1991 SE1000

petergt4

Well-Known Member
It has been considerable time, but I thought I'd update this post, considering other events unfolding rather quickly, which would seal the fate of this project.

When I left off, I did the welding repairs and was about to test fit components when I encountered another set-back... The head tube was worn out. I had a 1" headset in my stash of parts and I went about to test fit it, it just dropped in and wobbled! Normally, cups are sized 0.2mm bigger for an interference fit but it was now undersized. Sigh. I started to consider going to oversized 1" headsets (at 30.4mm), but then, they are very hard to come by and if the head tube needed to be reamed for that, who has 30.4mm reamers? I also thought maybe I should just use epoxy and glue the cups in, but then, how effective will that be long-term?

I put the frame aside and moved onto other projects.

I suppose the stars were aligned and I came across another Cannondale project to replace this one. I'll be posting about that soon. It's a good one!

I have gone ahead and painted this frame and it will be assembled and decalled. It is essentially a wall-hanger now and I am considering donating it to either a local bike museum (if they'll take it), or another far-away museum. Or if an individual wants to hang it on their wall... Either way, I don't consider this rideable. It served someone well and I'm sure they had fun riding it, but it's time is done.
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
Moulton used a 30.4 bottom cup on some of their bikes. Perhaps you could get two bottom cups from them. There were also East German and Austrian headsets made in 30.6 and 30.8 sizes. With careful measuring, I'm guessing you could file the head tube to fit an oversized headset. A small amount of out-of-round should not affect the area of the cups that contact the bearing.
 

Brian

Administrator
Staff member
Do you have photos of it? So sorry about the end of this frame. I think I would have one last try about adapting oversized. If not. Hang it up.

on the plus side... your SE2000 is a one of a kind...
 

petergt4

Well-Known Member
Moulton used a 30.4 bottom cup on some of their bikes. Perhaps you could get two bottom cups from them. There were also East German and Austrian headsets made in 30.6 and 30.8 sizes. With careful measuring, I'm guessing you could file the head tube to fit an oversized headset. A small amount of out-of-round should not affect the area of the cups that contact the bearing.

Yes, I gave that thought and did that research, but there are limited suppliers of these odd-ball headsets out there. I wasn't going to spend the time, especially now with the new SE2000.

It was still fun to do the repair and had been a while since I did thin-wall aluminum welding. It was an opportunity to learn more about heat-treating and such, so not a waste of time.
 

petergt4

Well-Known Member
Do you have photos of it? So sorry about the end of this frame. I think I would have one last try about adapting oversized. If not. Hang it up.

on the plus side... your SE2000 is a one of a kind...

Will post pics of it finished and possibly, where it ends up.
 

petergt4

Well-Known Member
So, it's time to conclude the saga of this frame. I was able to sell it to a local bike shop (https://velocitycycles.ca/) and the store owner Travis, absolutely loved it. He hasn't decided if he'll keep it as a frame, or build it up into a period correct bike. It would certainly be a display piece and will one day be a formal part of a museum he's thinking that he may open up (considering all of the other frames and bikes he's collected over the years). Here's how it finished up:

L1060493.JPG L1060497.JPG L1060496.JPG L1060499.JPG L1060504.JPG L1060505.JPG
 

MEENI

Well-Known Member
Nice build, to bad that jou could not finnish it.
I always have a hard time selling......
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
Nice build, to bad that jou could not finnish it.
I always have a hard time selling......
Me too. I'd love to sell some bikes to people that would keep them in good shape but it seems that most folks lack the skills or motivation. I sold the second Cannondale I owned to a guy who didn't have a clue about keeping it nice. I ended up buying it back but was amazed how much he damaged it in a relatively short amount of time. I sold a really nice CAAD9 road bike to a friend, who ended up giving it to his son. My guess is that it isn't getting ridden. I'm hoping that I won't be disappointed about selling it when I see it again.
 

MEENI

Well-Known Member
Sold a yellow beast in mint condition to a friend once.
Found out a few months later het let his 16 jear old daughter take it to school
She used a chain with no rubber on it to lock it. Paint down the drain :-(
Strangly i now like it when a bicycle has a little bit of patina.
 

Mel

Member
So, it's time to conclude the saga of this frame. I was able to sell it to a local bike shop (https://velocitycycles.ca/) and the store owner Travis, absolutely loved it. He hasn't decided if he'll keep it as a frame, or build it up into a period correct bike. It would certainly be a display piece and will one day be a formal part of a museum he's thinking that he may open up (considering all of the other frames and bikes he's collected over the years). Here's how it finished up:

View attachment 6536 View attachment 6537 View attachment 6538 View attachment 6539 View attachment 6540 View attachment 6541

Really nice work. In messaging you, I was going to ask if you wanted to sell the swingarm. My swingarm has a crack in the same piece; I am in Chicago, Illinois USA though. If you find that the person you sold it to isn't interested (not that you should ask); I'd be glad to know. Otherwise, I'm sorry to hear about your headtube situation. If you were located in Chicago, I'd ask how much you would charge to fix mine. Your repair looked sturdier than original. A photo of my swingarm crack is attached; sorry about the dirt. I bought the frame in this condition.
 

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