Originally Posted by aliasfox

Nice looking Cannondale. The April 2001 manufacture date suggests this could be a 2002 model, and the Headshok might put it in some sort of comfort or cross category - might be worth looking in that section.

In addition to new tires, your shop may also suggest getting new cables and housing. Any lubricant in the housings would long have since dried up, leaving a gunky sticky mess that will make braking and maybe shifting feel very poor. But may also be worth going on a few rides before making that decision - having a shop install a full set of cables and re-wrap the bar tape isn’t cheap.

As for tires, most models from most brands will be fine. Vittoria Rubinos, Continental UltraSports and GranPrixes, Schwalbe Ones - can’t really go wrong. If you’re having your shop do the work, just pick what they have in stock. I would recommend sticking with Kevlar/folding bead rather than saving the money and going for wire bead, though, as you can save up to 1lbs by going with folding.

For the record, I’m 5’10” with a 33 true inseam (wear 30” pants), and my bikes are 55cm and ML (medium long). Your bike might be a tad short, but probably not enough of a difference to be worth immediately changing, especially as a new rider - the shorter fit would just be less aggressive. As you get used to things you many want to go longer and lower, but 10-20mm shorter front to back probably won’t make a big difference to start, at least on shorter rides. And as another poster mentioned, the headshok likely already makes the front end a little taller than typical.

Enjoy!