Cannondale, eh?

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That seems odd seeing a well known company like that change the image. I wonder how the quality will be like.
 
Originally Posted By: lpcmidst128
That seems odd seeing a well known company like that change the image. I wonder how the quality will be like.


My guess is that quality will not suffer, and I don't expect Cannondale to ever sell cheap, WalMart priced bikes. The reason I say that (about quality) is because the company that bought Cannondale also owns GT & Mongoose. Both of those brands have current production, high end bikes that are of excellent quality. There is a Mongoose mountain bike on the cover of the December or January issue of Mountain Bike Action magazine. It got good reviews.

I expect that the new owners of Cannondale will probably trim the model lines down a bit, and stop selling the super-expensive ($5K+) models.

I'm still very sad to see Cannondale sold. I wonder when they will close the US Cannondale factory & move production to Taiwan. I DO expect that to happen; but what do I know? I'm just some schmuck who posts on a motor oil forum.
 
Wow. I kinda knew something was up because they were very unhelpful when I was asking questions about bikes via e mail. In the past, I was always Cannondale, now I've just ordered a Gary Fisher because Cannondale seemed a little less helpful than in the past. I guess now I know why.
 
Just bought a canondale caad9 optimo 2. Handbuilt in USA. Bummer that this may not stay the case for too long...

My trek 1200 was handbuilt in USA too. By the time my wife bought one, a few years later, they were made in Taiwan...

bummer.

JMH
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Time to just buy custom built in the USA.
http://handmadebicycleshow.com/2008/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26


I've been doing this for the past 25 years!!
Now if we could only get SRAM (or someone else) to make top line/high end components HERE, I would be ecstatic!!!
(NOT that I am dissatisfied my Campy gruppo at all, just that I want to be able to say, "TOTALLY made in the U.S.A"! But then there are the tires.
frown.gif
Oh well, it's always something, right?)
 
the article 'seems' to indicate that they realize mass market and IBD are different; hopefully they see the value in Ameican made bicycles.
I've always had a love/hate relationship w/ cannondale. I worked for a # of years at the top cannondale dealer in PA, and they are a labor intensive deal, and would chase innovation too heavily, at the expense of reliability. but, they were profitable, light, fast, made in PA, good looking and popular. I'll have to talk to my old boss and see what he thinks of all this. he's been w/ c-dale since the beginning.
 
I did not see R & E Cycles listed via the above link but they are hand-built in Seattle and I bought one for myself about ten years ago, figuring it would be the last one I purchase. Hand-built IMO are the way to go but that is just my opinion. Made in USA of course.
 
Tom builds nice stuff, but there is SO much nice stuff out there. J P Weigle is a great builder, as of course Richard Sachs. I think my next bike would have to be lugged steel. w/ all the custom lugs that those guys have come up with, using modern tube dimesnions and alloys, that's much more attractive to me than a tig welded bike.
to comment on cannondales again, I had a few dales when I worked in a shop. I had a R5000-something, CAAD 7 frame, dura ace. light, like 16 lbs. then, my boss sold it (we had a demo bike program for employees) so I got another CAAD 7, I think it was a R3000 (whatever had ultegra on it). again, real light, great climber. problem was, I didn't feel comfortable riding it the way I wanted to, and it didn't quite inspire 'passion'. I'm always suspect of carbon forks. I miss my early '80s pinarello- I beat the c r a p out of that one, but she rode great, always a wonderful familiarity about her.I have a surly now, built up to be durable, 28c tires, wide gears, upright seating, something to ride when we go out as a family.
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Now if we could only get SRAM (or someone else)


I just bought a $40 French Sram chain for my mountain bike. Yikes, that was expensive, but I was growing weary of lousy chains stretching and wearing the hades out of the rest of the drive train. Years ago, I used to use the Sachs (I believe Sedis sport) chains, also French. I don't see why the US couldn't build a good chain.
 
Originally Posted By: NJC
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Now if we could only get SRAM (or someone else)


I just bought a $40 French Sram chain for my mountain bike. Yikes, that was expensive, but I was growing weary of lousy chains stretching and wearing the hades out of the rest of the drive train. Years ago, I used to use the Sachs (I believe Sedis sport) chains, also French. I don't see why the US couldn't build a good chain.


That's still less than a Campy Record 10, or Wippermann stainless 10 speed chain.
 
Only time will tell. Cannondale has not changed any of their sales or tech staff in Pen. They will be offering a 800.00 Caad 9 bike made in the USA. They have been unable to compete in the entry level bike pricing for years. They now have way to compete with the entry level Trek, Specialized, and Giants all of which are imports.
 
Originally Posted By: NJC
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Now if we could only get SRAM (or someone else)


I just bought a $40 French Sram chain for my mountain bike. Yikes, that was expensive, but I was growing weary of lousy chains stretching and wearing the hades out of the rest of the drive train. Years ago, I used to use the Sachs (I believe Sedis sport) chains, also French. I don't see why the US couldn't build a good chain.


SRAM chains are Sachs
wink.gif


made in Portugal I believe these days.
 
Originally Posted By: tdi-rick
SRAM chains are Sachs
wink.gif



The German company Fichtel&Sachs was sold to Mannesmann in the late '90s. About a decade later, Mannesmann sold Sachs to ZF. About 5 years ago, the American company SRAM bought ZF Sachs.
 
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