First Year of Production Cannondale Cyclocross Bike?

GravelFan

New Member
I have a 2003 Cannondale Optimo XR1000 cyclocross bike with disc brakes. Can anyone tell me when Cannondale started making production cyclocross bikes? Was this their first?
Thanks so much, fellow Cannondale fans!
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
Welcome to the forum. I'm pretty sure that 1998 was the first year for the XR800 and XS800. They were Viper Red that year. Cannondale may have made some CX frames before that for team members. Here's my 1999 XR800. I'd love to find the same frame in 60 cm size, or even better a 60 cm XS. For gravel riding I prefer the fit of my 2010 CAAD8 CX to the XRs.
xr800 orange 2 ed.jpg
 

GravelFan

New Member
Great information and a great bike! It's a cyclocross bike, but with lightweight road wheels?
Do you know when Cannondale moved to disc brakes on their cross bikes?
 

black lightning 1987

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, the XR800 was the CX model at the time. The XS800 had Headshok front suspension but was otherwise the same. Wheels are Campagnolo Khamsin. There was a CX version of the next level up Scirocco wheels but I don't know how it differed from the road version. I assume the rim was slightly wider. I have the same tires on another gravel bike that has wider WTB rims. I don't really notice the difference but I assume the tire profile is wider/flatter on the wider rims.

The move to discs was gradual. For at least 10 years they made both disc and rim brake versions. 2003 was the first year for the Cyclocross Disc frame, the bike was called XR1000. There were both rim and disc versions of the aluminum CAADX and the carbon SuperX as late as 2013. By 2015 they were all disc. I don't have a 2014 catalog handy to check.
 
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