To whom it may concern

Obi

Member
My focus is on Cannondales from 1990 to 2000 since that´s the time when I discovered, owned and fell in love with them. Sadly I never had them for longer. They always got stolen. By that time I was living in Berlin and quality bikes didn´t made sense there. Therefore I only rode klunkers from then on which got stolen too. But that didn´t hurt so much.

In 2019 I had left Berlin for a small town and stumbled over a 1994 H400 which became my daily ride. The fun it provides to ride a quality bike made me come up with an idea: "I want all my bikes back! Even the ones i dreamed about but couldn´t afford then!" and therefore started searching.

Originally I had a 1994 M800 BotE in viper red with yellow decals as well as a 1999 M800 in matte black. Both bikes were purchased new from "Zentralrad" in Berlin- Kreuzberg.
I like my bikes "original and unmolested" to quote Jay Leno and so far i managed to "get back" the following bikes:

1990 Colnago "Mountainbike" with very early LX group set (the "Mountainbike" always makes me smile as if you have to explain what it´s meant for. Besides that I was curious about italian steel frames)

1991 Scott Racing Pro with early AMP fork (it´s like owning a vintage Formula 1 racing car)

1992 Cannondale M700 with XT group set in red (sadly in bad shape and molested, purchased used in 2008 in Berlin, it was never stolen there since I came up with the idea of not having a lock any longer, therefore it was never unobserved and I carried it every day up to the 5th floor in a building without elevator)

1993 Heavy Tools ALU PRO LE with Manitou 2 fork (90ies Berlin street styler on fat slicks, one of my dream bikes then)

1994 Cannondale H400 (any place, any time)in teal, Raleigh USA 400 (with Girvin fork!, my most nonchalant bike) in red and black , Specialized Stumpjumper in grayish green (the steel frames again)

1995 Scott Vantage 2.0 in yellow (I just like it´s appearance and the Scott bull bar)

1996 Cannondale F800 in viper red (the first suspension bike i ever own)

1997 Cannondale M800 BotE (still looking for the 1994er)

1998 mysterious Cannondale with Nexave T400 deraillieur in yellow (could be an M series but there are no markings)

1999 mysterious Cannondale Silkpath with Nexave T400 group set in viper red (roller brakes!, no markings besides "Silkpath Series"), mysterious Cannondale with Nexave T400 group set in blue (could be H series, no markings, roller brakes, the year/month code only shows a "K", Shimano components were made in late 1998, could also be a 2000 model for Europe)

Does the missing markings have something to do with Cannondale going public on the stock market during that time? Or is it a european market thing? Also I´m curious about what happened to all the welders in Bedford after C´dale closed the factory there as well as the rest of the staff since they actually built the bikes.

Besides I use the bikes for lessons. They are "speaking objects" regarding mechanics and the students really like them nevertheless these bikes are more than twice their age.

Enclosed an impression of my mancave

Yours respectfully
Obi
 

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Obi

Member
1997 M800 BotE. The bike my students like most - as I do. :)
 

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Obi

Member
1996 F800. The first bike I ever own with any kind of suspension.
 

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Obi

Member
1993 Heavy Tools Alu Pro LE. If you want to know what was cool in 1993 Berlin this is it.
 

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Obi

Member
I´ll post photos of the mysterious C´dales here soon since i heavily count on the swarm intelligence of this forum to find out what they are.
Thanks in advance and very best wishes
Obi
 
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Obi

Member
mysterious yellow Cannondale

- M series?
- CODA 500 hubs
- frame dated April 1998
- Shimano Nexave T400 derailleur dated May 1998
 

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Obi

Member
mysterious blue Cannondale

- only marked with "K" instead of two letter code
- H series?
- complete Nexave T400 group set dated June 1998
- original Specialized Infinity tires in 700x35c
- Sram 7.0 brake levers
 

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Brian

Administrator
Staff member
Welcome! great story! Lets get each of these bikes into the Gallery if they are not there already. :)
 

Brian

Administrator
Staff member
mysterious blue Cannondale

- only marked with "K" instead of two letter code
- H series?
- complete Nexave T400 group set dated June 1998
- original Specialized Infinity tires in 700x35c
- Sram 7.0 brake levers
Looks like a H. I would check with the catalogs.
 

Obi

Member
Sorry! I forgot to mention that of course I checked the catalogs the site provides. Regarding the blue C´dale the closest I could find are the following types 1999/v1 H300, 1999/v2 H300/500 or 2000 H400.
But nothing really fits due to the Nexave group set. The frame also only allows to fit Nexave roller brakes. There are no provisions to fit anything else.
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
mysterious yellow Cannondale

- M series?
- CODA 500 hubs
- frame dated April 1998
- Shimano Nexave T400 derailleur dated May 1998
Surely M series (500, 700, 900) but it would be hard to pin a model number on it with the non catalog color and build. Could have been built up from a frameset. We often see frames lacking model numbers in colors that don't appear in the catalogs. I don't think it had anything to do with publicly traded stock. I have no idea where any of the factory employees ended up. Bedford is a small town and evidently doesn't have much industry. I'd guess many employees found work in Pittsburgh.
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
mysterious blue Cannondale

- only marked with "K" instead of two letter code
- H series?
- complete Nexave T400 group set dated June 1998
- original Specialized Infinity tires in 700x35c
- Sram 7.0 brake levers
Interesting bike. Perhaps only sold in Europe with the Nexave parts. I don't know if Cannondale printed a separate catalog for Europe at the time. I've never seen an H/SH frame before that didn't have cantilever posts.
 

Obi

Member
Dear black lightning,
first of all thanks for your reply. I´m just back from a little round trip with the H400 (new chain, new cassette, works like a charm), found your reply and had a brain wave. We both agree on european market model. I know roller brakes from dutch bikes. They are supposed to be care free. The Nexave ones aren´t btw. C´dale opened its european headquarter in the Netherlands in the early 1990ies(?) and that´s when they started to show up in german bike shops. I still remember when I saw the fat tubes for the first time and gasped.
The bike is like a mix of american and dutch features. I mean frame and brakes. It doesn´t appear like being thrown together with what was there just to be shipped to somewhere far away.
It would really help to find original staff members in the States and Europe. I just checked for Europe. Their headquarter is a 14th Century dutch castle. I´m not kidding! Look:


Nice Sunday
Obi
 
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