R600 Revisited

[Jon K.]

Hi!

Jon here. Came on to see if I could figure out what Cannondale I have, and decided to join up.
At current, I live in the Tulsa, OK area. I lived in North Carolina for many years, but moved to OK when offered a job out here in 2006.

My Cannondale, like much of what I have or do, has a story with it. I started out in cycling (at least decent cycling) with an 80s Trek 400 triple that I bought when I was on my second pass through college in the mid-80s. It served me fine, but in the mid-90s while working out in coastal NC, I chanced upon an offer that Cannondale had then to trade in my old frame; I could then choose either a road frame or a mountain bike frame for $50. I thought "I can do $50", so I jumped on the chance to upgrade to a Cannondale road frame.

When it arrived at the local bike shop, I had the mechanic/owner transfer all the components from my Trek to the Cannondale, and I was happy - for a little while. Then, like many, the upgrade fever didn't recede and I started upgrading components bit by bit. Many I bought at the Performance Bike outlet store that used to be right off the beltline in Raleigh, NC.

Eventually I got it to where it was a pretty nice bike - 105 hubs, 600 rear derailleur, RX-100 STI levers, etc. Even Dura Ace cable stops on the lever bosses on the downtubes. ;-)

Fast-forward a few years, and I went through a spell of unemployment. As much as I hated to, I decided to sell the Cannondale to have a bit of money coming in. Sold it to a friend who I knew from one of the (non-cycling) clubs I was in.

Fast-forward yet again to this year, and I ran into the buyer of my Cannondale in the grocery store. We were just chatting in general about this and that, catching up on the intervening years, and I mentioned I needed to get a bike again and start riding to help keep off the weight I've lost. He looks at me and ask "would you like your bike back?"

Needless to say, I only had to think a short time before contacting him about it. I paid what I would consider a pittance and picked up my old bike (with the wind trainer and floor pump I'd tossed in when he bought it from me).

The R600 is now in the middle of a teardown, though I'm not practiced enough to do things like check the bearings and stuff like that. I can afford to have a professional overhaul it, though. The cassette and chainwheels look pretty good, the rims are sort of beat up (they are as vintage as the Trek was, I'm sure) so new wheels may be in the future.

NIce to meet y'all!

Jon

 

[JohnnyD]

Welcome and great story about getting your bike back. I live just a few hours down the road near Wichita Falls, TX.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Nice story. The frame looks to be in great shape. I bought my first Cannondale back also, but it returned in poor condition compared to when I sold it. Interesting to hear that your frame had no model number when purchased as a frameset. Will help to explain when folks inquire about bikes lacking model numbers. I bought a new CAAD4 road frameset in 2000. Believe it was a 1999 model. It came with R4000 decals on the top tube. So Cannondale evidently sold framesets both with and without model designations - may have depended on the year.

Since you have the Timex team paint you might consider upgrading it to full Dura-Ace as the team would have run. The R600 came with RX100 which I recall being a great value. Definitely would be costly to find nice DA parts at this point.

 

[Jon K.]

Nice story. The frame looks to be in great shape. I bought my first Cannondale back also, but it returned in poor condition compared to when I sold it. Interesting to hear that your frame had no model number when purchased as a frameset. Will help to explain when folks inquire about bikes lacking model numbers. I bought a new CAAD4 road frameset in 2000. Believe it was a 1999 model. It came with R4000 decals on the top tube. So Cannondale evidently sold framesets both with and without model designations - may have depended on the year.

No R600 decal at all. I do find that strange, but maybe as you say it changed year-to-year. Or maybe it wasn't really an R600 frame, just painted to look like one. I don't think that's the case, because it does have the 2.8 Aluminum decal on the top tube, and I think the R300 and R400 were 3.0 frames, not 2.8.

Since you have the Timex team paint you might consider upgrading it to full Dura-Ace as the team would have run. The R600 came with RX100 which I recall being a great value. Definitely would be costly to find nice DA parts at this point.

I wish I could do a period-correct Dura-Ace restoration on it, but I about dropped my dentures (metaphorically, at least) when I saw the prices on eBay. Some guy in the UK has a pristine 25th anniversary Dura-Ace gruppo (still in the wooden case and all), but I'm not paying $6500 for it. This bike is going to be a rider, not a garage queen or show bike. Too many scratches in the paint for that.

 

[JohnnyD]

This bike is going to be a rider, not a garage queen or show bike. Too many scratches in the paint for that.

I thought the cost of modern high end drive train parts were super expensive, unit I looked up vintage Dura-Ace parts! I could buy several complete wireless SRAM AXS XX1 drivetrains for $6500!
I am super glad to hear you plan on riding this bike..What is the fun of using a bike as art on the wall?

 

[black lightning 1987]

About ten years ago I sold a nice DA 7400 STI group off a first year Trek OCLV 5500 for $250. Rebuilt it with functionally equivalent Ultegra but definitely wish I hadn't sold the DA.

 

[Jon K.]

I finally got the R600(?) off to the bike shop for a tuneup. The chain measured out bad, so that's getting replaced, brake and shifter cables and refurbed shifters installed, wheels trued and bar tape installed. The mechanic said it should be done on Wednesday.

I think I might have come up with a sensible reason as to why there's no R600 decal on the frame, despite the appearances. According to the 1996 catalog, the R600 came with a carbon fork, and I think the fork I got with my frame is aluminum (it sounds metallic when I tap on it, and maybe that's not conclusive). The 1996 R500 and below came with a Kinesis aluminum fork, not composite.

It sort of makes sense to me that C'dale wouldn't call it an R600 if it has an aluminum fork....

 

[JohnnyD]

I finally got the R600(?) off to the bike shop for a tuneup. The chain measured out bad, so that's getting replaced, brake and shifter cables and refurbed shifters installed, wheels trued and bar tape installed. The mechanic said it should be done on Wednesday.

