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Retro Restoration....

No, I have not tried the rapid fire ones, the only experiance I had with them was a buddy had them on his bike, and crashed, not a big crash, but he busted the pod off the break lever thing, cost a lot to fix, if it had been the regular bar top shifters, I very much doubt anything would have broke :dunno:

But, I'm not planing on going off road, so maybe I'll consider it.

You really like them eh?

Cheers!
 
My first bike didn't have them, but as soon as I put them on it I could feel the difference.
The fact of using the index finger in one side of the handlebar and the thumb on the other makes them really comfortable in any riding situation.
 
Stuart Ablett said:
No, I have not tried the rapid fire ones, the only experiance I had with them was a buddy had them on his bike, and crashed, not a big crash, but he busted the pod off the break lever thing, cost a lot to fix,
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Here is my summer bike (louis garneau hybrid, 2009 model) shifters.
It's a view from the bottom, since the bike is up hanging at the garage ceiling.
IMG_3983.jpg

Here is my winter beater (Kona Dew Deluxe hybride, I forget the year)
IMG_3984.jpg

Both are what I would call rapid-fire style shifters. The Kona has them integrated with the brake levers. The Louis Garneau has separate units. So they don't have to be one with the brake lever.

The larger lower lever just naturally falls under my thumb -- I just drop the thumb down and push. The smaller upper lever falls under my first finger -- just a short throw, without really taking your hands off the grip. Note that the small lever I use from in front of the grip, pushing back.

And yeah, I love 'em. My wife has grip shifters, so does my son on his garage-sale find. Don't like them anywhere near as much.

...art
 
I'm waffling here :rolleyes: :D

I did find these.......

SHIMANO ALIVIO/STX 7-SPEED SHIFTERS LEVERS SL-MC40
d4e5_1_sbl.JPG

New in the box, $12, and the shipping is not bad, but do I want these or not, they are kind of low end..... :dunno:
 
Great going there on the bike Stu. I am following along.


What fascinates me is the way you guys all talk of brands. Ya have all been brainwashed.:D:D

Its a brand here a brand there, for me its a bike.(period) Its brakes.(period) or its gears. (period)

You peddle you go you ride you brake you stop you go again.

Yeah i like the clean up, the paint job, and you fixing the wheel but when you guys get hung up on the brand of gears oh boy you guys loose me.

Maybe its growing up without all the choice and the need to align oneself with a brand identity.

Now of course if i had a Sawstop or a One way lathe or............:rofl::rofl::rofl:

That would be different.:D;):thumb:

P.S. I have the low end gears from Shimano and they have done me very well on my lightweight Taiwanese branded bike that probably came out of the same factory yours did.:D:thumb:

Hey i am more looking forward to what you gonna do with the seat. With my weight currently i dont sit down cause it causes a pain in the behind.:D

Keep at it but dont spend the summer on fixing the bike as i recall the aim was getting out there or was that just an excuse for the refurb and trip down memory lane.:);):thumb:
 
Rob Keeble said:
What fascinates me is the way you guys all talk of brands. Ya have all been brainwashed.:D:D

Its a brand here a brand there, for me its a bike.(period) Its brakes.(period) or its gears. (period)
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I did't think I mentioned any brands, Rob. Hmm, I guess "rapid fire" is a model from Shimano. But my point was more that I really like these two-lever shifters more than the one-lever shifters, and I don't like grip/twist shifters.

It's a functionality/comfort thing more than a brand thing.

I don't actually do that much work on my bike. I have a couple of very good local bike stores that get my business. $40 gets a full tune up, usually once a year. Parts and installation are pretty modest, and the turnaround is quick.

You peddle you go you ride you brake you stop you go again.
Click to expand...

That is true, but what you are missing is the "Lather rinse repeat" :rofl: part of the phrase... (ie: how much you use your bike.) I bike to work all year. It's only about 4km each way, but over the course of the year that comes out to 2000km per year on my bike. I've also been doing longer rides on the weekends with some friends, which adds another few hundred to the mix. So just like a heavy tool user is more likely to see the benefit of higher quality tools, a heavy bike users is also more likely to see the benefit of higher quality parts.

(but again, I usually go in to my LBS and tell him there is a problem and take his expert opinion. Sure I prefer rapid fire shifters, but I have no idea if I have top end or bottom end versions of them! :huh: )

Oh, and for the weekend bike fixers out there, I highly recommend http://bicycletutor.com/ -- this guy has dozens of short videos, all well done, that cover different aspects of working on your own bike. I have yet to see a bad video tutorial there.
 
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Rob, for you, that may work just fine, but for about 5 years when I lived in Vancouver I did not own a car, I rode one of my bikes everywhere, for two of those years I rode 16 km one way to UBC, 5 or 6 days a week, often on Sunday I went for a ride with buddies to Horseshoe bay, that was just over 110km round trip. I would easily put 10,000 km a year on my bikes.

