New/old Cannondale tourer

[echoplex]

Hi All. I just picked up a '97 T900, overall good shape, everything seems to be working, needs a little bit of cleaning. I was an avid cyclist back in my 20s and had an ST600 ('90, I think....) that I absolutely loved. It ended up stolen in Toulouse when I was touring Europe on it. Life, career, etc pushed me out of anything more than utility cycling not long after that (and a string of disposable but dependable old 3-speeds that got destroyed or stolen on the streets of NYC..). Now I'm returning to doing more biking and I always wanted another Cannondale like the ST600 and finally found this one not too far away and for a decent price. A new seat and new pedals are immediately in order, the stem reach is too long but I've got an old Nitto that's a shorter length that the calipers say should fit, maybe a handlebar bag and some fenders and I'll ride it like that this season. Next winter I'll take it all apart and really go to town. Maybe strip/paint or powdercoat the frame, and maybe start thinking about some extended touring on it next summer...

 

[black lightning 1987]

My guess is that the RX100 crank came on the bike even though the catalog shows a Coda crank. RX100 was pretty nice stuff, so it's good that they substituted it instead of the Altus or RSX that they were putting on other bikes at the time.

 

[echoplex]

The tall-short-reach stem & compact bars look aesthetically 'off', but they sure have made the bike more comfortable for an aging body. Hoping as I get re-accustomed to riding with drop-bars again I can lower things a bit- it'll depend on what the arthritis in my neck has to say... Realizing that for my local terrain (lots of hills....) and spinning style I'm going to need some lower gearing- a 7sp cassette with the biggest sprocket a Deore LX can handle, and maybe a 50 or 48t ring to replace the 52. Getting old kinda sucks (but I'm really enjoying riding & tinkering on this bike)!

 

[black lightning 1987]

Do you have a 28 large cog now? SunRace makes an 11-34 7 speed cassette. Only $13 at Universal Cycles but they are out of stock right now. It's unfortunate that the bike doesn't have the Coda 22/32/42 crank that the catalog shows. Even with a 34 cog you won't have a low gear comparable to 22/28. I assume the RX100 crank is 30/42/52. You might consider swapping out all three rings to something like 28/38/46. 28/34 combination would get you nearly the same low gear as the 22/28 that was shown in the catalog.

 

[echoplex]

Yeah, it's got an 11-28 cassette on it. The crank is 30/42/52- it's got "$105" painted on the back of it in nail polish or something, so it seems like a PO put it on there. The shop sticker that was on the bike was FL, so I suppose the mountains of the Everglades didn't really call for the low gearing.....! So much bike stuff seems 'out of stock' all over at the moment.... I see a couple old Coda 22/32/42 cranksets on eBay- they look a little rough, but might be the quickest way to get the gearing to where I need it around here. Or see if I can scare up 28/38/46 rings..

 

[black lightning 1987]

I would have to check but I might have a NOS 32 or 34 Uniglide cog. Guessing that you would have to grind the rivet heads off your cassette to change the large cog, but it's easily done. Uniglide is circa 1990 and looks different from Hyperglide cogs but would work fine for a bail-out gear.

 

[echoplex]

I think a crank with the original 22/32/42 rings (or close to it) is what I need- everything has to come down. I'm bottoming out on the ascents (& I'm not carrying anything for now) and I don't spin out on the descents- roads around here are too bad/rough/uneven for me to risk screaming down them. Which leads me to wonder how consistent Shimano cranks are across the different levels as far as chain line, etc?

 

[black lightning 1987]

Your RX100 should have a 122.5 mm bottom bracket spindle. There were a few MTB cranks that used that length which should give closer to the gearing you want: DX MT60, LX M550, XT M730. There are many others that will require a bottom bracket swap.

https://sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html

 

[echoplex]

Ah, thanks- that info is very helpful. I'm hoping I can avoid having to change the bb for now....

 

[black lightning 1987]

I know that I have a pair of M730 arms here but don't know about rings to go with them. Bike co-ops are great for parts like this. Perhaps you have one that's reasonably close by.

