Greetings from The Mendon CycleSmith

Hey folks, Brian (our illustrious founder) asked me to join your forum so I could hopefully bring a bit more information and assistance to your neck of the web.

I'm not much of a pusher of myself or my business, so please understand, me, putting myself out there like this, isn't really how I prefer to work, it feels like that 17 year old kid at the bike shop who's on commission, and follows you everywhere trying to sell you stuff.... =:D

Any rate, been quietly building a reputation for knowledge and service on all things Lefty and Headshock for close to 20 years.

I'm a service center, so I work on them, and send them home happy and ready to action. I do not sell small parts, kits, etc, I only use them. Too little profit and too much time spent processing orders, for a one man shop, just being up front before there's a mad rush to ship seal kits to the far corners of the globe.

I'm also not really terribly supportive of DIY efforts, mostly because I've had to fix SO many failures, and often have to deliver the news that the holder of said screwdriver and hammer, has just ruined the last known version of that particular damper shaft. It makes me sad, and all I want is happy Headshocks and Leftys, rolling the world over.

SO!

I'm happy to chat forks, I'll wander through here as I have time, addressing things I feel I can be of use on, as I go, but thought I'd start this as a clearing house thread, so if you have fresh questions, I'm happy to help, just know, end of the day, I'll generally be recommending it come my way if you need service, and want it done properly.

Great collection of old stuff here too! I have quite a few, I'll post some of them as time permits, likely after the summer rush. Excited to join your community, thanks to Brian for the invite!!
 

JBThawley

Member
I just bought a 2002 Cannondale Scalpel 800 for $300 with the Fatty Ultra Shock, holds air great but won't lock out. Is this fixable or should I look at other fork options.

Thanks in advance
 
So, assuming no one has gone in and chewed on it, it should be quite serviceable. Lockout loss is typically either tired seals or loss of oil in the damper. Both of those are easily dealt with during service.

Happy to help if you wish.
 
Most LBS's, at least the honest ones, won't due to lack of proper tools and knowledge.

Dealers would offer to send it to Cannondale, who won't work on stuff as old as you have.

Which is why I offer to help. Folks send me forks from all over the world. I can help you remove it yourself too, it's pretty simple.

If you do wish to do something with it, hit my website, mendoncyclesmith.com, there's an email contact there, great place to start, rather than sharing an extended back and forth with the community here....
 
Sorry, the site is getting some work done, the form is currently inactive.

Just use the "Contact us" link, and email me, I'm still here... :)
 
Hello everyone I am a first time poster and have a question that may have been addressed (a lot). I have a Cannondale Furio F600, probably circa 2000. The Headshok continues to loose pressure. Replaced seals numerous time, just hard to maintain. Have decided I would like to replace the front fork with a fixed fork, but local repair shop, and local Cannondale dealer, have told me that you can no longer find the 2" to 1-1/8" reducer adapter that is required. Any suggestions, I really would like to keep riding this bike!

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Steve

Cannondale.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Cannondale.jpg
    Cannondale.jpg
    66 KB · Views: 281
So someone swapped seals a lot, and it never got better?

Curious if your air valve is blue, or silver?

Asking, cause there was a problem with that generation of Headshock, and many had constant leak issues. If the blue one is in place, you have the "fix" already.

Silver? Yeah, you never got the proper resolution to the issue.

Adapters? Go fish, I'm not aware of any simple, plug and play solutions.

Just know that new stem, headset, adapters, and fork that is close to commensurate with the performance and characteristics of the fork you already own, will not be cheap. Figure $500 easily.

That's a whole lot of bread for something a $60 upgrade can resolve.
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
I think that's a 2006 F600. I don't have any experience with frames that new but this headset sounds like it will work for what you want to do. I wouldn't think that the increased stack of headset would hurt the geometry much, though it might slacken the effective head tube angle a bit. Not sure that's a bad thing, depending on what you find for a fork.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cannondale...379202?hash=item54812bb942:g:wbsAAOSwXMZebNQX

The same seller also has a headset to fit a 1.5" tapered fork:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cannondale...687568&hash=item4da8df1222:g:uJ0AAOSwLrNebNQa
 
Thanks Black Lightning and Craig. I've been reluctant to give up on this bike, but I think its time to cave...who doesn't love a new bike anyway?
 
Well now I am a Furio F600 parts dealer apparently. Anybody interested in this ole girl? Or can anyone suggest where I might find some interest? Thanks everyone :).


Cannondale Parts.jpg
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
Easiest is probably to measure the wheelbase: centerline of front hub to centerline of rear hub with someone holding front wheel straight ahead. That said, the size may be stamped in the BB shell.
 
Mendon, Hi from Edinburgh. I have a Cannondale integrated tapered headset which keeps coming loose (Tesoro Ebike). When I try to tighten it by loosening the stem pinchbolts, the fork drops even looser. A piece of card came with the bike & shows the pinch bolts are to be TIGHTENED before using a wrench to tighten the threaded nut at the bottom of the stem, and then tightened again afterwards.

Is this right?! Seems an extremely silly system and the headset keeps getting loose as a result. How does one fix it please?
 
Hey Bruce, so, something in your description is confusing me. I don't sell the brand, bike wise, so I'm unfamiliar with the design you may have. Can you post a pic?

If it were a conventional "threadless headset", you'd loosen the pinch bolts on the stem, then snug the one in the middle of the cap on it's top, which would draw it tighter. Then snug the pinch bolts again, to hold the adjustment.

There can be scenarios in this design where you can't fully adjust out any play, in which case, another spacer will create the space needed to do so.

All that blather said, post a pic, and let's figure this out.
 
Top