Early Cannondale info needed

I have an older cannondale bike that has patent pending on the seat stays.
No model number anywhere. It has a really small granny gear for climbing
(possible touring?) The chainstays are 18". Did cannondale make their early
production bikes for touring or What. Just trying to figure out what this
thing is. Any help greatly appreciated.
D

Cannondale has made frames for many purposes.

The "criterium" frameset came later in the life of cannondale. It was more
marketing than functionality. The stiffness of the Cannondale design is
such that it raced very well anyway.

I think the best determination of frame style is bottom bracket height,
dropout spacing, seat angle and then chainstay length.

Wheel base plays a part in the discussion.

The history of Cannondale frames was driven by the lawsuit from Klein. The
patent for the original rear dropout and chainstay design was and is held by
Klein.

After Cannondale lost in court, there was a brief period when Cannondale
created a "cantilever" rear dropout.....
It was an engineering failure. There were many frame failures

An agreement was reached with Klein over the use of the design.(I don't
remember the details)

With respect to touring frames, the traditional touring frame has/had
cantilever brakes.

Most "retail" frames available in the US in the 70's and 80's were usually
referred to as "sport/touring" frames. They had either center pull or side
pull calipers.

The geometry of the "sport/touring" frames is not to terribly different from
many European geometry frames. Compact and climbing framesets were the
rarity. Shorter chainstays have become the norm in the last 10-15 years.

Again, criteriums are a US nightmare, as most European races are not crits.

All of the above is based on 20+ years in the business and the fact that I
am an old wannabe racer.

I can stand to be wrong, but I believe all of the above to be correct.

Allan
Former Shop Owner
Old Wannabe.



"Dave" wrote in message
et...
I have an older cannondale bike that has patent pending on the seat stays.
No model number anywhere. It has a really small granny gear for climbing
(possible touring?) The chainstays are 18". Did cannondale make their
early
production bikes for touring or What. Just trying to figure out what this
thing is. Any help greatly appreciated.
D

Here's an extract from cannondale.com:
Cannondale has come a long way since its birth in a crowded loft above a
pickle factory in 1971, when it introduced the cycling industry's first
bicycle trailer. The company grew quickly during its early years, adding
cycling apparel and accessory lines along the way while also earning a
strong reputation for innovation and quality. That reputation proved
invaluable when Cannondale introduced its first bicycle, a touring model, in
1983, followed by a road racing model and a mountain bike model in 1984.
Cannondale raised the cycling world's eyebrows by equipping their bicycles
with handcrafted aluminum frames that were both lighter and more
flex-resistant than the steel models that dominated the industry at the
time. Cannondale's reputation encouraged both bike dealers and customers to
give the bicycles a try, and widespread industry skepticism quickly gave way
to a host of imitators.

"Dave" wrote in message
et...
I have an older cannondale bike that has patent pending on the seat stays.
No model number anywhere. It has a really small granny gear for climbing
(possible touring?) The chainstays are 18". Did cannondale make their
early
production bikes for touring or What. Just trying to figure out what this
thing is. Any help greatly appreciated.
D

I want to thank everyone for their reply, and valuable information. This one
has the side pull brakes on it, not canti's like the later models. The
schwinn dealer said the rear wheel was one of the very first 5 or 6 speed
(convertable cog) 700 wheel that lead him to believe it may well be one of
the earlier C dales. Of coarse it may have been switched out. It has Campy
downtube shifters as well. Thanks again.
David

"Tim Reeve" wrote in message
. ..
Here's an extract from cannondale.com:
Cannondale has come a long way since its birth in a crowded loft above a
pickle factory in 1971, when it introduced the cycling industry's first
bicycle trailer. The company grew quickly during its early years, adding
cycling apparel and accessory lines along the way while also earning a
strong reputation for innovation and quality. That reputation proved
invaluable when Cannondale introduced its first bicycle, a touring model,
in
1983, followed by a road racing model and a mountain bike model in 1984.
Cannondale raised the cycling world's eyebrows by equipping their bicycles
with handcrafted aluminum frames that were both lighter and more
flex-resistant than the steel models that dominated the industry at the
time. Cannondale's reputation encouraged both bike dealers and customers
to
give the bicycles a try, and widespread industry skepticism quickly gave
way
to a host of imitators.

"Dave" wrote in message
et...
I have an older cannondale bike that has patent pending on the seat
stays.
No model number anywhere. It has a really small granny gear for climbing
(possible touring?) The chainstays are 18". Did cannondale make their
early
production bikes for touring or What. Just trying to figure out what
this
thing is. Any help greatly appreciated.
D