Mid 80s Cannondale with freewheel-worth fixing?
 

I have an old cannondale from about 1983 in storage. It needs new wheels, has a quill type stem and was one of the early base models. I am not certain when the wider dropouts and casette hubs were introduced but I understand if I buy a new wheelset, it needs to be specially constructed from obsolete parts. If I use new style wheels, I would have to bend the frame (not a good idea),I have no particular love for the bike but I am wondering if it is worth a rebuild.

Would you bother to rebuild an early Cannondale?

Don't worry, it'll be fine. On of my first crit-bikes was one of those fat-tube Cannondales; super-stiff for crits, but well pound you and give bruises on road-races. ;)

Anyway, upgraded from 7-spd to 8-spd when Shimano first came out with it. No problems spreading the drop-outs 2mm per side. The Shimano freehub actually had a beveled lock-nut for this exact purpose; to spread the dropouts as you push the wheel in. You can get these locknuts from any bike shop and upgrade most rear-wheels that use a 10x1mm axle.

Measure the distance of the dropouts. It is probably 126mm. I have an old 80s steel frame and have managed to get a 9speed rear wheel on it. Its only a 4mm stretch I think?? You can find plenty of wheelsets on craigs or ebay that will work out for you.

What's this !! 2 common sense replies, and 0 replies explaining how your aluminum bike will explode if you spread the dropouts a few mm !!! (My Cannondale hasn't exploded yet) Oh yeah, this isn't the road forum :lol:

If it's 122mm, I wouldn't bother.

Would I bother? Depends on what you mean by rebuilding...

If it doesn't hold much sentimental value, evaluate how little you can get away with to bring it to the desired level of function. A new wheelset, in particular, will probably cost more than the bike can fetch on the used market. (Though maybe, if you reuse the hubs and shop around for the other components, you can do fairly well.) Upgrading it with the latest fashionable bits is very different from fixing what's broken and getting the machine back on the road, and I personally wouldn't bother with the former.

My roommate's bike is an old 5-speed freewheel derailer Schwinn, found abandoned in the basement of an apartment building. He gleefully gets around on it after about $8 worth of replacement parts and a few hours of labor (donated by me). Sure, it has clunky friction shifting and no pins and ramps, but after some work it is safe and effective. Standard rebuild measures, like overhauls of the hubs (I only replaced the headset and overhauled the BB) and new cable work, would have been worthwhile, too. Had he wanted to upgrade the gearing, wheelset, quill stem, etc., it would have cost tens of times as much. At that point, he could just have gotten a new bike with nice modern components and a much lower overall weight.

There's always the argument of the nice frame geometry and styling of older bikes justifying the expense of major replacements. I definitely can see the logic in doing this with, say, a sweet old Raleigh, and I have done such rebuilds myself. I'm not sufficiently familiar with '80s Cannondales to comment on their value in this regard, however.

I've been riding and enjoying an older Canondale for about 10 to 11 years now. Granted I had to find an old 105 7 speed wheel to replace the rather crude 6 speed freewheel setup and Biopace rings but it's proven to be a great bike. It ended up being my ride of choice for all my longer trips over the years.

Now granted I've seen warnings to check for cracks in the frame but so far so good.

Thanks guys. Will try it.

its worthless, just ship it to me and i'll dispose of it properly.

Xiamsamyx there is a nefarious fool. If you send it to him, calamity will befall you and your family.

Send it to me instead.

I can't believe it... 10 posts and nobody suggested converting it to a fixie / SS ?

:)

M58