TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild now complete w/pics)

So I've had this since 1995 (the frame is the same as M2000, i.e. there was no change between m500/m1000/m2000 for 1995 as they were all 2.8 series mountain-frames), first proper bike I had and I saved for 2 years from when I was 15 years old to buy it.

I was going to rebuild it with cheap stuff and sell on but I didn't have the heart in the end, so I have decided to go for a full on rebuild to above and beyond m2000 with upgraded period-parts and my intention is to use as my main ride.

Rebuild currently in progress and possible final spec as below:

Frame: 1995 Cannondale M500 2.8 series (Iceland Green Metallic with Green Pearl Hyperhighlight)
Forks: 1996 Pace RC36 Evo
Headset: 1 1/8" Tioga Alchemy aheadset (black)
Stem: Easton EA70 ahead (hinged, black/silver) TBC
Bars/Ends: Easton EA70 alloy riser bars with refurbed X-Lite Stubby Pro ends (black)
Grips: New Ritchey WCS foam
Saddle: Original Flite titanium
Seatpost: NOS Easton EA70 alloy layback black/polished)
Brakes: XT m737 V-brake with NOS separate levers
Shifters: NOS Gripshift X-Ray SRT800
Front mech: XT m737
Rear mech: XT m739
Cassette: XT CS-m737 8spd 11-30t
Chainset: XT m737
Bottom bracket: Royce titanium
Pedals: DX m525
Rims: Mavic 231 (or X517)
Hubs: Hope Ti front and TiGlide rear
Skewers: Hope CNC alloy (black)
Tyres: Brand-new Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

Some pics of rebuild parts

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

More pics of rebuild parts

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

UPDATE...so the Cannondale is now complete but front-end a bit messed up.....

So it turned out that the supposed 1 1/8" steerer Pace RC36 forks were actually 1 inch, so instead of letting me know this, builder went ahead and fitted a sleeve to allow them to fit inside the headtube, and then correspondingly fitted an unfortunately much more modern and unsuitable stem/bar combo which are not going to work. Rest of the bike is perfect!

Now looking for a set of 1 1/8" Pace RC36 or similar forks (with 210mm unthreaded steerer, will also consider Answer Manitou, Rock Shox Judy etc.) to allow me to fit my chosen Syncros Cattlehead stem/bar combo and finish this build off.

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

So as mentioned above, for some reason the Syncros Cattlehead stem I sourced for my Cannondale rebuild doesn't fit my RC36 forks on the Cannondale despite it being a 1 1/8" stem going on a 1 1/8" steerer and inside a 1 1/8" headset, yet builder managed to fit a much newer 1 1/8" stem on it which doesn't suit the build at all, so have sourced another period 2 1 1/8" Easton stem in the hope that fits. Now have to wait another 3.5 weeks to see if it all fits

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

some nice parts.

Im confused though, if the builder shimmed up the headtube to run the 1" steerer then your 1-1/8" stem isnt going to fit, nor is the new one!? or did you source a new steerer tube?

and i find syncros stems really tight fitting, probably to do with how they clamp as there is no split to open up like on normal stems.

mark

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

mkone":tyyfztqm said:

some nice parts.

Im confused though, if the builder shimmed up the headtube to run the 1" steerer then your 1-1/8" stem isnt going to fit, nor is the new one!? or did you source a new steerer tube?

and i find syncros stems really tight fitting, probably to do with how they clamp as there is no split to open up like on normal stems.

mark

Click to expand...

Yeah this is what I don't get.....he said he shimmed the Pace steerer to make the newer stem fit but then said it can't be a 1" steerer as the newer OnOne stem fitted and was a 1 1/8" ?

If the Pace forks do indeed have a 1" steerer I would still have expected a 1 1/8" Syncros stem to fit even if can't be opened much due to fork clamping design ?

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

Well, if he fitted a 1-1/8" fork into the frame and it needed shimming then the headtube isnt 1-1/8" sure its not a headshox one 1.5" ?

and you now know the steerer is 1-1/8" so the syncros stem is going to be a tight fit, it doesnt open up at all!

also just wanted to point out the rear hub isnt a Ti glide nice though.

mark

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

mkone":3u3gzidt said:

Well, if he fitted a 1-1/8" fork into the frame and it needed shimming then the headtube isnt 1-1/8" sure its not a headshox one 1.5" ?

and you now know the steerer is 1-1/8" so the syncros stem is going to be a tight fit, it doesnt open up at all!

also just wanted to point out the rear hub isnt a Ti glide nice though.

mark

Click to expand...

Nope, it's a 1995 m500 2.8 series frame, non-headshok. The F600 had substantially different geometry as well as different headset size. Yeah, hence going for the Easton EA70 stem as it has a different design which allows it to be opened up. Also found matching riser bars and NOS seatpost so Syncros stuff possibly won't end up being fitted now.

Which Hope rear-hub is it in that case ?

I have another complete pair of wheels (X517/Hope) to fit instead which will match frame better in any case.

Re: TheBear's 1995 Cannondale M500 (rebuild in progress)

So the plot thickens....So turns out for some reason the machined spacer was for the lower bearing race (not the stem end) and the issue with the Syncros stem was steerer length not clamp style. So not quite sure what to do now as the new Easton stem I have has a better steerer clamp but isn't any less deep at fork steerer clamp end.