. Looks pretty good for a bottle cage.

I wanted to have some yellow in there but not too much, was going to go for a black saddle but saw that one n I think it's worked out well.

The idea was to update the bike and I reckon the black parts help and the black/red combo seems to always work well.

I've upped the pressure in the shock and the bike rides better but still need to get it out on a proper ride. This shock is much more composed than the one it replaced. The Bob has been reduced.