Coolwall April 2011 - Cannondale

MAXTHEROTTI":24s7lmjj said:

very very very cool

shame i just sold mine

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Come on Rob tell the truth there is no one you would rather own your old dale but me

she sends her love

saltyman":1xlg6ok1 said:

i loved the look of them.........regardless of what else mattered, thats the reason i wanted certain bikes as a youngster.......i bet most kids at the time were the same, i couldnt and still dont buy bikes that are all about the ride/spec/handling.......thats not important to me, never has been

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Well said Saltyman, that is the justification for all the bikes I've owned. Having said that Cannondale never did it for me. From where I'm standing they didn't have that magic something.
Although I like mechanical genius/ eccentricity I never really "Got" the Headshok idea, even though it was potentially better than telescopic forks and flexstems. Maybe it was just because their Headshok image looked like George Bush Sr with Ant from Ant and Dec's forehead! I also took guilty pleasure in watching them announce they were going to make Motocross bikes because their own rear suspension technology was more advanced than what the motorbike industry was offering. They don't make motorbikes now...
Like Raleigh though they deserve credit for sticking it out and making bikes in their home country long after the rest of the industry had decamped to the far east. But virtue still doesn't make something cool.

Rob Atkin":3bx295d1 said:

I think Cannondales are very good bikes, would love a BOTE. Made very well, good graphics and can look really good.
BUT that doesn't make them cool. Cool is something that you can't quite put your finger on or describe properly.

Cool isn't being technically advanced, having great paint jobs or breaking any moulds.

It's something much more.

And Cannondales just aren't there. Maybe it's some of the wacky designs. Maybe it's their (maybe poorly deserved) reputation for cracking. Maybe it's because they eventually sold out. I don't know.

I don't think they are UNCOOL but they certainly are NOT COOL. As there is no middle option I have to vote in the negative.

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Exactly what I was thinking!

I have this yellow garage queen. It's bright, it's lovely! It attracks the attention of all my non-retro bike-friends! I had offers on it from them. But it never atracks the attention it deserves from my retro bike-friends! Their only comment is: "ooh, that one is also nice!" After they saw my Fishers, S-bike, stumpy and WCF!

They are good, they are nice, I love this one, but I cannot vote cool! Not uncool either, but I have to vote uncool! :cry:

UNCOOL

I've only ever riden one - it was too tall for me, had a harse riding aluminium frame and a soft headshok which never looked right. found them tough to like ever since.

cannondale

Cool without a doubt.

Drencrom

Its just a matter of taste I guess
If your taste is for Spesh or Trek then you may not be into Dales
I always loved the look of these bikes that great fillet welding ,the fact they were made in America with love and attention and full of cutting edge ideas...someone said 1" headset ?think you are confused with Orange matey...Of course they were and are expensive but what handcrafted stuff isnt.I have never thought that cost was a reason for something being unccol you take your choice after all

COOL

Don't get me wrong, i like them and i've had one and i'd love an early full sus one day but i don't think they are cool. Could be argued they were ahead of their time but i don't think that makes them cool.

We have two CAAD 9s and a restored Jeykll..

Cool otherwise my girlfriend and I are not..

Even I had a Cannondale BITD. Yes it was a cool bike, wish I still had it.

Considering they were an outdoor backpacking company, the bikes they went on to do up until 1990 were pretty damn cool IMHO.

It'd be interesting to read a comparison of the company's approach to oversized aluminum (sic) versus Klein BTW. Did they respect each other or were they bitter competitors?

Of course there are cool exceptions post 1990 - Sydor/Giove race bikes in 1995 spring immediately to mind.