The Land of the Rising Cannondale

[Tubeless]

Bought this frame all sexy and bare and built it up out of used parts from across the Matsumoto valley.
The finished bike had to -
1. not break the bank, and
2. be more capable than an entry level hard tail.

These goals were easily achieved and I was pretty happy with the package for the good part of two months, until the used parts began showing up with their age.
First the AlexDP17 rear wheel buckled, followed by the front wheel & then the Shimano hub flogged out and finally the old Hayes Nine brakes started giving up.

So, I jumped on a new set of SLX brakes and a spanking (...intended) new set of wheels to get the bike back and performing even better than before!

Specs

Frame	'09 Cannondale F5
Fork	120mm Manitou Black Super Air
Handlebars	750mm T-bar 30
Grips	Rocky Mountain
Stem	60mm Gap
Headset	Cannondale
Saddle	Selle Italia C2
Seatpost	Cannondale C4
Front Brake	180mm SLX M675
Back Brake	160mm SLX M675
Cranks	175mm Truvativ Firex
Pedals	Animal Hamilton
Chain	Do the Shimmy
Drivetrain	2x9 Deore LX
Wheels	26" Spank Oozy 295 Trail
Hubs	Hope Pro 4
Spokes	DT Swiss
Nipples	DT Swiss
Front Tyre	2.25 Michelin Grip 'R
Tyres	2.2 Continental Trail King
Tubes	Hai
Weight	12.8kg

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Original build



Current build - SLX Brakes & Spank rims/Hope hubs

 

[JonnyH]

Might be worth checking the frame for rear clearance before you buy new wheels. I'm running 650b on a similar era Cannondale Furio hardtail; fits 2.2 Maxxis Ardent (just), or 2.1's easily.
Made a big difference to the feel of the bike going from 26 - worth seeing if you can fit 650 in your frame.

 

[pink poodle]

Your castle is spectacular!

I would er on the side of caution with too many upgrades. As I'm sure you're discovering a wheelset along (new) is going to be double the value of the bike. So let's look at why you want to keep it? What is it about the bike that makes you eager to keep it? What is the future of the bike? How you intend to ride it, how long you will realistically keep it for and so on are factors in how much to spend.

This open up the floor for short term cheap solutions. The front hub can likely be fixed. What is wrong with It? It may just need some tweaking and grease. The rims can be trued up with a little patience. But the brakes...not much can be done.

Then we need to find you a bike parts mule. Someone headed your way with a lot of unused baggage weight. Or an awkwardly oversized bodily compartment.

 

[Tubeless]

Might be worth checking the frame for rear clearance before you buy new wheels. I'm running 650b on a similar era Cannondale Furio hardtail; fits 2.2 Maxxis Ardent (just), or 2.1's easily.
Made a big difference to the feel of the bike going from 26 - worth seeing if you can fit 650 in your frame.

Not a bad idea.

Just had a measure up, and I'd need a grinder to help me find 15mm on the chain stay at least. So back to 26"!

 

[pink poodle]

How tall are you and what size is the frame? I'd like to see that seat slid forward just a little...it looks unbalanced.

 

[Tubeless]

How tall are you and what size is the frame? I'd like to see that seat slid forward just a little...it looks unbalanced.

I'm 170cm and the frame is a small. You might be right, I have it slid right back at the moment to help wheelies reggers:

Your castle is spectacular!

I would er on the side of caution with too many upgrades. As I'm sure you're discovering a wheelset along (new) is going to be double the value of the bike. So let's look at why you want to keep it? What is it about the bike that makes you eager to keep it? What is the future of the bike? How you intend to ride it, how long you will realistically keep it for and so on are factors in how much to spend.

This open up the floor for short term cheap solutions. The front hub can likely be fixed. What is wrong with It? It may just need some tweaking and grease. The rims can be trued up with a little patience. But the brakes...not much can be done.

Then we need to find you a bike parts mule. Someone headed your way with a lot of unused baggage weight. Or an awkwardly oversized bodily compartment.

The moat is a pain to clean though :noidea:

Eager to keep it because it fits nicely mostly, so I feel I'm not going to be replacing it with another hardtail with similar Geo, but rather buying something else for another purpose.
I also love the look of a low seat tube, and it also makes it really versatile.

I have half a dozen snowboards in my cupboard at home that I lend to family & friends, all flogged and hold no real re-sale value so I just keep them. This is sort of how I envision this bike, as is, its not worth anything to anyone except me and instead of letting it seize up next to my snowboards I'll show it some love (...and I agree, not too much love), but enough so if it is retired its still a capable bike instead of being a bike with heaps of old mis matched parts on it that need replacing, so no one rides it - Thats what I'd like to save it from, from being that.

 

[safreek]

sweet as bruv, certainly I would keep the frame as the old dales feel real sweet to ride. Dunno why a lot of people diss them. My Boy had a F1000 about 15 years ago with a lefty, he used to urban with his buddies on their dj bikes and it never broke. That bike alone had me loving the dales for life :heh:

 

[Nambra]

What's that pot of slop on the stove? It looks kinda tasty.

