Originally Posted by
mtnbke
Now I could be wrong, but wasn't the switch to from the ST series Sport Touring bikes to the T series, didn't that happen after Cannondale hired the materials engineer from Stanford to design the "next-gen" Carbon bikes, and he told them he could just make their aluminum bikes lighter, stiffer, faster, stronger than anything carbon? He talked them out of carbon (for that moment) and he designed the 3.0 series frames instead. I think the T series followed those changes to everything. Everything ST was prior to his changes. The tandem bikes I thought kept the ST format through at least '92, I think.
Anyone know this better than I do?
Absolutely incorrect!
I could not stand the 1989 3.0 series SR bikes with the skinny seat stays and the cantilevered dropouts.
I wish Bicycling Magazine had done a Tarantula stiffness comparison between the 63cm frames of old vs new design...
The ST series frames remained visually identical from '85 til about '96 with the intro of the CAAD2.
Same oval seatstays, no cantilever dropouts.
The catalog indicates unicrown forks, but mine had the cast sloping crown from earlier years.
Same thing with the other tall poster on your other thread who has the same 27" T1000.
Interesting to note that most geometry charts after 1990 do not show the 27" frame.
I have, at times, seen it mentioned in the body of text on other pages of the catalog.
But, I assure you, other than dropout spacing and cantilever stud locations (700 became standard in '91)
there is no external difference between the '86 ST and the '92 T1000.
OOPS..they also went to a replaceable seatpost clamp in '91 I believe.
I believe that the pre '86 frames had smaller down tubes and fewer braze-ons.