embankmentlb

My wife is giving me a Wahoo Kicker Core for Christmas. I am very excited.
I would like to use it with my 1987 Cannondale Crit Frame because it is rock solid and not much good for anything else. I have a more modern Klein with a glued rear triangle. I do not think it will hold up on the trainer.
Anyway, my question, what issues could there be with spreading the rear of the Dale from 126 to 130 on the Wahoo?
I suppose can run an 8 or 9 speed cassette with friction down tube shifters. There are a few things to work through.
I appreciate any advice. Thanks!

unterhausen

My guess is it will fit right on without too much struggle. Sounds like a good bike for a trainer. Kickrs don't work well with horizontal dropouts, but it appears your C'dale has vertical dropouts

veganbikes

I wouldn't want to spread a frame that old. Plus the bike is probably using a 5-6 speed freewheel so you would need to adjust gearing and shifting and it all seems a lot of faff for a trainer. I love direct drive trainers but they don't work well with vintage bikes unless It is modern enough to use a HG cassette.

zacster

If your 87 C'Dale is like my 87 C'Dale, you may be OK. The spacing on these is actually 128 not 126 even if it is 6 speed. They were built to accept either a 126 or 130 hub. The Core uses an 11sp "hub" and that is 131. If you run 8 or 9 speed I believe you need the 1.8mm spacer behind the cassette, but if you aren't going to ever use the bike with a wheel it won't really matter because the spacer is to make it line up with the wheel for swapping. And with friction shifters indexing won't matter either. You will need a new chain too. When you mount the bike make sure you set the limit screws so the derailleur stays within range.

When you ride in ERG mode you don't need to shift, the trainer will change resistance based on the program being used so that you are always applying the correct power no matter gear or cadence. When used in simulation mode you'll shift for hills just as you would on the road. These are the two modes used most in Zwift. When used in level mode the trainer will provide a constant resistance regardless of what the program says and you will change your gearing and cadence to produce the desired power. Somewhere hidden in there is a workout version of Ohm's Law.

Darth Lefty 

The real problem is your old bike doesn't have a turboencabulator

70sSanO

Even though others have spread Cannondale's to 130mm, I've always been hesitant to do so. However, since it is not much good for anything else, I'd do it. It will probably work fine and worst case you are not really losing anything.

John

samkl 

Funny. I have a 1987 Cannondale racing frame on my Wahoo Kickr and it works perfectly. It's not hard to spread the frame enough to fit it on the trainer.

I've ridden that bike thousands of miles with a 130mm wheel with no problem.

I'd be curious if anyone has actually experienced frame damage from using a 130mm wheel on an old Cannondale. Those frames are really overbuilt.

The only issue with the Kickr Core will be the drivetrain, as the posters above have mentioned.

TiHabanero

I agree with samkl, you should have no problems spreading the rear end enough to fit the Wahoo to the opening. Seriously doubt any weld failures will result from flexing the rear end 5mm to fit the Core.

I have a mid-eighties Razessa on the Core that I use and it works just fine. The horizontal drop outs present zero problems. Running it as 9 speed and only had to tweak the inner and out stop screws just slightly. No big deal.

zacster

And why don't you think that frame is good for anything else? It is a perfectly good frame. They were light and stiff. They are old school though.

veganbikes

Some people dislike vintage bikes. The latest and greatest is sometimes nice but a classic frame is just hard to beat.

rccardr 

It will be fine.

embankmentlb

You are correct. It is a perfectly good frame. I have probably 5 vintage steel bikes and 2 Klein’s that I ride regularly.
The Dale excepts tires no bigger than 23s making it one harsh ride. For the past many years it stayed on the turbo trainer. It works well for that.

zacster

I remember the first time I rode that C'Dale. My wife (then girlfriend) bought it so she could ride with me. I took it for a quick ride just to see what it was like. Back in that day it was still a new concept, Klein did it but those were rare, and then Cannondale came out. Everything else was steel and I wanted to see what it was like. It was quite a revelation. It was stiff as could be and could climb, but yes the ride was very harsh and you felt every bump in the road. Fast forward 30+ years and I took that same bike out for a spin after I upgraded the brakes and made it look nice again after sitting in the basement and NOT rusting. It needed new cables of course, new tape, new levers as the old hoods had rotted, and calipers too as it needed pads but they were crappy Dia-Compe brakes so I figured new calipers too, Campy Veloce. And then my daughter wanted bar top levers so I put on cross levers too. I put GP4000/5000 tires on, 23 as you say, because they had come off my bikes after I put 25/28 on mine. So I ride carbon now as a lot of us do. Anyway, I took it for a spin after fixing it up like this and was amazed at the ride. That thing was a rocket. I'm sure it has to do with putting it through its paces but I could push that thing and it would take off. Aside from the brakes and tires it was still pretty much stock, the wheels, drivetrain, bars, the pedals for the ride though were my Assiomas because I wanted to wear cleats. My daughter uses flat pedals. And it stops on a dime. They are very nice calipers, with Tektro levers. Overall though the ride wasn't nearly as harsh as I thought it would be.

embankmentlb

The Cannondale is on and It works great!