What to do with 16-yr-old Cannondale

[MX5Bob]

I road this bike alot for 4 years before injury and "life" got in the way.

It is an RS-400 [I think] 3.0 Crit frame. Has a few upgrades, Ultegra headset, Cinelle bars and stem, Campy titanium bottom bracket, Dura Ace crank w/ 52/39 rings. Used to have a J-Disc with Regina America 12-19 cassette [that was sweeeet!].

OK, after too many years and too many beers, I'm determined to get back in the saddle. I've already posted about nasty tendinitis pain in my elbows, which I hope will be aleviated with arm bands. And Fitzik bar tape + gel.

I'm also thinking about swapping out the steel fork for an Easton carbon fork. Don't see much else that makes economic sense, whether it's trying to build another rear wheel with whatever 125mm hub and 7-speed gearing I can find, or converting to STI shifters.

It's not a lot, but is what I'm proposing worth the effort?

Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to cover all the details.

Bob

 

[MX5Bob]

Anybody? Bueller? Frye?

 

[Xsmoker]

Just tune it up and true the wheels, maybe new rubber. Forget the fork ,there aren't many choices for a carbon fork with a 1in. steerer.
I'm still using a 1991 vintage Schwinn, 7 speed with downtube shifters.

The STI conversion is possible but you will need to use a 9 speed cassette and toss out one of the cogs, 8 cogs from a 9 speed will fit on a 7 sp hub and the indexing will work. I assume the frame is al which can't and shouldn't
spread to fit the 130 mm spacing of 9 sp hubs.

 

[MX5Bob]

Thanks very much for advice.

I've pretty much decided against the STI conversion. As for brakes, new pads would be worth more than anything else. Truing the wheels is something I hadn't thought of.

Not many carbon forks with 1" steerers, but the Easton EC90 SL comes in that configuration. It's a reasonable price and a decent weight. That isn't the first thing to try to cut down the elbow pain, but it has to be better than the steel fork.

Bob

 

[gclark8]

Check the bike size, as we age we need shorter top tubes.
A stem with a lot more height and a litttle less length may help the comfort factor. http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/stems/index.html

 

[mikesbytes]

Personally I wouldn't change the forks.

I would spend the money on good tyres and tubes, cleated shoes and pedals. Getting the power to the ground and rolling resistence are much more important that the small improvement in weight that the forks would do.

If you do go for new forks, make sure that the trail of the new forks is the same as the old ones, or you may end up with handling problems.

 

[artmichalek]

That isn't the first thing to try to cut down the elbow pain, but it has to be better than the steel fork.

There most likely wouldn't be any noticeable difference. Good gloves and bar tape are more important. Your elbow pain is most likely position related.

 

[schmuzzy]

make your old frame a fixie and buy new.

its amazing what's been going on in the last a decade and a half.

seriously- down at the LBS they have an expression: its called the "little yellow waiste basket problem".

in short, you buy a $25 waiste basket because you like the color. the problem is, NOTHING in the room matches it. so next youre painting, drapes, flooring, fixtures... etc. you get the picture. a $25 purchase turns into a $17,000 remodel

i took my old 90's Giant Cadex and wanted to "upgrade it a bit". holy **** what a mess. new gearing meant new derailers... meant new hubs... meant new wheels... meant new shifters.... which meant new brakes levers....

damn it all, the frame's only worth $100 on ebay! and i would be throwing $1500 at it and still have something too heavy and out of date (still have to man-handle the rear triangle to get the current sized hubs in)

sorry for the long post- but at a point- right around the $1500 dollar mark- where the effort and cost dont justify themselves.


my $.02




'86 Raleigh 531 (fixie)
'06 look 555

 

[MX5Bob]

Personally I wouldn't change the forks.

I would spend the money on good tyres and tubes, cleated shoes and pedals. Getting the power to the ground and rolling resistence are much more important that the small improvement in weight that the forks would do.

If you do go for new forks, make sure that the trail of the new forks is the same as the old ones, or you may end up with handling problems.

Already have Look Carbon pedals and getting new shoes. New tires are a must, the Conti GPs are cracked and new tubes for sure.

This Cannondale vintage has a pretty unforgiving frame and the steel fork isn't making it any better. And yes, same rake or else it'll be twitchy.

