'Best' years for vintage Cannondale touring bikes?

[echoplex]

Hi all. I had an ST600 in the early '90s that I absolutely loved. Everything about it just felt 'right' to me- unfortunately it was stolen in Toulouse, FR in (what was supposed to be...) the middle of a 3m tour in Europe. I moved to NYC when I returned from that trip and got out of biking for anything other than around-city/town transportation, favoring a string of 'disposable' old 3-speeds... But I've always wanted another Cannondale touring bike like the one I had. Now I live in the country in upstate NY and biking is back in the picture. For both economy and nostalgia, I suppose, I'm looking for a vintage Cannondale tourer. I know all the pros and cons of a 'vintage' bike, and I'm OK with it. But I don't really know much about Cannondale's model history after the early '90s... Are there any particular years that the touring frames are considered better (or worse..)? Any particular 'weaknesses' to be on the lookout for? There's a T900 not too far from me asking $250 that looks to be in good shape I may take a look at this week... Thx for any input/recommendations.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I don't think you can really go wrong with any of them but I assume you're in pretty hilly country so you might be better off with cantilever brakes rather than calipers. You would have to find a fairly recent Asian made model to get discs. I wouldn't let caliper brakes stop me from spending $250 for a Cannondale Touring though. Modern dual pivot calipers will have a lot more stopping power than the single pivots that came on most of the older STs.

The 1992 T1000 is one I've always hoped to find as it came with pretty nice parts: Ritchey crank, Shimano XT, and Brooks saddle.

 

[echoplex]

Definitely hilly here! The T900 has canti brakes. I wish it had bar-ends rather than the hideous brifters, though.

 

[black lightning 1987]

What year T900, is it nine speed? 7700 bar end shifters are not too hard to find, I probably have a pair on the shelf. I agree that bar end shifters are better for touring. One of my friends had an STI shifter fail while riding out of state. No local bike shop had a replacement on hand, so he had to buy a new bike to continue his ride on schedule. In the unlikely case that a bar end shifter fails you can always switch to friction mode and carry on.

If the T900 is on the large end of sizing and you decide against it, I'd definitely be interested.

 

[echoplex]

From googling I think it's a '97, so 7 speed rear sprocket? Only one photo, & from the angle it's hard to tell the size- looks like 23" (maybe/hopefully). Seller has been away for the weekend, s'posed to get back to me with some details this AM, and I'll take a drive to look later today if size, etc seems right. I don't think it was the seller's personal bike, they're referring to it as a 'racing' bike- maybe inherited or something.
The idea of doing any serious touring again might be a nostalgic fantasy- my partner is only casually interested in biking and I'm far from my 20s when 60 or 70 fully loaded miles a day seemed like no problem! Likely it'll be long day/weekend rides and light touring- maybe some other bike would be better suited for that, but.... I LOVED that ST600 I had, so....

 

[black lightning 1987]

Yes, 1997 came with 7 speed rear and RSX STI levers. 7 speed bar end shifters were made, they are model SL-BS50.

http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=29191E7E-322B-41E7-B96E-47D57B54B88A&Enum=104&AbsPos=28

You could also use the 8 speed Ultegra SL-BS64 levers and add an 8 speed cassette. I have a box full of new 12-30s (I think). The 8 speed BS50-8 Dura Ace shifters are only compatible with Dura Ace rear derailleurs, so should be avoided as there was no long cage DA RD.

Note that the model number of the bar end shifters is molded into the underside of the plastic hood that covers the shift lever.

Nothing wrong with a T900 for your intended usage.

 

[echoplex]

I ended up getting it! The sale initially seemed a little bit dodgy- iffy-seeming neighborhood, guy was already waiting on the sidewalk with the bike when I got there... I asked him if it was his bike and he mumbled something, but then a disembodied voice came from the window of the house behind him saying, "It was my bike, but I'm too big for it now..." Maybe the father of the guy selling it? I dunno.... The 'voice' knew just enough about the bike that I decided it probably wasn't stolen. I just took a short spin up and down the street and gave it a once-over and everything seemed to be there, and overall good shape.
I could've sworn the ST600 I bought new way-back-when was 23", but it must have been 21".... This T900 is 23", which now seems just a tad big for me, but I didn't adjust the seat or the stem.. More 'lively' feeling than I remember the ST600 too, but then my memory of that bike is fully loaded and pretty much all my bikes since then have been heavy, ready-for-combat-on-city-streets old English 3-speeds. Seemed like possibly the pedals and the crank aren't original, but everything else looked to be. Dark when I got home- I'll be giving the serious once-over in the AM!

 

[black lightning 1987]

Glad to hear that you picked it up. Is it Galaxy blue? What is the crank?

 

[echoplex]

Yup, 'Galaxy blue'. Crank is Shimano RX100. Going to post a photo, etc. over in 'introductions'..