How much should you spend on a bike is a fairly subjective question, and as poodle says you can overcapitalise. That said, you've got new brakes on the way so you're already committed to the bike.

Your front hub probably just needs a re-build, but if your riding style is becoming more aggressive, then those Shimano hubs are probably not really going to take the pain longer term and if your rims are completely knackered, then you'd be better off investing in a new (or used) wheelset that's a bit tougher. There must be a heap of relatively inexpensive 26" wheelsets out there to choose from, assuming all the international online mobs ship to Japan for around the same cost as shipping to Oz. A budget of around AU$250 would sort you out with a decent set of wheels.

If the rims are not too bad though, then I'd probably do as poodle says first; have a crack at repairing the front hub and giving the wheels a true-up. You might just have low or uneven spoke tension which is contributing to the buckling. It's not going to cost you much to have a go at any rate.

 

[Tubeless]

sweet as bruv, certainly I would keep the frame as the old dales feel real sweet to ride. Dunno why a lot of people diss them. My Boy had a F1000 about 15 years ago with a lefty, he used to urban with his buddies on their dj bikes and it never broke. That bike alone had me loving the dales for life :heh:

Haha nice one. I do hear steel hard tails are a tickle different (smoother?) ride than the aluminium, so I would like to give a steel bike or two a burn to see how they compare.

 

[Tubeless]

What's that pot of slop on the stove? It looks kinda tasty.

How much should you spend on a bike is a fairly subjective question, and as poodle says you can overcapitalise. That said, you've got new brakes on the way so you're already committed to the bike.

Your front hub probably just needs a re-build, but if your riding style is becoming more aggressive, then those Shimano hubs are probably not really going to take the pain longer term and if your rims are completely knackered, then you'd be better off investing in a new (or used) wheelset that's a bit tougher. There must be a heap of relatively inexpensive 26" wheelsets out there to choose from, assuming all the international online mobs ship to Japan for around the same cost as shipping to Oz. A budget of around AU$250 would sort you out with a decent set of wheels.

If the rims are not too bad though, then I'd probably do as poodle says first; have a crack at repairing the front hub and giving the wheels a true-up. You might just have low or uneven spoke tension which is contributing to the buckling. It's not going to cost you much to have a go at any rate.

Green Thai chicken curry, yes tasty as fork and left overs!

You and Poodle could be right about the bearing, it may just need a service. But like you said, an upgrade wouldn't hurt anyway, they're not particularly confidence inspiring on drops etc.

The rims I thought would have been fixable and maybe they are by the right person. But the local shop that I took my first rim to only fixed it as good as they could and said it had had its day. The rear was taco'd enough to rub from left cs to right cs and has since been trued enough not to rub on the frame. Front is similar but it doesn't rub on the forks, but brakes do on the rotor.

 

[Nambra]

You've made me hungry now - I could go a decent curry.

I did a little reading on your hubs before posting previously - the Shimano 475's appear to be pretty low-tech poorly sealed free-balling hubs. If the crowns inside the actual hub aren't worn or pitted, they could be refurbished with new cones and bearings fairly cheaply to keep you riding. But by the sounds of it, your rims are toast anyway and as the hubs aren't suited to the rough and tough you want to give them then why throw money at trying to keep either serviceable.

Without knowing your financial situation, I'm only guessing at what an 'expensive' wheelset is for you, or what you really want to spend on the bike.

 

[Tubeless]

You've made me hungry now - I could go a decent curry.

I did a little reading on your hubs before posting previously - the Shimano 475's appear to be pretty low-tech poorly sealed free-balling hubs. If the crowns inside the actual hub aren't worn or pitted, they could be refurbished with new cones and bearings fairly cheaply to keep you riding. But by the sounds of it, your rims are toast anyway and as the hubs aren't suited to the rough and tough you want to give them then why throw money at trying to keep either serviceable.

Without knowing your financial situation, I'm only guessing at what an 'expensive' wheelset is for you, or what you really want to spend on the bike.

I can do take-away...

And, no worries. I appreciate your input all the same.
I'm hoping to pull the trigger on a wheel build today. They're a little more than I was hoping to spend, but hopefully it means I can chuckle at the thought of once having buckles.

 

[Tubeless]

Braking news.

 

[hifiandmtb]

#partsontoilet

 

[pink poodle]

Braking news.

#phatskidzzz!

 

[ForkinGreat]

#startrektoilet

 

[Tubeless]

11days from the beginning of the wheel build to being installed!

New brakes & new wheels have my skills playing catchup again.

Spank Oozy 295Trail hoops
Hope Pro4 hubs
DT Swiss spokes & nipples

 

[D/\M0]

Tidy looking build!
Miss Japan. Next time I eventually get to Matsumoto I'll hit you up for a mtb tour.

 

[pink poodle]

#startrektoilet

Captain's log...

11days from the beginning of the wheel build to being installed!

New brakes & new wheels have my skills playing catchup again.

Spank Oozy 295Trail hoops
Hope Pro4 hubs
DT Swiss spokes & nipples

Excellent back drop! The wheel/tyre combo looks fat!