RiddleOfSteel

SR600/700, eh? I really like this small era of Cannondale. Metallic colors, racing bikes, clean graphics, traditional geometry, with the 2.5" trail up front. Great handling bikes.

Previously on Show Us Your Vintage Cannondale:

It was this same 63cm navy blue metallic SR400 with 3x10 Veloce (and other Campy friends, including Record/Open Pro wheels), which was very nice, but the bars were too narrow and my very tall '82 Raleigh was kindly asking me for them.

The spark of thought occurred in my mind to take the Dura Ace off the Masi and put it on this, with the expectation that the gleaming pieces would jump out in contrast to the deep blue paint. Consider those expectations met.

So far I haven't ridden a Cannondale of this era that rides harshly. Sure, the aluminum reacts more quickly to bumps and everything relative to steel, but it's certainly not harsh. And I run 23mm tires. Saddle and saddle height is huge. Having nice bar tape as well. Maybe it's just because the frame is tall and the tubes long enough to get a little more absorption into the ride equation. The handling is pure and smooth. The Dura Ace hubs spin for days, with the freehub body nearly silent. The bike gliiiiiiiiides.

Spec list:

7400 Dura Ace - hubs laced to Mavic MA2 polished, single pivot brake levers, FD, 175mm crankset 53/42T
7800 Dura Ace - RD
7900 Dura Ace - 10-speed downtube shifters--indexed
Not Dura Ace - Shimano BL400 levers (same body stamping and hoods as 6403 (600))
Prologo Scratch Pro 1.4 saddle, Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX 700x23 (both for killer used deals, thankfully)

rccardr 

So...bought this frame and some assorted bits and bobs from Shoota back in January. Frame was basically solid but (as Shoota warned me) had some bubbling and corrosion issues under the paint. After a substantial amount of sanding and paint removal, worked with a new-to-me powder coater here in VA to lay down some dark green.


Build is pretty basic 10 speed wide range, with an R600 compact crankset and a 12-28 cassette, bar end shifters, Tektro R200 levers and Tektro R539 brakes. Used a threadless conversion slug and a set of shallow bars, with new decals from Vintage Cannondale & Vittoria Zaffiro 28's. Wheelset is Shimano 1051 converted to 8-9-10 speed freehub width and Wolber rims.


I think it looks very...touring-ish:

ApolloSoyuz1975

Handsome! What's your handlebar wrap of choice?

Falcon3

What bars are those? Bike is beautiful.

Falcon3

86 SR500. Went with a 1055 group set. It was in abysmal shape when I got it at the pawn shop covered in spray paint and severely neglected. Powder coat, new decals, and a full overhaul brought it back to its form. Even found a modern Cannondale saddle in the LBS junk box!

RiddleOfSteel

I think it looks very beautiful-ish! Excellent green. I am not a touring bike geometry guy as I like my tighter measurements (see: all my bikes...), but Cannondale really nailed their frame proportions, IMO, and yours is no exception.

Bikedud

Love the green. Where did you get your Cannondale replacement decals?

rccardr 

Bar tape is generic gel type from eBay seller 'Abaxo', comes in a bunch of colors, lasts for years and costs under $10 shipped. I also like the similar (perhaps even the same) stuff from Nashbar.

Shallow bars are made by EIS, purchased online, there are lots of them out there with the same bend in 31.8 sizing.

Decals came from Vintage Cannondale, still the best in my opinion.

himespau 

Yeah, I love the color. It seems that there were ST1000 in the late 80's that were roughly that color and I've always sort of wanted one.

bradtx

@RiddleOfSteel, For a Cannondale roadie I will always associate them with the cantilevered rear drop outs. The 2.8 is simply a great frame and was the basis for several later designs.
@rccardr, The caliper brake ST frames just make excellent and attractive run-abouts. Just about all of my single dark colored, non metallic painted Cannondales look better with dark rims, stem, handle bar, and seat post.

Great work to both.

Brad

tyler_fred

Looks very British Racing Green...I like it!

tyler_fred

Good job. I too am a big fan of Shimano 105 6-8spd's. Was the bike originally red?

Falcon3

Hard to tell under all the layers of spray paint but it looked like it may have been the salmon coloring of an 86 SR800. None of the parts matched though as the 86 SR800 had Superbe Pro. it had the 1055 group that wasn't on any 86 model. The SR400/500 had Cyclone or 600. I figured race car red was always a good option for a cannondale SR. Decals were from VintageCannondale and were very nice.

