My dad designed that cover of Dirt Rider Magazine. He was the editor in chief at the time. He got to ride a prototype of the bike and found it quite bipolar. It was ahead of its time but the execution was lackluster. It’s a shame that it failed but there was no way a bike with so many issues would hold commercial success.
3:42 - former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal receiving his custom built Delta-V mountain bike at Orange Cycle in Orlando, Florida, USA with owner & president Howard Larlee and then shop manager and future Cannondale sales representative and eventual SRAM product manager the late Bill Keith.
Sick bicycles apparently took a lot of peoples money and didn't deliver frames - Marino in Puru were building frames for them until they stopped paying for the work and Planet X picked up the Taiwan frames that also unpaid as the Hello Dave - they also had a kickstarter for a crazy full sus frame before they disappeared - would love to find out what happened...
I almost lost a bit of money to them having ordered a shirt and a couple small parts. Ended up filing a PayPal dispute and getting my money back. Do have a Hoodie from them. It started falling apart pretty quickly.
Interesting they don't mention the Cannondale Cannibal 440 ATV. I went to the Cannondale factory in Pennsylvania and tested one of the first prototypes on their test track. At the time I was an editor for All Terrain Vehicle Magazine. (now the host of Dirttrax TV). It, too, was well ahead of its time as far as sport ATVs we're concerned. Had many quirks though. Interesting little note.... the county the Cannondale factory was in was a dry county. Had to drive 30 minutes to the next county over to get a beer.
I am all in for Cannondale and would buy the book if I could. I own 2 Cannondale road bikes, one MTB and one gravel bike (the Slate with a Lefty fork). Love their bikes, their tech, and their customer support. They have a lifetime warranty on frames for the original owner and replaced my Slate frame when the seat tube cracked. Great company and great products.
That Y2K Cannondale catalog you showed is giving me all the nostalgia. I lusted for one of those Raven's with the Lefty so bad. A buddy and I even got to visit the old Bedford Factory for a tour that year as well.
I got turned off on Cannonsnail working in a high end bike shop in the 90s. Their frames were not jigged during heat treatment and were NEVER straight. Their stays were never at the right measurement and we always had to spread the frames to fit the wheels in. They probably have upgraded since then and the Lefty fork is an impressive piece of engineering; but I went the handmade steel bike route with a Fat Chance Yo Eddy and it served me very well for years of XC racing.
KTM bicycles aren't from KTM bikes! That are two different companies after origin KTM going bankrupt. KTM bikes are not allowed to sell bicycles under the name of KTM (court ruled) so they came with their daughters Husqvarna and GasGas.
I worked at a Cannondale dealer for 10 years, 1990-1999. I got to see all the cool and not so cool innovations they came out with. I was a Headshock tech. At the time it was the best there was, when it worked. I still have a SM-1000 from somewhere around the early '90s. Klein Ground Control handle bars, Chris King radial laced front and radial lace non-drive on the rear, Avid Ultimate V-brakes, Specialize Micro-drive cranks, Ti spindle, Onza bar ends, Panaracer Dart front tire, Panaracer Smoke on the rear, Manitou Mach 5 fork and old school clip pedals. 22 pounds. This thing was trick. I rode it this spring just for a gut check. Scared the sh$# out of myself. How did I ever ride this thing fast? I keep it as a memento of my riding history.
@@paul--b based on my experience with the spray nozzles we use on bottles of disinfectant, I'd be surprised if they last a year, though some of that might be the disinfectant's fault, deteriorating the plastic, but I'm pretty sure it's the rate of use. since we're using the disinfectant multiple times a day and the nozzle fails in a month, you could probably extrapolate the lifetime based on your own usage
Great episode Doddy! I also have a soft spot for Cannondale. I used to be a certified Headshock tech and have had a few of their racier XC hard tails and they were superb. I like their fancier road bikes too 👍
It would be awesome I you could make a video about best hard shell bike travel cases/bags and tips about how to package the bike to avoid damage during trips.
Air induction via the head stock (head tube) is a methodology for improving direct airflow at the point where its pressure is more or less guaranteed to be at its highest. See the Honda VTR1000 SP1/SP2 and more recently Ducati Panigale V2 or V4. Noodle were ahead of their time, I remember collecting their catalogues from the mid 80's through to their demise. I'd defo have that book on my shopping list if it goes into publication.
top balls Cannondale, we did used to call them "Crackn`fail" at the bike shop where I worked, but we did do a roaring trade servicing lefties and headshocks which were mostly seized and coming in for services - very light/stiff way to get shocks on a bike tho (when they are serviced and running nice)
I did not know that.🤔 There's an interesting story to be told about GT bikes as well. They were as popular as Cannondale back in the 90s. But the CEO & co-founder Richard Long died at the young age of 46 after a motorcycle (a new Honda Valkyrie) accident while riding to a bicycle race. And of course even being a proud GT owner myself, there was no internet back then so I had no idea that it had happened until only recently. Apparently there is a book coming out and Zap of MBA is finishing off the editing or something like that.
