volvo team frame number

[gringo75]

hi
i need help.
can someone help me to understand if this frame number could me of an official cannondale volvo racing team frame?
many thanks

 

[black lightning 1987]

Hard to read but looks like it may be IA upper left, which would translate to 1997, January. Team bikes were Viper Red at the time. Assume that's a Super V. If a team bike it would have had top end parts on it. Saeco team frames had the rider's name abbreviated at lower right on the bottom bracket shell, I assume the Volvo bikes did as well. The KLAS?M looks interesting but doesn't bring to mind any team riders for me.

 

[gringo75]

thanks for reply
sorry picture was not very clear, i try again now, upper left is ". A ", strange!
lower right there is an X and not K.
i think that the strange point is upper left.
owner told me that is Annabella Stropparo's bike.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I think there is something to the left of the A. Looks more like a 1 than an I, but that wouldn't make any sense for the model year. I checked the closest year frame I have here, a 1995 M900. It is clearly marked FK at upper left for 1994, November. I suspect that your frame was meant to be IA even if it it is fact stamped 1A. Is the bike a Headshok Super V? Annabella was a cross country rider. The cross country team rode hardtails in the photos I've seen but perhaps rode full suspension at some events. If it has the Moto fork it probably wasn't her bike. The WM (women's medium?) is where the size is normally designated in this era, but Cannondale didn't have women's specific sizing at the time. My frame is clearly stamped 20 there as the 2.8 M series frames were sized in inches. The W on your frame looks to be hand engraved. Perhaps they did special sizing for the team. I think the only way you can get a good idea of the bike's history is to look at the parts and decals and compare them to photos of team bikes from the period.

 

[gringo75]

Many thanks for your precious infos.
To the left of the A i'm quite sure that there is a dot.
Bike has a fatty 70 fork.
I will try to get some pictures of the complete bike.

 

[gringo75]

i think you were write, looks like that upper left is written "IA"
seems like the difference between a usual frame number is this part shown on this picture.

 

[gringo75]

here is the bike

 

[black lightning 1987]

I can't tell if my frame has a number in that spot as it is mostly covered by the cable guide. Yours may have extra numbering related to it being a team bike, which it certainly looks to be. It's missing some original parts though, and I don't know exactly what the team used. I'm guessing that your bike would have had Mavic rims but I believe that the team used Sun rims in previous years. Suns were still being supplied on most 1997 production models but the top end MTBs came with Mavic 220 rims. The Sun wheels were probably substituted for the Mavics when the bike was sold. I've never been clear on what Sachs parts the team used but it may have been only the shifters and chain. I probably have the correct shifters and a new chain here. Since your bike has an XTR front derailleur I'd guess that is what it should have in the rear. I'm not sure about the stem, kind of surprised to see a Headshok Uno. Production models at the time used Coda stems but could well have been made by Kalloy and the Uno stems supplied to the team for advertising.

 

[gringo75]

I red somewhere that sram bought Sachs in 1997, maybe that's why has written Sachs on frame but rear derailleur is sram.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I don't believe there were any SRAM branded components in 1997 other than shifters. There was a full line of Sachs components that were still based on the all metal Sachs/Maillard designs - I have the catalog here. The first Sachs derailleur to show up on a Cannondale was the Plasma rear derailleur on the 1998 Raven 4000. It's typical of the early SRAM stuff - lots of plastic but lighter than the "true" Sachs parts. The Plasma and plastic Centera were originally Sachs branded but eventually the Sachs brand was phased out. The first SRAM branded derailleurs on Cannondales appeared in 1999. These were still the type with cable pull similar to Shimano. The SRAM specific cable pull ESP models came out on 2000 model year bikes. Pretty sure that the X-9 stuff was introduced a few years later.

