ThirdCog

Thanks rccardr and brad...May be time to really go crazy.

PastorBob! Congrats to your daughter and hope you get those wheels rolling asap!

Thanks guys.

And back to the subject of crit frame....oldsCOOL, in your honor, I ventured out into town and did 6 miles of circular laps on a street/parking lot area locally that outlines a set of local soccer fields. Found some old chunky headlight in a box here, tossed it on and got out there about 10:00pm. Had the local sheriff rolling through looking. Got to dig into those corners. Seemed like the BL was just wanting more.

Gotta get me one of those new fancy headlights...I don't ride at night much, but nothing like finding that big E.T.-looking head sitting on my bars.



Anyway, yes, this bike just snaps around. I have to say, too, I love the fork on this thing...While I like the larger forks on newer bikes, this thing seems to just keep it dialed in, do the job, and not take up space. I haven't lost teeth from it yet.

neo_pop_71

Holy cow... look how tightly tucked up that rear tire is to the back of the seat tube, I've seen track frames that have more clearance!

I too dig that bar tape!

The best price I could find online was on Ebay for $21.45 + $3.04 s/h, does $24.49 seem in the ball park with what you paid? I ask because I saw prices over 50 bucks for this tape. I want to be sure I buy what you have on your C'dale beauty.

Thanks for sharing!

-D-

OldsCOOL

Arent these things a blast to ride? I went from a super flexy TrueTemper1 frame on a gorgeous little Trek 460 to this rock solid rocket booster. People would not understand any explanation without going for a ride around town or comparing strava times. Crits carve up corners like it's on rails. Dig the light! If we didnt have so many deer and porcupines I would ride our bike path and country roads. Nothing brings back kid memories like a headlight.

130mm wheels. Fantastic. Once you get used to spreading the dropouts, it's a piece of cake. As @rccardr said, put it in and forget about it. Weight reduction varies due to tire and tube selection but also noting the 7sp freewheels I'm used to are like a little boat anchor. Altogether I guess about a 2.5lb cut.

ETA: the frameset came to me with a Sakae Litage aluminum fork (vintage stuff). Not sure if it is much lighter than steel but REALLY adds to the front brake response and tracks well with the 74deg headtube angle.

pastorbobnlnh 

Porcupines are a hoot to cross paths with! As long as you don't come in direct contact!

I was once riding on the cart path of a local golf course after it had closed for winter. It was early evening when I came across a porcupine plodding along without a care in the world. When it spotted me heading down the path (on a Cannondale MTB with quiet smooth tires), it took off down the slope towards the creek, but remained on the path. It then ran across the wooden cart bridge. It sounded like a bass drummer, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump--- all the way across that 30 foot bridge!

OldsCOOL

It's the crazy squirrel-in-the-spokes stories that freak me out when I do a strava down our sometimes secluded path doing 21+mph. Yikes.

I have come close to having deer hit me in broad daylight in the city limits. Had to jam the brakes hard to avoid it. My thought was "this will get dangerous".

ThirdCog

OH yes, the wildlife...

We too have a particular path that people use for riding or running/walking here. TONS of squirrels, rabbits, and deer. I've been out running a number of times, especially in winter season, and have had large masses of deer come flying - literally - out of the woods, across the path, just feet in front of me. Talk about having to change your shorts...those deer don't move slowly. I had a few rides out there and had too much effort expended dodging the squirrels/rabbits that I quit rolling out there - oh, and armadillo and possum as well. Occasionally, a beaver....

At least riding crazy quick laps in a parking lot at night only had me dodging a sheriff and some local drug locals. Flat tire or *** fire? You decide. At least I felt fast on the crit frame and had that 40 pound light on my bars, heavy and bright enough to have to register it as a weapon.

