Cannondale Caad5 dropouts

ca

davey250mtb said:

Hi all,

i'm new to the track racing scene and just bought myself a Cannondale Caad5 track frame.
Does anyone know if the frame is meant to come with steel inserts for the dropouts or can you buy them seperatly? if so where from?

Cheers
Dave

If it doesn't have steel inserts, it doesn't have steel inserts. If you want something more durable, get MKS chain tugs or something similar from a placelike businesscycles.com or another bike shop.

Woofer said:

ca If it doesn't have steel inserts, it doesn't have steel inserts. If you want something more durable, get MKS chain tugs or something similar from a placelike businesscycles.com or another bike shop.

Just to warn you, chain tugs will not save your dropouts if they are aluminum. Chain tugs are only meant for adjusting chain tension and keeping the wheel from sliding forward if the nuts slip. The aluminum will get chewed up regardless. But I agree with Woofer. Get some quality chain tugs because the aluminum is more likely to slip than steel, and once your dropouts are a little chewed, adjusting proper chain tension with different gears will be a pain without them.

Thanks for the info.

When the dropouts get 'chewed', where is it? inside, outside of the frame or within the cutout?

As an engineer i feel the need to experiment with a solution!

Cheers

davey250mtb said:

Thanks for the info.

When the dropouts get 'chewed', where is it? inside, outside of the frame or within the cutout?

As an engineer i feel the need to experiment with a solution!

Cheers

The dropouts get chewed up by the nuts on the faces of the cutouts. It's from the nuts as they turn and tighten into the face of hte dropout. Cuts circular notches into the metal. It's ok if you are constantly running the same length chain and the same gear, but if you want to change to something that puts the axle close to where it is worn out, then the axle will just slip into the notches. You can try facing the dropouts after a while, or you can machine part of the face away and screw stainless inserts into them if you know what you're doing. You'd have to countersink the screw holes in the steel insert and the aluminum dropout to get a flat face when everything is assembled.