I love the history, just been reading about Nukeproof history. Need a Netflix series! Nah keep it here, but so interesting! Engineering masterpieces. (Fails too) love it!
The cannondale mx bike was also very expensive over here in europe. They should have started with a more straight forward concept, until the people were used to a cycle brand building mx bikes. It was a bike with lots of issues.
This bike was really easy to assemble ru-vid.comUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.
Doddy, I got a hold of one of your wish list bikes. Red with yellow decals Cannondale F700. 40 dollars in Oregon,USA. Friend grabbed and shipped it to me for 120 all in. Ill send in pics when I get it and opened up.
Yeah they really @#£&*@ up when they tried making the Mx bike. They were offered a load of advice but they thought they knew better. From speaking to a couple of owners, if you had one that worked they were ok.
I was in the industry when this horrendous piece of crap came out. No-one could understand why Cannondale would not just slit their own throat, but their wrists, femoral artery and everything else that’s good in the pursuit of this madness. This explains just how bonkers it all was in excellent detail: motocrossactionmag.com/amp/biggest-disaster-in-motocross-history-the-story-behind-the-cannondale/
I raced for cannondale in the 1980s and I have no idea about angles and compression of shocks...but Ned overend and John tomac can back me up when I say that cornering is off the charts....tomac raced for mongoose and he was the ultimate downhill racer
C-dale got too big for their britches. Once they started with the DeltaV bikes they lost me as a fan. Junk design with excessive material. The biggest reason they won races or any championships is due to the rider/racer, not the bikes. Their motorcycle was review by all the bike magazines back in the day and everyone said they bike ride like crap. Serves them right to go bankrupt. They should have never been saved.
Loving the videos on the channel! Could you guys do a video on how to take care and service the bearings around the suspension/back wheel? Would be really helpful :) Have a nice day!
It’s sad Cannondale is no longer made in the US. I chose to update an old mint condition 2006 Rush recently….I simply couldn’t sell the bike…the “Handmade in USA” had me feeling nostalgic.
I don’t particularly like Cannondales, in fact me and my friends used to call them Crack n fails for the longest time, but damn I’d love to have that book!
I'd love to own that cannondale book as I've got three of them and have done for year's one headshok and two lefty fork bikes superb and the looks you get of people is funny cool. Nice 😄
Isn't it strange Volvo is the main car company with top safety standards but they teamed up with cannondale one of the most well known bike company that were used for trials riders... one of the more dangerous and technical sports of mtb
crocs make nurses feet happy so they should be praised. Don’t knock them for function. There are many styles of Crocs and unfortunately these are associated with the name when it’s just one model
The motor had the bottom end on top and the head on the bottom. It was upside-down. Engine also had electric start which none of the other motocross bikes had.
The only people who hate crocs, are those who haven't fully tried them.... Deadpool isn't wrong! A pair by the front and back door, perfect when u need to quickly pop outside to the garden, especially if wet, or post ride, or campsite showers...loads of things
If you REALLY like a quiet bike, you’d get a huge kick riding my Zerode Katipo… pinion C1.9 gearbox and Gates belt drive on a beautiful frame runs silent and goes deep. Don’t think I’ll ever buy another derailleur bike.
Derailleurs are annoying as fuck. Snag a fern and your derailleur hanger gets bent a little. Got to listen to clicking and clacking until you can get home and fix it
Do you think these new saint pedals are going to relate to the spyshots of the potential new saint groupset? Will we be seeing a refresh soon in your professional opinion?
Love my old Cannondale Gemini with a lefty, just can’t find anyone to rebuild the fork. Seals are blown, otherwise everything on the bike works great. Re Crocks vs Berks, while wearing a early version of crocks, I stepped on a piece of glass that went right through the “sole” of the crock and straight into my foot. I think they have since improved the sole to be more puncture resistant . A crock blocker of sorts.
The Swedish fire pump engine (Folan) was basically a good engine. The gear-driven camshafts was inexplicable when a silent chain is basically a chain-gear and one could have used a belt considering off-road maintenance intervals. People have been talking about direct flow inlet tracts for a long time. Maybe Triumph will pick up on "innovation " . ATK bought the remaining Cannondale parts and assembled them under their name. Piston kits to fit a known issue were also sold. Cannondale was probably better off waiting to do something electric.