 

[MX5Bob]

make your old frame a fixie and buy new.

its amazing what's been going on in the last a decade and a half.

seriously- down at the LBS they have an expression: its called the "little yellow waiste basket problem".

in short, you buy a $25 waiste basket because you like the color. the problem is, NOTHING in the room matches it. so next youre painting, drapes, flooring, fixtures... etc. you get the picture. a $25 purchase turns into a $17,000 remodel

i took my old 90's Giant Cadex and wanted to "upgrade it a bit". holy **** what a mess. new gearing meant new derailers... meant new hubs... meant new wheels... meant new shifters.... which meant new brakes levers....

damn it all, the frame's only worth $100 on ebay! and i would be throwing $1500 at it and still have something too heavy and out of date (still have to man-handle the rear triangle to get the current sized hubs in)

sorry for the long post- but at a point- right around the $1500 dollar mark- where the effort and cost dont justify themselves.


my $.02




'86 Raleigh 531 (fixie)
'06 look 555

Yeah, that became pretty obvious when I thought about any kind of upgrade in brake levers and derailleurs. Sure, maybe I could find some early STI 7-speed stuff on eBay, but I want to ride the bike, not search for parts.

I also have Trek of the same vintage that my wife doesn't ride anymore, she never liked being in traffic, and that one's a candidate for fixed gear. Or maybe I should make that one the road bike and make the 'dale a fixie. Well, one of them is going to be single speed.

 

[MX5Bob]

There most likely wouldn't be any noticeable difference. Good gloves and bar tape are more important. Your elbow pain is most likely position related.

Positional set up hasn't changed since I road the bike for 3 years solid after having it properly adjusted. What has changed is that I'm older. And because those dozen years are from age 38 to 50, maybe position is a bit off. The other change is that I went from a less stressful, both mentally and keyboard/mouse related, to one that was a lot more intense.

Back in the day, my elbows never hurt, even after 50-60 miles.

So, I will be changing bar tape and rechecking position. Going to try some kind of elbow brace and see how it goes. The carbon fork is certainly an attractive item, but I'd rather spend the money on a training clinic.

Bob

 

[MX5Bob]

And, THANK YOU everyone for your feedback!

 

[RedEvoke]

,there aren't many choices for a carbon fork with a 1in. steerer.

Kestrel EMS

Check Ebay. There are alot of threaded forks on there and threadless is even better.

 

[Don Shipp]

I road this bike alot for 4 years before injury and "life" got in the way.

It is an RS-400 [I think] 3.0 Crit frame. Has a few upgrades, Ultegra headset, Cinelle bars and stem, Campy titanium bottom bracket, Dura Ace crank w/ 52/39 rings. Used to have a J-Disc with Regina America 12-19 cassette [that was sweeeet!].

OK, after too many years and too many beers, I'm determined to get back in the saddle. I've already posted about nasty tendinitis pain in my elbows, which I hope will be aleviated with arm bands. And Fitzik bar tape + gel.

I'm also thinking about swapping out the steel fork for an Easton carbon fork. Don't see much else that makes economic sense, whether it's trying to build another rear wheel with whatever 125mm hub and 7-speed gearing I can find, or converting to STI shifters.

It's not a lot, but is what I'm proposing worth the effort?

Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to cover all the details.

Bob

My old touring bike is much older than 16 years.
The wheels were 27 inch, now they are 700c.
It was a 10 speed, now it's a 27 speed.
It had centre-pull brakes, now it has dual pivot.
The 531 frame and forks are still good.

It isn't always economical to upgrade like this, but it's very satisfying.

 

[wescoas1]

What do you do with it? Ride it like you stole it! Haha, I have the exact same old Cannondale SR400 as you (mine is red with white accents) and am having the same dilemma. The front crankset got bent to shet and I managed to crush a bearing retainer in the bottom bracket while riding it.

The problem: I have no idea what I can replace it with for minimal cost. RX100 components are hard to find and I don't even know what mine are exactly other than that. If anyone knows what I can get for a crankset and bottom bracket definately let me know because I need to get it back in time for winter.

And in the mean time... I've been drooling on a Felt F75 and a Specialized Allez Comp

 

[artmichalek]

The problem: I have no idea what I can replace it with for minimal cost. RX100 components are hard to find and I don't even know what mine are exactly other than that. If anyone knows what I can get for a crankset and bottom bracket definately let me know because I need to get it back in time for winter.

Nashbar has some decent cranks on sale: http://tinyurl.com/qvbdk
You should be able to pick up the cranks, bb, and tools to instal them for under $100.