 

[echoplex]

Shifting was a little iffy and one thing lead to another yesterday and I ended up pretty much taking the whole bike apart and cleaning, lubing, etc. The stock stem and handlebars now seem really bizarre to me (though looks pretty much like the old catalog photo), just an insane amount of reach- the stem is 110mm, then the bars themselves are 140mm! Seems a very non-touring, low and stretched-out position, and I have fairly long arms. I put on an ancient Nitto 80mm stem I had lying around which has helped, but I'm definitely going to need new bars. I guess I got old in the time since I last rode with drop bars, and I need to be more upright riding on the hoods. Of course 26mm clamp bars with short reach seem to be sold-out everywhere....

 

[black lightning 1987]

Getting the bar up higher will help with the reach issue. I have lots of vintage bars here but don't know how they compare to what you have without measuring.

 

[echoplex]

Yes, the taller Nitto stem with the shorter reach has helped some. Still too much reach, so I've got more compact bars I found on eBay on the way. Though I really can't figure it out- it's almost like in the 25 years since I did much serious cycling something very bizarre happened, like I don't know..... it's almost as if I got OLD... But nah, that couldn't be it..
Still, even with the setup not quite ideal, the bike is a pleasure to ride.

 

[echoplex]

I have to admit that as aesthetically unappealing I find brifters, after living with them for a week I'm kinda starting to appreciate them on the road.....

 

[black lightning 1987]

They do sometimes fail, leaving you stuck in one gear. With bar-cons you have the friction option if the indexing gets out of whack.

 

[echoplex]

I'll probably live with the brifters until I do some real touring, in the meantime keeping my eye out for some bar-cons.

 

[black lightning 1987]

That is what I would do. Those shifters may still be working when we are both pushing up daisies.

 

[echoplex]

I'm curious about the history/evolution of the frame design/geometry of the Cannondale touring frames. My initial impressions of the T900 have been that it's somewhat harsher than I remember the ST600 I had in the early 90s being... But of course I was a lot younger then... and the roads where I lived then were a lot nicer than where I am in upstate NY now... and I was loading the bike up for full touring... But I do wonder if there were significant geometry changes in the early/mid 90s on the touring bikes?

Relatedly- when I bought the T900 a month or so ago it had some pretty old looking 32c tires on it. I put some Gravelking 35c tires on and noticed some improvement in ride quality. After some further researching online I decided to splurge and try some Rene Herse 38c Barlow Pass tires. They were EXTREMELY difficult to seat properly, but I finally got them on right. From what I can find online, the T900 originally came with 38c tires, but these are a pretty tight fit- definitely the widest tires the bike can take as far as chainstay clearance. But WOW. The ride is completely transformed. SO much more comfortable. Frankly I am amazed at what a big difference it has made- and in realizing how fatiguing road vibration can be. I don't know if I'm riding any slower with these than with the stiffer Gravelkings, but I sure am enjoying the ride more. Remains to be seen how long they'll last, but I love 'em.

 

[black lightning 1987]

The main change in geometry was the adoption of sloping top tubes on the later touring frames. While that may have stiffened the frames a bit, ride quality may not have changed much as the longer seat post required may have flexed enough to compensate. I've always felt that tire/wheel choices have more effect on the ride of a bike than frame design. I haven't tried the Barlow Pass tires, but it's good to hear that you like them.

 

[echoplex]

Sooooo... I want to run a handlebar bag and the way the shifter cables come out of the RSX brifters is problematic, so I'm exploring my options (actually seems odd that they'd put levers with this kind of routing on what is ostensibly a touring bike that would likely have some sort of handlebar bag, but what do I know..?). I've gotten kind of used to brifters now, but it seems 7-speed alternatives are pretty non-existent. Maybe there are a few more options with 8-speed? And in that case, I'm wondering if an 8-speed cassette would actually fit on the rear hub without mods/redishing the wheel, etc?
I suppose also I could go for bar end shifters and just get used to those, in which case the question becomes what brake levers to look for... tinkering, tinkering, tinkering never ends.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I'm not sure about the rear spacing in 1997 but it is surely 130 or 135 mm (1997 T2000 was 8 speed so at least 130 mm and all touring frames that year were surely spaced the same). Either spacing is fine for 8/9/10/11 speed.

Shimano didn't move the STI derailleur cable routing under the bar tape until the 2nd generation of 10 speed, and (perhaps) only on Dura Ace even then. By then, Campagnolo had had the cables under the tape for close to 20 years.

Could you lengthen the housings on your shifter cables and get them out of the way of the handlebar bag? You might even change the routing to the stops from side to side to get more clearance. Run the rear to the left side stop, then cross the cables back over before they get to the bottom bracket cable guide. This works sometimes but I've had frames where the cables end up rubbing on the underside of the down tube.

I like bar cons a lot, have various brands/models on several 6-10 speed touring, CX, and gravel bikes. If you stick with 7 speed, the model you want is SL-BS50. You don't want the SL-BS50-8 as the rear shifter will only work with a Dura Ace 8 speed rear derailleur. The model numbers are on the underside of the grey plastic sleeve on the rear shifting lever, if I remember correctly. You could also easily upgrade to 8 or even 9 speed depending on what shifters you come across. Shimano 7/8/9 rear derailleurs are pretty much interchangeable for a given gear range, so you should only have to change the cassette (and chain for 9 speed). I think that the 8 speed bar cons are SL-BS64 and the 9 speed are SL-BS77.