Here's a Sachs branded Centera and a SRAM branded Plasma:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Sachs-...990551?hash=item2f2ed23357:g:7WcAAOSwA91Z3qut

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SRAM-PLASM...228225?hash=item3d75e94a41:g:IxUAAOSwFIRbtLDL

Back to 1997 vintage parts: The top of the Sachs MTB line were the Quarz parts. They were extremely nice all metal components that were developed from the earlier New Success line. No comparison between the quality of Quarz over the SRAM stuff that replaced it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SACHS-...711510?hash=item46512e7b96:g:NbgAAOxyQBJRFJL8

 

[Dirty Sundays]

Hi, that is Annabella Stropparo's bike.
Tires should be IRC Mythos 2.1 K, seat post Syncros Ti or blk alloy, saddles varied by rider ..Vetta, Flite Tech4Fun etc, Sachs Quartz derailleurs (could also be the older new success), Sachs Powerglide 8s cassette and chain (early 97 and before riders were able to choose their components, some used M950), Sachs Powergrip or Wavey shifters, Club Roost bars most likely, Sun rims were replaced during 97' with Mavic Crossmax.
Also Mavic logo on "seat stay" should have a sticker over it with the newer oval logo as this changed mid 96'
For some reason they kept painting the bikes with the old logo and just "updated" it with a sticker. The 98' models finally came with the new logo.
I have or had 4 of the 97' team bikes/frames. 3x CAAD3 and 1x SuperV Libor Karas.

 

[Dirty Sundays]

Also..
Stem is OG, Avid Arch are a very early model (possibly prototype). I have the same on a team bike, the levers are matte black and the center adjusting knob on the brake is made out of plastic? Never seen those anywhere else than on team bikes.
Housing was usually Gore Ride On with the yellow inner liner. Standard pedals were Time ATAC Ti, but riders could choose to use their own pedals.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Thanks for all the information on the Volvo team bikes, especially concerning the Sachs derailleurs. I had always wondered what the team used over the years but have looked at lots of photos without seeing anything definitely Sachs. If you look at page 22 in the 1998 catalog there's a picture of Alyson Sydor's bike in a stand being attended by a mechanic. Pretty sure it has an XTR rear derailleur. Frame has the oval Mavic sticker so presumably the photo was taken in 1997 - certainly possible that it was early in the year given lead time for the next year's catalog. It still seems odd to me that Cannondale didn't spec at least one production model each year that was closer to Volvo team spec. They did a better job with the Saeco replicas. Your "OG" in reference to the stem went over my head, please elaborate. The picture of Sydor's bike in the catalog shows a UNO stem very much like the one on the OP's bike.

 

[Dirty Sundays]

The UNO stem is original (OG). It seemed like riders could choose parts until late 97'. When they went to worlds in Switzerland, the bikes looked all the same and they all had to use the Sponsors parts (besides of pedals and saddle). Alison definitely rode the M950 derailleur in the early season. I'm not sure about worlds. Something changed during that year to 98. Not only the colors but I think the whole sponsoring deals were taken to another level. Catalog photos are always from the prior year at any time, so 97' catalog could be a photo from the first race or whatever in 96'. That's why in the 98' catalog, the race bikes are still red.

 

[Zachariah]

That is indeed a Volvo-Cannondale Team bike, as evidenced by the sponsor decals on the stays and the telltale, ALCOA Alcalyte branding on the seat tube. The general buying public did not receive the Alcalyte proprietary 6061 T6 alloy formula until Cannondale released the OPTIMO Series, in late 2003.

I'm kinda jealous...

 

[Dirty Sundays]

That is indeed a Volvo-Cannondale Team bike, as evidenced by the sponsor decals on the stays and the telltale, ALCOA Alcalyte branding on the seat tube. The general buying public did not receive the Alcalyte proprietary 6061 T6 alloy formula until Cannondale released the OPTIMO Series, in late 2003.

I'm kinda jealous...

I have a CAAD3 on ebay for sale. Ends tomorrow.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/293578375021

 

[Brian]

Very cool you found this bike. Restore it, get some photos and post it in the gallery!