Thought's on a Cannondale H600...

[blxxp]

This 22" Cannondale is for sale. The seller wants £160. I will be doing some road riding and also a few trails. I haven't owned one of these before so looking for general advice. The size is perfect for me and I do love a good horizontal top tube.

Are these solid? Anything you see that's worrying? Is the price decent?

 

[hamster]

Unusual bike! Looks rather nice.

Check for:
Frame cracks - typically around the bottom bracket and head tube junctions
Does the seatpost move?
Gritty or loose headset
Bottom bracket play
Rumbly wheel hubs
Check that there are V-brake levers to match those (later I think) V-brakes. If the brakes have the pads running only 1mm off the rims then beware.

Some of the Cannondale tourers of the time had toe overlap in smaller sizes, worth checking on a test ride.

 

[blxxp]

Unusual bike! Looks rather nice.

Check for:
Frame cracks - typically around the bottom bracket and head tube junctions
Does the seatpost move?
Gritty or loose headset
Bottom bracket play
Rumbly wheel hubs
Check that there are V-brake levers to match those (later I think) V-brakes. If the brakes have the pads running only 1mm off the rims then beware.

Some of the Cannondale tourers of the time had toe overlap in smaller sizes, worth checking on a test ride.

Thanks for the input and advice. I suspected the brakes would have been caliper or cantilever. I’ve never had an aluminium frame (outside of BMX), is galvanic corrosion a thing for alu frames?

 

[hamster]

Thanks for the input and advice. I suspected the brakes would have been caliper or cantilever. I’ve never had an aluminium frame (outside of BMX), is galvanic corrosion a thing for alu frames?

You do see Cannondales used as winter commuters with masses of corrosion and blistering under the paint, but yours doesn't look like one of them.