Hey guys, thanks again for the 130mm confidence.

neo_pop_71

Man, you guys got it made, I'd love to see some woodland creatures! All we have on the river trail around here are gangsters, winos, hobos, and the occasional FNG road warrior that has no concept of the dotted line being the directional lane divider! At least your creatures keep their paws on the ground, these fools brandish 40oz. bottles of malt liquor, "Hey homey, that's a nice bike, lemme check it out, aye!" It's amazing what a Silca pump or a full water bottle will do to someone's dome at speed! My personal favorite is the stainless steel thermos of coffee that fits perfectly in the bottle cage... that thing has 3 serious battle scars on the bottom lip, it will hardly stand up anymore but it sure keeps the morning brew piping hot!

Cheers motherf*cker, I'm not your homey!!!

OldsCOOL

That's urban warfare!

neo_pop_71

No way... that's the happiest place on Earth! Seriously, the river trail is a 10 minute ride from Disneyland, what a joke! You'd think some of that near $100.00 entrance fee per person would make it into the community but instead they got a personalized multi-million dollar off ramp from Interstate 5 straight into the Magic Kingdom... I've got no love for the mouse!!!

pastorbobnlnh 

Funny how there can be such contrasts in living. I've been to Disney L and Disney W and when I left each time--- I was glad someone else had paid for my ticket. Now that my daughter is married, and there is a future possibility for grandchildren, I'm guessing that at some point, I will have to go back and will HAVE to pay for the tickets (thanks Mrs. PB).

Back on topic: I will finally be back in NH late Monday night night so should be able to go for a ride on Tuesday. Can't wait! I've not been on a bike since July 5th.

What should I ride? At the moment these four are ready to roll as soon as I top off the air in the tires: Schwinns--- '71 Super Sport or '75 Voyageur II. Cannondales--- '93 R600 or '01 CAAD4.

At this particular moment, I'm leaning towards the '93 R600--- The pedal version of a "crotch rocket."

Any other opinions?

OldsCOOL

Cant go wrong if it starts with "R".

Today is rest day for me. Tomorrow is saddle time. I've had the past few saturdays off from distance rides even though last weekend was a tough 40 with the crazy headwinds. I'll shoot for a metric and see where things go from there.

bradtx

Bob, I hope to chug around this weekend on the '99 CAAD3.

OldsCOOL, I changed the color for the SR build to Kia Latte Brown because Cannondale already produced a white frame with red decals.

Brad

pastorbobnlnh 

"R" for "Rocket"

ThirdCog

Latest story with excitement level of maybe 2 of 10 scale...

Saw where a town north of here about 90 miles was having group rides on Tues/Thurs evenings. They start at a rail to trail trailhead at an LBS there and ride. "All paces welcome" they said. I think I admitted to y'all that I'm new/green as hell. Never ridden a true group ride, although I know of the general protocol(s)/rules, but just haven't experienced them formally. I arrived early and talked to shop folks for a minute who said they usually have about 20 riders, all levels. Great.

5 others show up. That's it. I was number 6. So, I asked if it was ok if I joined in for part of the ride and gained some experience (with respect and apologies). They thought I was crazy to ask and seemed glad to have me join in. I failed to ask how far they were going. I also failed to think about how far my longest ride has been to date.

Anyway, I jumped in and experienced all kind of great hills, high speed cornering (with loose gravel...my pants are still needing to be cleaned) and some good paceline work. Ended up with a MUCH higher avg pace that I've ever had for any ride and right at 30 miles once done. I won't tell you what my longest ride was prior to this. Let's say that it was an evening of personal bests. This wasn't the casual group. Ha! I'm glad too...great way to learn. Good folks.

All that to say, a couple of them were amazed with the bike....hadn't seen one before. They had no idea what it was or how old it was. When I told them the date of 1988, they flipped.
Since owning the bike, which hasn't been long, that ride was the harshest (rough roads) it's been on yet. I had moments where I thought the thing would surely just snap in half on me, but end of the night, I checked it all out and the thing was fine, of course. I was glad to put it through some of those zones for a 30 mile ride.

Hills....even though I had the original more narrow range cassette back on it, it still climbed those hills like crazy. I didn't think I'd be able to keep up, but did.

