Coolwall April 2011 - Cannondale

Rod_Saetan":1712ygkx said:

'crack'n'fail' surely?

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I have owned 14 Cannondale bikes in my years of cycling and not once ever has this happened and I ride hard

Not just Cannondales crack honest it's true :roll: take a look





And shock and horror even Orange frames crack :shock: :shock: :shock:

Whilst im a steel man at heart. Purely due to the fact, i love the simplicity, clean lines, and ride feel of a steel bike.

I enjoy the differences of aluminium bikes too....!!!!

Cannondale ...."originally" a small company, grew to become a a much bigger manufacturer continuously able to build handbuilt american aluminium bikes.

They always pushed the envelope, When it came to research/development and design....look at the raven..(not a favorite of mine personally) a skeleton frame with carbon fibre...???, this is just one example of how a company, tried to move forward with bicycle innovation, whilst still manufacturing by hand and in the United States of America.
And by not going to the far east......they kept there quailty control in house. There work force commanded higher labour rates, than in the far east, but american jobs were safe.
They developed the headshok, lefty, coda ranges, not only to offer an alternative solution, but also to reduce the strangle hold, that the other big component suppliers (like Shimano/Rockshox etc) have over bicycle manufacturers, thus pricing the handbuild manufacturers out of the market......and inevitably toward far east suppliers.

Sadly there attemped into moto x bikes did"nt help there demise....in 2002, now the real money men are heading up the company, some call them now..... a shadow of there former selves, Frames made in the far east, components bought in, (shimano rockshox etc), and a very small portion bearing the handmade in america decal.

But they tried, and held out for a very long time...

I didnt say it was warranted, merely correcting the term. I have an 89 3.0 series frame sat next to me right now, doesnt look cracked.

Rod_Saetan":7y6h9bll said:

I didnt say it was warranted, merely correcting the term. I have an 89 3.0 series frame sat next to me right now, doesnt look cracked.

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Wasn't singling you out fella or having a go just hate that term crack'n'fail as all frames can crack.

Sorry fella don't take offence none meant

C-O-O-L-!

Show me bike company of their size (any size) with bigger balls.

mrkawasaki":30nbabut said:

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?

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http://openjurist.org/884/f2d/1399/klei ... orporation

Apparently, Gary Klein also tried to sue Charlie Cunningham, without success.

In response to the comments that they were not considered good in their day, they were poor value for money and the frames were brittle:

Lou Dogs loved the Canondale SM700 Chameleon. After switching back and forth we all agreed that it was the one bike of the four that felt most like we thought an aluminum (sic) bike should. It was very responsive and the frame's absorption qualities were apparent through the rough stuff. Besides being the lightest, it is also the most inexpensive - a nice combination. The SM700 is far from being as trick Funk or Rocky Mountain, but the cantilever dropouts and massive frame tubes do give the bike an exotic flair.

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The 6061 T-6 heat-treated aluminum frame weighs 3.6lbs [Funk frame - 4.4lbs], hence the 3.0 title, Cannondale offers a lifetime guarantee [Rocky Mountain Fusion - 5 year guarantee] on the SM700...

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Taken from MBA, May 1990.

It could be argued that the above does not a cool bike make, but the model was named the Chameleon as it was part of Cannondale's commitment to Ecology, building their frames by hand in the US and campaigning for land rights. Also this model came as standard with the aerator pump seat post, that is frickin cool!

I still think they lost their way in about 1996, bus as this is a 'retro' MTB forum, and this is part of the >1997 thread then anything after should be disregarded, as for selling out - if nobody or any company was cool because they 'sold out' the MTB cool wall would be pretty sparse.

Re: KLEIN vs Cannondale

http://openjurist.org/884/f2d/1399/klei ... orporation

This passage, discussing Bill Shook's prior art early-seventies frame made me chuckle. Italics are mine.

After Klein's initial objections about Shook's testing
procedure, Shook retested his frame with most of the
extraneous parts removed, leaving on the frame only
those parts permanently rusted to it.

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Vintage 'Dales are very cool. I hammered the same Killer V frame for 3 seasons of XC racing in the 90's, and it never cracked. I am pretty sure my R1000 Cannondale road bike vibrated out at least two of my fillings, but it was very stiff, and very fast.