Cannondale R500 Triple

Price Paid:  $470.00 at Ebay

Favorite Ride:
'08 Canondale R500

Bike Setup:
tbd

Summary:
Hi,

Lot's of great reviews on here. I need some advice if it's out there. I live in NYC and am new to road biking. I'm 6'tall and 150lbs. Only adult bike I've ever owned was a 2001 GT 5.0 mountain bike a few yrs ago. I've been looking for a geared road bike, something entry-level, and decided on Cannondale. I found a 2008 56cm R500 on Ebay yesterday, but the seller seems to not know a ton about bikes either. Just that it's in mint condition, and has ritchey bars ,clip on peddles, carbon fiber fork, shimano tiagra frount derailer, and a deore xt rear derailer. I realize the R500 stock components are basic, but I'm just starting out and am hoping this bike will be a perfect first ride. Is this a good deal at $470? I know the R500 is no longer produced, but I can't find the price it was selling for new. Also... anyone have any thoughts on these derailers? I really know very little about bikes. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Strengths:
tbd

Weaknesses:
tbd

Similar Products Used:
'01 GT 5.0 mountain bike

Price Paid:  $800.00

Summary:
This bike is great, I got mine dirt cheap and I know a lot of people who paid a lot more for it. The frame is very lightweight and the carbon fork goes nicely with it. The only downside to it is the poor groupset, although I haven't had many problems with it I could probably get the weight down to 6 and a half pounds if I was alternatively using Ultegra. I must say this is a great Entry Level bike, and even better to give you a good start to Road Racing.

Strengths:
Lightweight Frame
Durability
Looks
Brand, Shallow I know :P

Weaknesses:
Poor Groupset as standard. But you get what you pay for.

Similar Products Used:
Trek OCLV

Price Paid:  $900.00 at Cycle Center (Harden

Favorite Ride:
Downtown, USC campus

Bike Setup:
Stock w/ clip pedals. Tiagra (which seems to be working fine).

Summary:
This is my first road bike, and I have to say I'm impressed. I test rode several entry-level bikes, and this one had the best ride. You might find a great deal on this one b/c it's a 2002. I did. It's fast and responsive, and the carbon fork really helps to dampen high-freq. vibrations, which were much more noticable on the Giant OC3 and Specialized that I tried out.

Strengths:
Handles well, grips road. Stiff frame but doesn't beat you to death. Very lightweight and sturdy.

Weaknesses:
Having a little autoshifting trouble.

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $750.00

Favorite Ride:
any that makes me go faster

Bike Setup:
stock

Summary:
I got a "new" 2002 R500 on sale from a LBS, so I was really pleased.

First, I have to admit that I haven't had much to compare this bike to, so take my comments with a pinch of salt.

Frame: I think the frame is a thing of beauty -all personal opinion I know, but I love the yellow colour scheme. Also, and again I say this knowing I don't have too much of a benchmark, the frame seems really stiff going forward but absorbent on the vertical motion. Trying out the bike really really surprized me as I thought from all the comments I'd read the CAAD 4 has a reputation for being really stiff. Maybe C'dale is designing the frames better, maybe it's because I'm a 200lber. A point of interest here: this frame seems more vertically absorbent than the 1980s steel frames I'd been riding, even though they all felt more noodly applying pedal pressure. That really impressed me.

Components: Probably the downfall of this bike -but then again for the price I paid, I have no real complaints. I'm glad I have 9-speed stuff (even if it is bottom of the line) so I can always upgrade as stuff wears out -hopefully in a long time from now. My biggest criticism are the rims (or is it the wheel build?) which seem to get out of true very easily. Also the bb and crankset (C'dale own brand) seem heavy in comparison to other bikes in the price range I was looking at. I'd also read the brakes are not very good (again C'dale own brand) but I haven't got any complaints in that department -maybe again, I haven't had really good brakes to compare them to. The saddle is still a work in progress; I think it's uncomfortable but I can't help thinking I should give it some more time before I get another one. We'll see -what one person likes another really dislikes.

Summary: I love this bike as it gives me an entry into road riding. For someone more serious, the frame could be an excellent starting point. For me -a casual rider -I really enjoy riding this bike.

Strengths:
really nice frame, feels really good applying pedal pressure -you feel like all your energy is going forward and not being sapped by the frame.

Weaknesses:
rims are weak, crankset and bb seem heavy (in relation to other bikes in the price range I paid). Saddle is questionable.

Similar Products Used:
various 1980s steel bikes of dubious worth

Price Paid:  $999.00 at Youcaipa Bike Center

Favorite Ride:
Oak Glen loop

Bike Setup:
Tiagra group,triple crank,egebeater pedals

Summary:
I got this bike in September 2002,in 6 months I've put down 1300 miles.The only trouble I've had is with the front derailer,which after several adjustments was corected,and with the stock spd pedals.They realy stunk.Other than that this bike is more than I hoped it would be.I would recomend the R500 to any one.

Strengths:
It's a Cannondale.

Weaknesses:
None yet.

Similar Products Used:
Trek 2000,Lemond,Trek 1000