I'm a bit of a Cannondale fan. it started back in the days when Cippolini was riding for Saeco and getting dis-invited to the Tour de France for antics like showing up in a toga, etc. I have been looking for a very clean Cannondale Saeco for a couple of years. I came across this one on Craig’s List and had to have a look. I traveled a long way to see it. It's honestly the cleanest example I’ve ever seen... actually, it's the cleanest 20 year old bike I've ever seen.
It's just about bone stock. It has an Ultegra group set. It also has a Shimano Flight Deck computer which is integrated with the brifters. It will only configure up to 9 rear sprockets - pretty sure that was an original add on by the original owner.
The bike looks like it might have 500 miles on it. Maybe less. The tires are Michelin Axial Pro. Spec sheets for this bike state that these were the original tires. They have virtually no wear on them. And they are not rotted or dry suggesting that the bike was stored really well. (I am not going to ride those tires.)
About the only thing that does not appear to be stock is the saddle, which I think should be a CODA Expert Road (made by Selle Italia). The seat post is supposed to be a Thompson offset. Mine's a Thompson, but not a set back. It seems possible that the owner opted to swap in a straight seat post, or it was an option in those days. A bit of a mystery there. Anyway, mostly correct and where it is not correct, it appears that the parts substituted are period parts in the same condition as the rest of the bike. This suggests to me that it was configured by the original owner at sale or shortly after.
And then hardly ridden.
One minor flaw no depicted. There is a scratch on the right side in the area of the Saeco sticker, between the logo and the S. I am actually going to see if I can get an auto detailer to fix this.
Overall a beautiful bike and a grail find for me. Almost too nice to ride. I am not much for having bikes that are not used, but on this one I’m a little torn. It’s waited 20 years to be ridden. Yet should it be at this point? Thoughts? My inclination is to ride it - take good care of it and be careful with it, but love it and ride it. If I don't, I'll have to sell it.
The wheels are known to be a bit of an issue. Not sure why. They are Open Pro with DT spokes and CODA Hubs. However, people complained endlessly in the day about these wheels going out of true all the time. Frankly, the gold or orange/yellow color is a bit much to my eye. Not a great match for anything on the bike. So I am going to true them, remove them and bag them in case I ever want to sell this bike. I will find a good set of red CXP33 or even Mavic Heliums (also anodized red) and use those.
I do have a set of Mavic Ksyrium SL SSC in silver that would be a nice match - the stickers are the right colors anyway, and they are a handsome, functional and bulletproof set of wheels weighing in at 1485g. Just the thing this bike needs to take it below 19 pounds.
CAAD4s are not known for their comfort. I might also use a slightly more modern Carbon-railed saddle, perhaps a Fizik. Thompson sells an adapter that allows use of 7x9 rails. I might opt for the Thompson setback as well. We'll see. Winter coming so I have plenty of time. I'll start with the wheels so I can get it out on the bike path and see what I can see.
Again, thoughts?
Regards,
woof!
