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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Bicycle After |
A Cannondale like this 1988 white version was my first real
bicycle after my Schwinn Varsity. Mine was a 1985 ST-500, the touring
version with triple water bottle cage brazings and 27 inch wheels.
Otherwise they were the same bicycles, the 1988 version here is the race
version, it does have 700c wheels by 1988 and has a lot nicer headset and stem.
I road mine for well over 30,000+ miles and sold it not too long ago,
wish I never sold it but it was 58 cm and I out grew it a very long time ago
but continued to put miles on it. I hope someday to find the same frame
in at least 63 cm.
Cannondale was one of the first to build
aluminum frames, you can tell this had not refined the design of an aluminum
frame at this time, he tubing is very large but unlike today's refined design
of aluminum frames the frames from the early days seem to have a much better
ride to me.
I am very excited to work on the white
1988 Cannondale, it will be a trip down memory lane for me. The
Cannondale is in pretty decent shape to start, the white paint is pretty dirty
and dull and has some chipping but being aluminum there is no rust under those
chips. The alloy has some corrosion and is very dull but all in all it
The Cannondale should come out pretty nice.
The 1988 Cannondale will receive a total
restoration with all new cables and cable housings, new tubes and tires, new
handlebar tape and saddle.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Bicycle Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Handlebars - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Stem Before |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Front Brake - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Shift Levers - Before |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Crank Before |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Rear Brake - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before |
I stripped the bicycle down and got to work cleaning the frame. White is a difficult color to get to shine nice, white has no depth to it and depth is what makes a finishes really pop. It took a lot of elbow grease but in the end the white paint looks very good.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Frame Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Frame Before |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Frame Before - Fork |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Frame Polished |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Frame Polished |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Frame polished - Seat Stays |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Frame Polished - Fork |
I had a shop injury a couple days back and cut my had pretty bad so The Cannondale was my first day back working in the shop again. I started with the rear wheel as a test of my hand, my hand is functioning well and started on the rest of the bike. A little strange start from my normal routine so you will see the rear wheel complete in all the photos. The freewheel is a little rough, I have that soaking in oil at this time. The rear wheel polished very nice and the new Continental Ultra Sport tires are the tires the White Cannondale was meant to have, great look between the all black tires and white frame.
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1988 Cannondale Restoration -
Rear Wheel - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Wheel - Old Grease |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Polished |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
New Continental Ultra Sport Tires |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Wheel Complete |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Freewheel - Before |
With my hand functioning well I got to work on the headset and bottom bracket. The headset is a Levin CD, I have only come across this headset a few times, it seems to be fantastic quality, there is not one thing that says its quality other then the over all feel of quality you find in some products, just a feel. The bottom bracket is also very nice, both cleaned up very well and polished very nice. Installed the headset and bottom bracket really shine and function extremely smooth!
In the photo below of the headset and bottom bracket polished I laid the components out in the order they are assembled. The frame fits between the two headset cups.
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1988 Cannondale Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Headset Bearings Packed |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Headset Cups - Pressed |
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| Headset Complete |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration - Bottom Bracket Bearings
Packed |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Bottom Bracket - Complete |
The stem and handlebars are very nice. The stem is a fantastic Nittio stem and the handlebars are 3TTT, the handlebar stamped badges where covered by the old handlebar tape, I will keep them showing when I install the new handlebar tape.
Both the handlebars and stem polished beautifully, I could not be more happy with the results, a high polish to the stem and handlebars really make the over all look of a bicycle.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Nitto Stem - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - 3TTT Handlebars - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Handlebars - Polished |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Nitto Stem - Polished |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Handlebars & Stem - Complete |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Stem & Handlebars - Complete |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Complete |
Next came the Sugino VP 130 crank set was next, it was dirty and dull, I disassembled it and cleaned and polished the components. I am happy with the results, this is when the shine on the alloy components starts to set its self apart from the white frame, a great look!
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Crank - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Crank - Exploded |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Crank - Polished |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Crank - Complete |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Crank - Installed |
I remember the brake calipers well from my Cannondale, they work descent and are easy to adjust. This set of calipers have really strong caliper springs, it makes for a very crisp action. I am very happy with the before and after of the brake calipers. I really like the way the bracket around the adjustment area polished out gold, it looks very cool.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Calipers - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Calipers - Exploded |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Calipers - Polished |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Calipers - Complete |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Caliper - Installed |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Caliper - Installed |
The derailleurs are nice, it is a Sun Tour Accushift 6 speed indexing group. The rear derailleur need some internal work on the tension spring, I do not have a photo of that. The front derailleur is a brazed on derailleur, I think they did this then because they did not want a clamp on to collapse the aluminum frame? Both derailleurs polished out very nice and after lubricating function really nice. I know this group set very well, it was the same on my Cannondale.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Derailleurs - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Exploded |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Derailleurs - Complete |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Front Derailleur - Installes |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Rear Derailleur - Installed |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Shift Levers - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Shift levers - Installed |
Last of the main components of the frame was the seat post and saddle, as I always say "Fluted seat post, My favorite!".
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Seat Post - Before |
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1988 Cannondale Restoration
Seat Post Complete - New Saddle |
The front wheel was a little rougher then the rear wheel, it took a a lot of cleaning, polishing and truing but it came a long ways back, a little rough on the side wall of the rim but not to bad over all. The new Continental tire really looks good also.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel - Old Grease |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel Rim - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Polished |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wheel - Complete |
The brake levers functioned well before but the levers where very dull and the white hoods where black and horrible looking. I am going to toot my own horn hear and say this may be the best I have ever done on brake lever hoods, they turned out fantastic!!! I could not believe I got the white to come that far back, it took a lot of work and a secret I have for brake lever hoods. That secret I am going to keep a secret for a while yet!
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Levers - Before |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Levers - After |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Brake Levers - Installed |
At this point the Cannondale is ready to be wired and tuned. The wiring went fine other for the ridiculous angle they want you to get the cable through the brake lever. The new handlebar tape looks great installed and the white cable housings are perfect for the white frame.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - New Bits & Pieces |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Front Wired |
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed |
At this point the Cannondale is 99% complete. I took the freewheel off and it is soaking in oil one more time. Later today final photos will be taken.
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| 1988 Cannondale Restoration - Cannondale 99% Complete |
That was a great job. I own a couple of older Cannondales and they still hold their own. How did this one ride after all the work?
ReplyDeleteWhat did you use to polish the components? crank, brakes etc? did you use a tool to buff them?
ReplyDeleteI have this same bike, so this is a great resource. Thanks for uploading all the great pictures.
ReplyDeleteI love this post, and I read it often. I got into cycling after I found this same bike leaning up against a dumpster. Lifted it up, and holy crap was it light! So I took it home and got to work restoring it. It has been a several year project for me, 50 bucks at a time, but what a great bike!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post!
ReplyDelete