Cannondale SM500, 1991

Hello everyone,

Like many others, I found this forum when I was searching for info on an older bike. We have a number of bikes stashed away, but the oldest are a 1990 Cannondale SM1000 (black/white) and this 1991 SM500 (blue), both owned from new. The SM500 looks really tatty, and is the subject of this thread. IO've just commenced a rebuild. It'll be recognisably an SM500, but the grotty blue paint is going, and will be replaced with a blue black powder coat this week. Never liked the 'Hyper-Highlight Blue' anyway.

Here it is now, sorry but it's a fuzzy image and the bike is now stripped to a frame:


The decals will be interesting. I think I have a decent starting point in Illustrator, and I have access to a sticker cutter at work. Trouble is, the software to drive it is ancient, so I may have to create truetype fonts.

Martin

Frame ready for the professionals

So, I stripped the bike and the frame and fork are ready for spraying. It's being done by Mikris Finishers in Stroud, who seem to have a good reputation.

Here's the frame, ready to go:


Slight chain scuffage:


A bit of damage to the top tube that my wife did almost as soon as she had the bike...


And the Tange fork:


Hopefully, it's going to look much nicer when it comes back in blue black.

Any suggestions for decal colours? I was thinking of yellow, orange or grey.

Hi,

It's my opinion but I really like this bright blue colour !
I hope that the new one will be good too.
It's a very nice project, good luck !

Chair pulled up martini in hand

Been looking for a local painter. Watching with interest.

The History Man":3gys39y9 said:

Been looking for a local painter. Watching with interest.

Click to expand...

Whats wrong with Argos in Bristol ain't that much further down the M5 than Stroud

Re:

I've done a few frames at the bodyshop i work at in malvern although not sure what the boss would charge they are usually for his friends i think.

Retro Spud":3kk6y4l7 said:

The History Man":3kk6y4l7 said:

Been looking for a local painter. Watching with interest.

Click to expand...

Whats wrong with Argos in Bristol ain't that much further down the M5 than Stroud

Click to expand...

I'm looking for functional rather than concours condition, and I can easily get to Stroud from work; not so Bristol. They jury's still out on what'll come back.

Re:

Loads of parts piling up waiting to be fitted when the frame comes back. I have the original Wolbers from my SM1000 in the garage - do people reckon they would be a better option than the Richey Vantage?

Also, I just fell for these on Kickstarter, but not for this project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14 ... ero_thanks

Bits and pieces

So here's my pile of replacement parts. I think there was plenty of life left in the BB, but since they're on offer at Wiggle I didn't see the point of spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar.

Since taking the photo, I've replaced the wheel bearings, and removed the nasty plastic spoke protector as well.