Hi from Europe

[FPrue1304]

Hi, I am Felix, happy owner of there Cannondales which I use in Switzerland and Germany:

1. Cannondale Slate Force CX1 from 2017. Wonderfully versatile, big fun.
2. Cannondale CAAD9 from 2009. See my project in the other thread. Most beautiful cover combo.
3. Cannondale SM400 from 1991. Red. Not working, frame is good but paint is heavily worn, bike saw heavy use in the hills and mountains. Non-matching-color Pepperoni fork, that came as a surplus from a racer in the early 90ies. Many parts still there, but many others worn down. I am playing with the thought to repaint the frame in some MTB/Road mixture scheme along a CAAD2-4 Saeco design and make the Pepperoni color matching and use some modern parts like a 1x 12sp AXS group and find some rim-brake carbon wheels that would fit. Maybe utopian. That project is far down the line, my time is limited...

I also had a 2.8 road bike from the mid-90ies that I brought from California, but I sold that one around 2000.

I bought all three bikes new, 1st owner of each.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Welcome. It's always nice to see new members.

Have you considered painting the SM400 like a Volvo team bike? The early frames had the same Viper Red color color as the Saeco bikes, but decal style was a bit different.

 

[FPrue1304]

Thanks!

Volvo team would be in blue? The SM400 is currently red and I like that color very much.
I hope to post some pictures soon.

 

[black lightning 1987]

The later Volvo frames were Team Blue but the early ones were Viper Red with yellow decals. For most of the Saeco years, the down tube decals were the "quadwrap" type, with two Cannondale decals on each side. The Volvo Viper Red era decals had a single Cannondale decal on each side of the down tube. Other supplier logos of course varied between the two teams.

 

[FPrue1304]

Thanks - I like the quad wrap actually. Will think about something.

 

[FPrue1304]

And here is a pic of my SM 400. I was thinking of rebuilding this with a drop bar, but then I realised how long the reach on that frame is (size is 20 inch, really upper limit for me). Probably with a 50 mm stem replacing the installed 130 mm I could get a similar reach to what I have on my road bikes. And replace the seat post with a zero offset one.

 

[black lightning 1987]

What are you thinking of using for shifters if you switch to a drop bar?

 

[FPrue1304]

That would have to be one of the „Mullet“ solutions where I combine road shifters with a high capacity derailleur and cassette and see what I do about the brakes. Right now I have a mixture of DiaCompe 987 front and Deore XT cantilevers rear.

I just ordered a cheap ahead adapter and a cheap 6 deg/45 mm stem from China and I have a leftover drop bar here from my road bike. If these get me to a good position I pursue that track of a gravel conversion further. I need to see how this feels.

Then I will have to see how the repaint/restoration of the frame turns out. If good I might buy some decent parts and I have my eyes on a really nice wheelset, if no I will go an economy route.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I have seen some interesting bars on 26" gravel bikes. I remember seeing a Scott AT-4 Pro on a 60 mile night ride a few years back. The AT-4 featured a full loop design, with a short section that resembled a clip on aero bar at the front. Lots of hand positions on one of those, but surely hard to find these days. WTB sold an off road drop bar as far back as 1994. It was made by Nitto.

 

[FPrue1304]

Quite „exotic“ bars, from an aesthetic viewpoint! In my philosophy, it is not mandatory to use contemporary parts, but I have great respect for the efforts in sourcing matching parts from the correct era.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I agree. I don't mind using modern parts when they fit with what I'm trying to build. There are usually interesting vintage options as well.