chain stay protector

[CAP57]

I have a late 80s, early 90s aluminum Cannondale that I recently built up. Should I be concerned that there is no chain stay protector? If it is best for me to put a protector on, would anyone have recommendations on some period correct parts to use or should I just go with something like clear lizard skin tape?

I thought something like this might be nice but I am not sure of how well it would mold the the rounder Cannondale chain stay tubing.

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[black lightning 1987]

Whether you need it or not depends on how rough your roads are and the gear combinations that you spend a lot of time in. Certainly wouldn't hurt to protect the stay though. We always used 3M helicopter tape to protect the front edges of wings on the race cars. It will yellow over time but it's more likely to be noticeable on light colors.

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[CAP57]

thanks for the reply. any ideas on period correct items? I believe the frame is an SR300 or CAAD2. It seems to be a prototype between these 2 frames.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I have a 1997 CAAD2 frame here in the stand. It has a plain black chainstay protector, essentially a black version of the helicopter tape. I don't know if it's original to the frame or not, but looking at the yellow bikes in the 1997 catalog it doesn't appear that they came with anything on the stay.