 

[echoplex]

I wish... it is extremely rare to see anyone on a bike where I am in rural NYS. Bad roads, lots of hills, speeding and inattentive drivers in oversize vehicles, not to mention a generally overweight and unhealthy population.... but the scenery is often spectacular. But then I haven't looked too hard, so maybe there is a co-op of sorts hiding somewhere in the hills here.
I find myself going down a rabbit hole of gearing options.... used crankset? new crankset? new/used rings? new rear cassette? find the smallest rings I can put on the crank I have? While at the same time making daily attacks on the climbs that surround me and though still regularly ending up in the lowest gear it is getting easier. I figure I'm pretty unlikely to need to carry anything more than saddle bag with my camera, snack and an extra layer this season, so maybe I'll just power-through with what I've got and plan to upgrade the drivetrain over the winter...
But if I can source some rings for M730, I may take you up.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I have several NOS four arm FSA Alpha Drive 22/32/44 cranksets if you don't care about the crank matching the vintage of the bike. I have 170 mm in square taper, ISIS, and FSA Power Drive styles. Some have bottom brackets but I would have to check and make sure they are for 68 mm shells. Nothing fancy but I have them on 3 or 4 bikes and they work fine.

 

[echoplex]

Hmm, that might be a relatively quick and cheap (..?) way to go. I don't care too much about vintage-correct on this bike (I guess aesthetically it'd be nice if the crank was silver, but I'm assuming they're black. How much would you want for a set with BB (if you have it)?

 

[black lightning 1987]

Silver but not polished. All three rings are steel so it's not the lightest.

$60 shipped in a flat rate Priority bubble envelope or $65 in a medium flat rate box with the FSA box.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I didn't think of it before, but I would be interested in the RX100 as partial trade.

 

[echoplex]

The one other cyclist in the area (that I know of..) thinks he might have an old 11-34 7sp cassette, will find out this weekend. That might be just low enough to get me by for the season, otherwise I'll got for the crankset change.

 

[echoplex]

I did finally find an 11-34 7sp cassette to put on, which with the 26/38/48 pretty much gives me what I need. Now the problem is the rear derailleur.... The pivots, etc. have seemed just a little bit sloppy since I got the bike (and looking from the back the cage isn't straight up-and-down, but kind of 'leans' in a bit toward the wheel- probably was dropped on at some point..), but worked well enough. Now with the 34t cog and the 26t ring, even with the b-screw all the way in the guide pulley is too close to the cog- it'll turn, etc. but it's almost like the cog and pulley teeth are 'meshing' with the chain between them. Thinking about a SGS M591 to replace it- from what I can tell it should work with 7sp and with the RSX brifters, and has the capacity. Cheapish, too. Any hints/tips/tricks (or 'bewares'..)?

 

[black lightning 1987]

Chain length can affect clearance between the upper jockey pulley and the cogs. A shorter chain should pull the RD forward a bit and prevent the pulley from making contact with the cogs. Be careful to check chain length in big ring/large cog and be sure that the chain is long enough to handle that combination.

 

[echoplex]

Yeah, I did the big/big chain length with a new chain. It's a half-link too long, but it's either that or too short. Moving things around by hand, there's some amount of 'slop' in both the derailleur pivot at the hanger and the pivot where the cage attaches. I don't know if that would contribute to the pulley not clearing the biggest cog, but might just indicate the dr is kind of worn out, & maybe the springs don't have the tension they once did? There are some scrapes on the dr, which seems to indicate maybe it took a bit of a hit of some kind, probably the bike falling over, or something hitting it in a garage maybe. Anyway, I can get a new M591 for $50, which seems like it might be a bit of an upgrade (at least it'll be new and hopefully 'tighter').

 

[black lightning 1987]

The M591 is rated for a 34T large cog and total capacity of 45. So it should be able to handle the range of gearing on your bike. I don't know what model your present derailleur is but an M560 GS is rated for a 30T large cog and total capacity of 36, with the SGS rated for a 32 large cog and total of 38.