alpharalpha

Of any road bike I've owned, the Cannondale St500 is a favorite; loved the stiff responsive feel; like whatever energy I put into pedaling 100% transferred right into forward speed. Hard to find this classic, and am wondering if there are other reasonably priced touring bikes with a reasonable comparison to that? I'm 6' and like a large frame; don't race, so a more relaxed touring type frame is better for me; I just ride around town. I own a hybrid Trek 7100, bought an old 1970s fuji road bike for riding in areas the trek might be more theft prone, but have found I prefer the fuji and would like to get back into a road bike like that Cannondale; figure people here would know more about bikes, might know some that are similar; don't have to be vintage, but not too expensive either.

rccardr 

25" ST's are not that hard to find. There's an '85 on eBay right now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-Cannon...AAOSw5cZcNBu6b
And another, later one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-25-VIN...kAAOSwltxcR5hu

Unless you really like the period components and 27" wheels, strip it down to the bare frame and install more modern 9-10 speed stuff like this:

revcp 

Not sure why, but the Twin Cities area now has several Cannondales and a few Kleins (should ride similarly) on the FB Marketplace and Craigs. Links below. I'd be happy to facilitate.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...1388876861011/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5727920909799/

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...947646974.html

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...960431414.html

revcp 

This is very pretty. If the OP likes the look of this, the yellow Klein I posted in the link above would be perfect for him. If the Klein were my size it would not be available.

bikemig 

Yeah I see vintage cannondale touring bikes on a fairly regular basis on my CL (the ST 400 and 500s, the ones with cantilever brakes not as much).

They're great bikes. If I were the OP and I loved how an ST 500 rides, I'd get the same thing. I know I love how my 1985 Cannondale ST 400 rides.

stardognine

Umm, why not just get another ST500? 😉 I'd sell my '85 for 1 million dollars! 😁😉

Lascauxcaveman 

@alpharalpha, I would think they'd pretty easy to find, especially if you live in or near a big city in the USA. Keep a sharp eye on CL and be ready to pounce.

mkeller234

The 90s aluminum Treks might fit the bill. I had a 1990 Trek 1420 that I liked a lot. It had a replacement steel fork like the cannondale. The 1420 was the version that came with long cage Deore equipment. It was a great bike and they are usually pretty cheap.

the sci guy 

Is this your bike or did you find a pic somewhere? I only ask because I'd love to know what stem that is. The R300 I just picked up I want to do a threaded-to-threadless adapter stem to run a modern 31.8 clamp just like that appears to be and it's nice and slammed and seemingly perfect from my vantage point here on the couch lol

rccardr 

Yes that is my Cannondale. Only real change since that picture is a Deore RD and 11-34 cassette. Travels all over the USA, has accompanied me on organized group rides and centuries in California, Washington state, Idaho, Wisconsin and Virginia. Most years sees more miles than any other bike in my collection.

Seatpost, stem and bars are all Cannondale C3, usually available at a reasonable price, often as a package set.

bikemig 

Is that an '87 ST 400? Did you spread the rear triangle?

I really like my '85 ST 400. I just finished Bike Ride Around Minnesota which averaged right around 60 miles a day. The bike handles great and having braze ons for 3 water bottles is a big plus on long days. I originally set the bike up with a compact crank but I liked the way the bike rode so much that I decided to run a triple with 3 x 7 gearing.

rccardr 

It's an 88.
130 OLD rear hub slides right in with a little thumb pressure.

the sci guy 

sorry I meant the threaded adapter the stem is clamped to - anything special there?

rccardr 

Not really. It's a standard Profile Design unit.

alpharalpha

That yellow Cannondale looks like the one I had, same yellow, oversized tubing. I don't know if mine was exactly an st500, just going on pics of similar for reference, had it back in the early 90s purchased as used trade in from local bike shop. It had a very large front sprocket; a friend that I used to race with would often comment on it, 61 is what comes to mind; did these old Cannondales come with very large front chainrings? I know it allowed for high top speeds.

stardognine

Hey doc, have you ever tried a 36-tooth low cassette, on an ST? I had issues with one, but on a different wheel, so not sure if it's a smart buy, lol. I can buy a brand new one in 36, but he doesn't have any 34s. I might very well wait to hit a bigger town, lol. Thanks. 🙂

rccardr 

I'm not aware of any Cannondale ever coming from the factory with anything larger than a 53 big ring.

rccardr 

I haven't tried a 36 but don't see why it wouldn't work with that Deore RD.

trailmix

I have a 36 tooth on the back of an 85 ST500. Runs through a Deore long-cage derailleur with bar-end shifters and works great.

stardognine

Awesome! Thanks guys. 👍

alpharalpha

[QUOTE=rccardr;21087633]I'm not aware of any Cannondale ever coming from the factory with anything larger than a 53 big ring.[/QUOTE


Then it was most likely 53 or similar, thinking about it 61 came to mind probably because I had just been looking at frame sizes and 61cm was a size I had seen; 25 years ago and I wasn't really paying much attention, we worked together and would sometimes ride back at the same time; he'd want to race but had a mountain bike so the comment was regarding my advantage. But it did seem to be larger than other road bikes I had.

due ruote 

Do you mean 130? Isn’t it 9 speed?

stardognine

Actually, I think he meant 126, with 9-speed. 9-speed fits, but you have to convince it a little. 😁

rccardr 

Corrected the post.
Hub is a 130, dropouts are 126-ish. Wheel slides in with only slight encouragement.
No need for cold setting or to realign the dropout. Shifts perfectly and has many, many, many miles on that setup.

trailmix

I have always been reluctant to spread the rear triangle so I have spent years hoarding decent 126mm hubs and now 6 speed Shimano freewheels are getting harder to find. Figures.