Cptimagine

This ones been down Mehiko way 15+ years, repainted in urban camo mode . Rode it through Belieze into Guatamala as well . The curb warnings loosely translate to " Don't @@@@ with the Crocodiles ."

scorbeil

This is my Frankenbike.
Short story... I bought the plum colored 1985 SR300 new in Baltimore, MD (the receipt said SR400, but who am I to argue). It also came (listed on the receipt) with Shimano 105 components. Some time in 1988 it was stolen from my garage in Phoenix, AZ. I had to bring my receipt to the dealer in Phoenix because they didn't believe I had that bike with the 105 group. After some discussion, it was replaced by my insurance carrier with a 1988 SR500 in Blueberry. I owned it several months when the derailleur hanger broke off for no apparent reason. Cannondale replaced it under warranty, but they had no 1988 SR frames in Blueberry, so they offered me a 3.0 frame in what colors were available. I chose red, not realizing they were not also replacing the fork. So, this is how I wound up with a 3.0 frame in red, with a one year older off-color fork and Shimano 105 components. I didn't ride her for a number of years. I took her out of storage last year and cleaned her up. This year I replaced the saddle, grip tape and brake hoods. I would like to replace the wheels and add some gears. I've seen some posts about custom upgrades folks have done but I recognize the 126mm spacing is an issue. Ideas? Thoughts?

bradtx

scorbell, My '89 has had a series of 130 mm OLD rear hubs for nearly 20 years, not a problem if there are no pre existing faults with the rear triangle.

Brad

Darth Lefty 

There was a teenager or perhaps a little older at the Granite Bay Dutch Bros, with a pretty nice old MTB. It had a polished delta/killer V frame with cantilever dropouts, and a fork with triple clamps like a motorcycle.

vtchuck

Just finished setting it up for my son.

JohninMT

1991 Road Tandem - bought it new but its been in storage since about 1993. Getting it tuned up and ready to ride again.

AzDzrtRat

My 1997 CAD 3 R900, I think by the components and the year. Was all 600 Ultegra when I picked it up last year. The brifters quit and replaced with microshift until I find some decent 600's.

2morrow

Just picked up a SR300 serial shows mfg date of 08/07/1989 but it is spec'ed with 7 speed Edge components as a 1990 model. I sold a metric crap ton of these back in the day... (Worked at a shop back in college.) Black paint is ruff but no dings or dents. Still calculating my next move... resto-mod & repaint or just clean up and ride.

sdn40

Finished my first build. Began the journey to keep up with my daughter and my old bike just wasn't cutting it. After seeing the prices on new bikes and nearly having a heart attack, my research started. One thing lead to another and I found myself here. Hours and hours of browsing and I was hooked. Kudos to all that do this, I found out that while anyone can do it, it's not as easy as first thought. Things are not as compatible as I first thought. I know some purists will not feel the vibe, but this is the picture that I got in my head and had to see it through

Started off as a beat up 88 Cannondale Criterium. I had read about them and immediately got an image in my head. Flat black powder coat, rims off Craigslist and some other parts off ebay. Stumbled across the drilled crankset and had to have it as I think its the coolest thing. Followed suit on the brake levers. 9 speed Ultegra front and rear with DuraAce shifters. Got things pretty well where I wanted. The final product turned out pretty much as I pictured. I have to finish up the final details and will find out if she is for me. Searching for parts was fun, but I can say that once you have a brand new powder coat, you tend to be pretty picky and no matter what you do the budget ends up a bit higher than you thought. Not sure about vinyl decals. They give you flexibility but nothing like the waterslide. Good news is I can change them out whenever I want and even go another color scheme should the mood strike.

At the end of the day, I don't know what this bike is worth vs something new from a bike shop, but it was pretty cool to see it come to life and my daughter helped with some ideas and I could teach her a few life lessons about saving money and that her old man still knows a thing or two (with the backing of you guys of course).When I told her that I could build something just as good as new she was originally like yea yea sure dad and I think the final product shocked her so that's always a good thing. I'm still not as cool as Taylor Swift or One Direction though.

himespau 

That is a sweet ride.

OldsCOOL

One cool Criterium! Way to stick with it! I'm digging the decals, too. Themes are similar with our '88s and I'm guessing you will love riding yours as I do mine. These bikes perform. Enjoy!

capt_clark

...here's a picture about an hour before i decided to eventually replace the handlebars this past weekend. i laid it down in some woods. we're ok. little pissed. but whatever.