I think I might have come up with a sensible reason as to why there's no R600 decal on the frame, despite the appearances. According to the 1996 catalog, the R600 came with a carbon fork, and I think the fork I got with my frame is aluminum (it sounds metallic when I tap on it, and maybe that's not conclusive). The 1996 R500 and below came with a Kinesis aluminum fork, not composite.

It sort of makes sense to me that C'dale wouldn't call it an R600 if it has an aluminum fork....

Good to hear that you'll soon have the bike ready to ride soon.
As for trying to make sense of some of the things Cannondale did...well that is almost always a way to give youself a headache.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I think the 1996 carbon forks were all black, not sure if they were clear coated carbon or painted. They may have painted framesets in random colors. When you bought it did you have to order it or did the local dealer have it in stock?

 

[Jon K.]

I think the 1996 carbon forks were all black, not sure if they were clear coated carbon or painted. They may have painted framesets in random colors. When you bought it did you have to order it or did the local dealer have it in stock?

I'm sure the dealer had to order it - it was a small-town shop, so not huge amounts of inventory.

I tapped on the fork arms gently with a screwdriver, and they don't have a "ting" sound like you'd think an alloy/steel fork would have (at least, it doesn't sound like the frame tubes do when tapped). Maybe it is a composite fork; I know it has alloy dropouts because the paint got scraped off a bit and there's shiny metal underneath.

More photos posted, as well!

 

[black lightning 1987]

The carbon forks would have had AL tips. Unfortunately I think all my mid 90s Cannondales have AL forks. Guessing that the carbon forks would have had a visible line between the tip and the leg. I think the AL forks were smooth, will try to remember to check.

 

[Jon K.]

The carbon forks would have had AL tips. Unfortunately I think all my mid 90s Cannondales have AL forks. Guessing that the carbon forks would have had a visible line between the tip and the leg. I think the AL forks were smooth, will try to remember to check.

Well, I looked more closely at the fork, and it might well be composite. I can't see any joins at the dropouts, but there is a visible/tactile groove/line just below the crown on the fork legs. I don't know if they would glue an AL fork, since they weld other tubes, so I'm thinking that the grooves indicate the join between metal and composite.

In other news, I dug out my old Diadora Stratos T.C.K. shoes (with the red Look cleats and cleat covers still on them) but the uppers were all an odd sort of sticky and the soles were peeling off the uppers. I debated trying to glue them together again with contact cement, but then came to my senses and tossed them. I'm still trying to decide if I should stick with the quill pedals that were on the bike when I bought it back, go for road clipless pedals again or try a two-sided pedal and SPD two-bolt MTB/commuting shoes.

It's been years since I rode with the Looks, and I wasn't exactly the best with them. I ended up on my right hip many times because I couldn't get my right foot out of the pedal before I was moving too slow to keep my balance.

I've actually entertained the idea of going hybrid - one clipless pedal and one platform so I can get a foot free more easily.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I still ride Look Deltas on most of my road bikes. They can be purchased very reasonably and go for a lot of miles without service. Sounds like you need to back the release tension off, at least on one pedal. I find that if tension is too tight I can often get quicker release by twisting my heal towards the seat tube rather than twisting it outboard. I find Looks (both Delta and Keo) easier to clip in than MTB SPDs, though I use SPDs on my gravel and mountain bikes. SPD shoes are a lot easier to walk in than most road shoes, so that might be a factor for you. Regardless of what you end up with I would suggest getting them set up so that you can reliably unclip.

I will try to remember to take a close look at the AL Cannondale fork next time I am near one of the bikes that has one.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I checked two of my Cannondale road bikes with AL forks. There are no visible seam lines at either the top or bottom of the fork legs. Guessing you may have a carbon fork, likely with an AL crown and steel steer tube.

 

[Jon K.]

I still ride Look Deltas on most of my road bikes. They can be purchased very reasonably and go for a lot of miles without service. Sounds like you need to back the release tension off, at least on one pedal. I find that if tension is too tight I can often get quicker release by twisting my heal towards the seat tube rather than twisting it outboard. I find Looks (both Delta and Keo) easier to clip in than MTB SPDs, though I use SPDs on my gravel and mountain bikes. SPD shoes are a lot easier to walk in than most road shoes, so that might be a factor for you. Regardless of what you end up with I would suggest getting them set up so that you can reliably unclip.

I will try to remember to take a close look at the AL Cannondale fork next time I am near one of the bikes that has one.

I did decide to go with SPD pedals and shoes for the walkability. I picked up a well-worn, well-used set of Shimano PD-M520s locally for a song (and the seller even threw in two water bottle cages), and found a little-worn pair of RT32 Shimano touring shoes in my size on eBay.

Installed the pedals tonight, reduced the spring tension to minimum, and tried the combo out on the wind trainer for about 20 minutes. The pedals seem to work fine, despite being all scratched up, and the soles of the shoes are stiff enough to spread out the pedal pressure decently. Getting in and out of the pedals seemed to be fine.

Unlike MTB shoes, the raised ridges on each side of the cleat don't have tread on them, so they look more like a road shoe. They're soft enough that walking is much less difficult.

I checked two of my Cannondale road bikes with AL forks. There are no visible seam lines at either the top or bottom of the fork legs. Guessing you may have a carbon fork, likely with an AL crown and steel steer tube.

Thanks for the info! I was hoping that was true. It doesn't change the value of the bike for me, but it's nice to know that it wasn't just Cannondale's way of getting rid of some old frames and AL forks they had sitting around.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Glad to hear that you found a workable pedal setup. The Shimano shoes look like they might be easier to clip in than most MTB shoes.