Originally Posted by
siearly
Wow, lots of good information. I have a lot to think about. I appreciate knowing all the options. I do have a local bike coop that will help me work on the bike and sell me used parts, they just didn't have the crankset. Thank you to everyone who responded.
I had two early 90’s Cannondale road bikes - R400 and R800 / 900
the R400 was a 7 speed - the R800 / 900 was a 8 speed
first thing I did to the drivetrain was to change the rear cassette to a 12-28 cassette
I was able to use the existing chain and rear derailleur with no changes
as others mentioned - a cassette change would be a good first / easy step … cassettes are available … 12-28 … maybe 11-30 or 11-32 depending on your rear derailleur … ? … a new chain should also be used with a new / different cassette
if the cassette change alone does not provide lower gears - your current crankset might be limited to 38t small ring minimum (which would barely be a change from your current 39t) - so a new / different crankset (maybe a compact 50-34 or whatever) might be the next possible step