Still....I'm the engine, and damn...I need work. Great, great evening of learning and learning to dig in more with the bike, seeing what it can do and what I can do. Thanks to you guys who commented on these frames and cornering, etc. Really, I had no problems, but thought about some of the comments made.

Nothing like rolling along about 25mph on country back roads (that gray top, rough junk) coming up on tight corners with loose gravel thrown about, a pack of dogs on both sides and a pissed off HEMI diesel growling right behind you. I've got to grow some thicker skin. But my bike looked the coolest. I had that.

neo_pop_71

Superb words ThirdCog! I don't have any conditions near me similar to what you described so vividly but I could picture those dogs and hear that Hemi along with the "PING" of that loose gravel striking metal. I feel like I can almost smell the air at dusk... thanks for a great share! Plenty of "pro" writers in the bike magazines that can't paint the picture you did, really well done!

-D-

p.s. Congrats on earning your stripes with that first group ride... pretty awesome for a green FNG to hang on a pressed group ride! Next one when it's your turn to lead out, push it up to 28mph, you'll see what you and the group are made of!

OldsCOOL

Sounds like an interesting choice!

OldsCOOL

Not many will know that bike or what any Criterium Series bike is about these days. The modern bikes and MTBs have eclipsed the Classics. The best part....we can toss on modern parts are ride with the newest and latest. Hey, nice ride!

OldsCOOL

Rode a little 60mi today, had a blast. I heard some talk of 'bents being faster than us on the downhills so I put it to the test. I rode up and followed the 'bent at the top, we descended at the same speed. I was in a racing aero tuck and caught and passed him surprisingly quick. I would guess he and bent were heavier than me and Critter yet I rolled up and past him. He pedalled the entire descent and I didnt pedal until I was next to him.

Anyways, an unashamed water pic on the day:

pastorbobnlnh 

shipwreck

Man, after reading this thread for a while, I am gonna have to buy one. There is a fellow in town who was trying to get me to buy his last year, will have to see if he unloaded it or not. He said he would give me a deal on it, and I was smart enough to not even ask. I'm still paying student loans...

Till then, I do have a 91 Schwinn 974, and it rides a lot like everyone here is describing the Cannondale criterium's. Hardest gearing of all my bikes, fastest up the hills, stiff, corners like a hooker, and all that.

bradtx

shipwreck, The Cannondale would make a nice 'bookend' for your Schwinn/Klein.

Brad

OldsCOOL

We have 974 riders checking in here. Similar headtube geometry and wheelbase. Schwinn caught on to what the Cannondale riders have discovered.

Stradguy93

I bought mine off of Amazon, think it was around $25-30 shipped. Just want to get Velocals gold and black Chinelli finishing tape now.

pastorbobnlnh 

So--- my '93 R600 2.8--- came apart unexpectedly on my ride the other night--- sort of!

For the second time this riding season, the KMC 9 speed chain decided to shed its Missing Link Quick Connector. This time I was descending at about 25+mph, pedaling lightly in a high gear, and pop! No resistance. Looked down and there was the chain dragging the asphalt. I was about 3 miles from home and hadn't bothered to bring a replacement link--- and my wife wasn't home. In June this occurred about a mile closer to home on the same road.

But on to my main point:

I've been noticing the last few rides a good deal of "creaking" in the BB while pedaling. While the chain is off, should I pull the crankset and the ISIS BB and grease the BB shell threads? I did this lightly when I installed the ISIS. Or is something else going on? I do appreciate the guidance!

The creaky crank and BB in question:

Sir_Name 

I'd say that's a good start. Also make sure all bits are torqued to spec - pedals (with grease), chainring bolts (with Teflon tape), crank bolts, etc. Does the creaking occur both when seated and standing? Many sounds can perform a ventriloquist act with the BB/shell. Seat clamp and binder bolts are also worth checking.

Glad to hear that the chain went on vacation on the down-side of the hill rather than up-side. And without drama!