January 2010

I only say that because it’s not “new bike day”.

technically.

cannondale track build

everything has come down to this bike.  a lot of people have been asking, why a cannondale track over the samson?  well, it’s more opportunity than anything – a 54cm cannondale track popped up on ebay.  the geometry is pretty much what you’d expect the caad road bikes to have, just with an extended seat tube and tighter angles.  however, I will say it is, HANDS DOWN, the best handling track bike I’ve ridden yet.

why a woundup fork?  I can tell it’s a pretty sacrilegious to swap out the original steel fork and superbe pro headset…but srsly, I bought the woundup the first time around for the samson, and it was a 1″ threadless with a carbon fiber steerer.  long story short, it cracked through and through where the stem clamped the fork.  there is NO aluminum sleeve inside the steerer like there is for the 1 1/8″ steerers.  anyway, freewheel hayes sent the fork back requesting a steel steerer.  but while the samson did have the threadless setup, it was by far the lightest and stiffest I’ve ever felt the bike.  the carbon dampened the perfect amount, especially on a city-ridden track bike.

this bike is ridiculously stiff in all the right places, cannondale knew what they were doing.  the last time I rode aluminum was on my pista concept…agh, those were the days.

haven’t been able to squeeze in any big rides with the cdale track yet, but I do want to hit up marin when the rain goes away.  on presidio loops and stretches the bike just spins up like you wouldn’t believe.  I moved back to 48×17, the tried and true setup I had on the pista concept.  also brought back the sugino zen racing chainring, my F*CKING FAV.  rigid, smooth, shiny….nasty.

weight is unknown.  I’m not overly concerned with bike weight, considering it’s going to be ridden daily, rain or shine through the city.  the wheels are pretty solid…hold on, I’ll rephrase – velocity knew what they were doing when they came out with the b43.  just a bomb proof wheel that can take anything.  it’s definitely the heaviest part of the bike.  you KNOW when you’re going because that wheel carries so much momentum which makes me think of rear aerospoke track wheels.  1500g of plasti-MOMENTUM, haha.  I’d say around 15lbs.  I wish dustin never mentioned the titanium axle kit phil wood has for the rear hub.

at least the cartridge bearings will keep the muck out.