Originally Posted by
Pantah
You mean like this? I know it's a bit older than anything CAAD8 (it's a 1999), but it's still a stars and stripes paint job. This was a fun project too and is quite light, somewhere in the mid-18 pound range. Full and original Dura Ace end to end. $300 craigslist score. My Klein Quantum was $400 off facebook marketplace.
Also, big time Cannondale fan here, I say get one!
Well I did it. Went to look at this one that was local and then made a deal with the seller. Seems to be a 2006 with a fairly decent build. Pretty grimy when I picked it up but with a well tuned, bike under the dirt. Only need a good cleaning and some basic maintenance to sort it out. Once I swapped on my pedals and some bottle cages it weighed in at a respectable 17 lbs 8 ozs. Hardly any real marks in the paint and I haven't seen any dings or other issues. This one doesn't show up in the catalogs but all the Paramount Racing decals are under the clear coat. So most like done at the factory. The guy I got it from said he understood it to be an old team bike. Once I dialed in the saddle position the stem I got it with was just fine. Bars are wider than my normal 42cm bars but actually felt fine to me on today's first test ride.
Now I'm still struggling with some messed up lungs so I haven't ridden hard in over a week. Went out on this just to shake the bike down to see how things worked on the road. But after an easy start I noticed the bike was moving along smartly. So even without being able to breath right I pushed for decent pace. The bike felt very good on the road and I'm sure It's going to prove to be quite fast. Felt a tad harsh on some of the rougher sections of road but for the most part the ride was quite nice. Even with the jacked up lungs I managed to run 18.8 mph AVG for a 24 mile ride. Took all I had though and I think the pace is more due to the responsiveness of the frame than it was my poor effort.
Edit: After several more rides on this bike that pace above seems to be about all I can do it on. Not sure if I'm missing a mechanical issue or if the bike itself is just holding me back. It's definitely slower right now than pretty much everything else I'm riding.
How I brought it home, looked good, just dirty
Cleaned and serviced up, fit dialed in, Keo pedals added with some new bottle cages.
Nice details
Metal flake in the blue
A very nice gloss to the whole frame
Can't find much on this bike, Orange County Wheelmen did have a Paramount Racing Team in 2006 so maybe that's where this came from.
The paint on this is cool but not the same standard as my Klein in my opinion.