I just simply wore stuff out. This bike had a cheap fork that lasted all of a week, I replaced it with a good quality Tange fork from Japan, and 22 years later, if I'd not let the bike sit so long in the rain :doh: that fork would still be good to go, my fault. I would go through about at least 3 bottom brackets a year on this bike, yes, I rode it that much, and I did a LOT of off road riding, which is dirty and hard on the components. The first bottom bracket I had, the one that came with the bike was very CHEAP, it broke in two one day while riding, yes I was jumping the bike that day, but only a foot or two, nothing dramatic. I replaced that BB with a Shimano unit, and have not yet broken one, I've worn them out, but that came from use.

The shifters that I'm looking to replace, again if I had not let the bike sit for so long, they too would be just fine now, but the one got all rusty inside and is toast.

It is simple, if you are a weekend warrior and a sometime user, then you can get away with cheap parts, they will last long enough for you, but for me, back in the day, the cheap parts did not last long and often broke at the worst time.

Thus, I'm stuck on brands, Suntour makes nice stuff too, but for me, the Shimano stuff, the mid to higher end stuff is still made in Japan, and it is well made. I choose to spend my money on that stuff :thumb:

YMMV

I'm waiting on parts, trust me, I want to get out there and ride this thing now :D :wave:
 
I finally made a decision on the shifters etc.

I got these........
component_set.jpg
... on E-bay, $40 and another $25 shipping to Japan. I doubt I'll use the Derailleur, as I have a Deort XT unit, but the front derailleur is an improvement on the old Suntour unit and now I have shifters!

I can also still look for bar top shifters if I don't like these rapid fire units.

Cheers!
 
Stu the rebuild looks great. Lots of fun tooling around with bikes.

Cycling is my sport. I have been mountain biking for the last 16 years. Lots of trails around my area. I have had several different high end mountain bikes and two road bikes. My current mountain bike is a Cove G-Spot. I am using a mix of XT and XTR components. There are several good component makers but I favour Shimano. Frankly they have been setting standard for so many years now. I also have disc brakes on it but they are a little old now. I strongly recommend disc brakes though even if you are only riding the streets. They have superior braking power and they wear much better than caliper brakes. They also don't wear down the wheel rims or clogs up like the hard pads of V-brakes. However you will need a frame that has the lugs for attachment. I have bought and sold many parts from the auction site here.

I just remembered I had one of the early Cannondales. I bought it in 1986 in a store in Kitsalano. It had written on it Hand Made in The U.S.A. And it was red. Wikipedia says Cannondale started producing bike frames in 1983.
 
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I envy your access to trails!

Your thoughts on disc brakes are valid, but I could not do that on this bike, I would be much better off just buying a basic model that has the disc brakes, than trying to mod this one.

If I really get back into this and really use the trailer a lot, who knows, maybe I'll get a whole new bike just to do that, and free up my Cannondale for just fun riding :dunno:

About buying a Cannondale in Kits in 1986, you can go to www.vintagecannondale.com and see the catalog for that year.

http://sanaandterry.com/cannondale/year/1986/1986.pdf

Page 26, if it was red, then is was an SM500 GREAT bike!
 
Thanks Alex

I hope to get some clear coat on it tomorrow, not the best day, but very little wind forecast :thumb:

Then just parts, the stuff I got on E-bay has shipped, so I hope that does not take too long.

Getting antsy :D
 
I got the clear coat done, total of three coats!

downtown_shot.jpg
Kind of a neat shot, that is downtown Shinjuku in the background :thumb:

fork_comparo_1.JPG
I got my new fork, and I'm concerned, because it is shorter than the one I have :huh::dunno:

fork_comparo_2.JPG　fork_comparo_3.JPG

What do you think, will this be a big problem?

I guess I have to get my new head tube bearding etc and see if it is long enough......

Cheers!
 
The difference is 20mm. That might be a problem. Headsets these days are unthreaded and a lot easier to snug fit. In the old days you used to have to use two head set wrenches and tighten them together. I have an old set of Rock Shox if you are interested. They are one of the original sets and I put an after market spring kit inside to give them more travel. I am not sure what the tube length on it is. I will check. You know the prices on Yahoo Auction are quite reasonable for older parts. And there are tons available.
 
Alex Reid said:
The difference is 20mm. That might be a problem. Headsets these days are unthreaded and a lot easier to snug fit. In the old days you used to have to use two head set wrenches and tighten them together. I have an old set of Rock Shox if you are interested. They are one of the original sets and I put an after market spring kit inside to give them more travel. I am not sure what the tube length on it is. I will check. You know the prices on Yahoo Auction are quite reasonable for older parts. And there are tons available.
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Yeah, I'm going to take it back tomorrow :(

I'd be interested in the Rock Shok if you want to make a deal :D

I'd not looked on Yahoo for a fork, but I will now! :wave:
 
Alex, FYI it is definitely 20cm from the place the race sits to the end of the fork, and it is also a 1" tube, makes sure yours is not an 1" 1/8 (I wish mine was!)

I also may have found a vintage Cannondale Pepperoni fork on auction in the US, it is even red :thumb:
 
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