I'm no youngster, but spent many of my younger years working in the cruise industry on ships that tended to go to Alaska in the summer months, and allowed me to go biking over some great trails.
My first venture into mountain biking was around 1996 when I purchased my first mountain bike, a Cannondale F700 which I gradually improved with XT components and Mavic Rims and spent many a great day exploring Alaska. Unfortunately in around 1999 this got stolen while being shipped back to England, and I never saw it again. Luckily it was insured and along with all the invoices for my improvements and a letter from the bike dealership that i purchased it from, allowed my to go on to purchase a 1999 Cannondale F2000, one of the first disc braked mountain bikes on the market. I continued riding this for about four years, but never really enjoyed it as much as my old F700, even though it was a better bike.
So my last ride on a decent bike was back in around 2005 Ish.
This leads me to Now....... I often browse ebay to see if there are any nice Vintage Cannondale's up for sale and two days ago I spotted a gorgeous F700, same colour as my old steed that was stolen all those years ago, looked in quite good condition bearing in mind this was one is a 1997 model, so 23 years old (But still looking good).
Now it's been nearly 20 years since mountain biking was my main hobby, and as you can guess, I'm not up to date on the latest components, so I'm on a learning curve all over again. My hobby is restoring classic 70's cars, in-fact anything mechanical, I have a pretty good workshop, so I'm looking forward to this and it gives me something to do during the COVID lockdown, luckily I can get most of what I need online.
This bike needs a new front wheel and hub, as the hub is cracked, and the rims (Front & Rear) are a little tired, So i'm looking at a replacing both wheels and hubs (Complete), so can anyone recommend a nice middle of the road replacement wheel set, something around the level of the old Shimano LX/XT components for the hubs along with a set of rims to complement them. The Headshok needs some attention, it still locks out but I can tell it's not working quite as it should, so this will be coming apart. I won't be doing any aggressive riding, more river bank rides and trail riding, and would like to keep the costs sensible, but still have quality components.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated for Hub & Wheelset.
The good news is the frame is in very good condition, no corrosion at all, just a few scratches here and there.
My New Steed............
My first venture into mountain biking was around 1996 when I purchased my first mountain bike, a Cannondale F700 which I gradually improved with XT components and Mavic Rims and spent many a great day exploring Alaska. Unfortunately in around 1999 this got stolen while being shipped back to England, and I never saw it again. Luckily it was insured and along with all the invoices for my improvements and a letter from the bike dealership that i purchased it from, allowed my to go on to purchase a 1999 Cannondale F2000, one of the first disc braked mountain bikes on the market. I continued riding this for about four years, but never really enjoyed it as much as my old F700, even though it was a better bike.
So my last ride on a decent bike was back in around 2005 Ish.
This leads me to Now....... I often browse ebay to see if there are any nice Vintage Cannondale's up for sale and two days ago I spotted a gorgeous F700, same colour as my old steed that was stolen all those years ago, looked in quite good condition bearing in mind this was one is a 1997 model, so 23 years old (But still looking good).
Now it's been nearly 20 years since mountain biking was my main hobby, and as you can guess, I'm not up to date on the latest components, so I'm on a learning curve all over again. My hobby is restoring classic 70's cars, in-fact anything mechanical, I have a pretty good workshop, so I'm looking forward to this and it gives me something to do during the COVID lockdown, luckily I can get most of what I need online.
This bike needs a new front wheel and hub, as the hub is cracked, and the rims (Front & Rear) are a little tired, So i'm looking at a replacing both wheels and hubs (Complete), so can anyone recommend a nice middle of the road replacement wheel set, something around the level of the old Shimano LX/XT components for the hubs along with a set of rims to complement them. The Headshok needs some attention, it still locks out but I can tell it's not working quite as it should, so this will be coming apart. I won't be doing any aggressive riding, more river bank rides and trail riding, and would like to keep the costs sensible, but still have quality components.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated for Hub & Wheelset.
The good news is the frame is in very good condition, no corrosion at all, just a few scratches here and there.
My New Steed............
