Cannondale T800

Price Paid:  $900.00 at Cyclesmith, Halifax

Model Year:
2004

Favorite Ride:
Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, NS

Bike Setup:
Standard

Summary:
I have had this bike since 2001. Over the past 5 years, I must have cycled thousands of miles through sun, rain, snow, ice and everything else. It has been absolutely phenomenal, and has NEVER let me down. The bike looks its age but rides like a dream. I am now planning to exchange the frame though Cannondale frame exchange program.

Strengths:
Exceedingly reliable workhorse.

Weaknesses:
None that I can think of.

Similar Products Used:
Lemond arrivee

Price Paid:  $1000.00 at LBS

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
Great Parks tour - 2005

Bike Setup:
Stock with the exception of a SRAM chain, Arkels on the stock rear rack, Tubus Tara front rack and Ortliebs up there. Cannondale HB bag. Enduro 8 computer. New stem - compliments of REI 'losing' my old on during shipping in Boulder, CO. I miss my old silver one. Compass/bell for fun. Three bottle cages. Lights and Planet Bike fenders for commuting. Crank Bros Mallet C pedals now, but had ATACs and Candy S on there as well. My TANK Bike!

Summary:
This is a sweet ride for what it's designed for. Perfectly setup for the task out of the box! I've put around 2500 miles on mine, 1800+ fully loaded and it has yet to let me down. On top of that it's just comfortable! The while steel is real crowd is just missing out. Cannondale knows what tourists need and gives us just that in the T800.

The bike's components are perfect for touring. Tiagara is a fine group for a bike you'll leave out in the rain while you're in a tent. The XT rear and 26/36/48 chainrings worked together to get me over the Continental Divide thirteen times and still left me with enough speed for those raging tailwind days.

The geometry, gel handlebar inserts and the fattie 37c Contis on this thing are just comfortable. Maybe it's the tires? Maybe people over-do Al being 'buzzy' or maybe Cannondale knows a thing or two about how to make and Al bike. Whatever it is it felt right to me - comfortable and efficent over a 30 day, 1840 mi tour in the Rockies.

When you're loaded it never shimmied - even at over 45mph. Stock wheelset never failed me, even when carrying 1/2 my girlfriend's load one day, and I weigh in at 190lbs and carry around 45lbs of gear and food/water. I crashed after being pushed off the road and into gravel, landing right on my right Tiagara STI shifter. The shifter worked fine after picking the debris out of it and moving it back into place. My leg healed.

Now that I'm not touring I slapped fenders and lights on it and it's my daily commuter. Fast enough to get me there and strong enough to take the abuse city streets hand it.

Strengths:
I couldn't be happier with my purchase. If I could only have one bike this would be it. It's perfect for big riders and people who want an all-rounder. Totally perfect for loaded touring out of the box. That is pretty rare.

Dependable, comfortable, fun, worry free. What a touring bike should be.

Weaknesses:
The seat is a little too cush - I swapped it. I'm not being easy on this bike - really, but that's all I can say.

Similar Products Used:
Specialized Sequoia. A bit more flexy, but it's a light tourer. I like it, but not for this task.

Price Paid:  $800.00 at Evans Cycles, London

Bike Setup:
As from shop, except;
10sp Centaur levers,
Look pedals,
same seat as my Trek 5200 (but can't remember what it is right now),
12-21 casette for commuting.

Summary:
I have only had this bike a month, but in that time I have used it for commuting to work every day and a full weeks tour with rear panniers. I have toured thousands of miles over the last seven years with two biking friends riding an old Raleigh road bike which just about takes a rear rack. I was apprehensive at switching to a proper touring bike as they have a reputation for being slow lumbering beasts. The T800 is no racehorse, but is absolutely rock solid when touring. I reckon it handles better with a load than when ridden without. The handling of the T800 when carrying two panniers on the rear rack for a week was impeccable.

I changed the Tiagra STI levers for 10sp Centaur, mainly due to personal preference and also because the absence of cables makes fitting a bar bag easier. 10sp Campag levers can work just fine with a 9sp Shimano drive train with a little fiddling (have a search on the web for instructions). I don’t know whether it is standard, but my T800 came with a reverse-sprung rear mech, meaning the right Tiagra lever behaved completely opposite to my Ultergra-equipped Trek race bike. It would be far too confusing to ride two bikes with totally reversed gear shifting, hence another reason for fitting the Campag levers. I have a feeling the rear mech will have to be changed because of this. Several years of serious racing and touring have firmly ingrained the use of STI and Ergo levers into my subconscious, and I may not be able to get my head round doing it all backwards. But it would be relatively easy to change the rear mech for something conventionally sprung. I swapped the seat and pedals, purely out of personal preference. For commuting I have swapped the touring cassette for a regular 12-21 cassette which provides a much more even range of gears. There is no need for such tiny gears when commuting with only one small bag, especially with a triple chainset. A minor issue I’ll have to address at some point is the conflict with the front brake cable when you flip the stem to have a nice low racing position which due to my racing and training I find more comfortable when touring than sitting upright. It is OK, but not perfect. I think it is a general problem with canti brakes when you have a low stem.

But enough of the technical details. I can’t emphasise too strongly just how well this bike tours when laden. On roads, unmade roads, and single track it is absolutely dependable and predictable. The specification of the T800 has been excellently chosen (apart from the reverse-sprung rear mech), and despite being very stiff (the down-tube is seriously fat) is phenomenally comfortable to ride all day long. I think this bike will be an excellent investment and I hope to get many years of happy reliable touring and commuting out of it. Recommended.

Strengths:
Fantastic laden tourer.
Well chosen specification (apart from that darned rear mech... see above).

Weaknesses:
You wouldn't want to race on it, but that's not why you'd think about buying it. When touring, I can't think of any serious weaknesses.

Similar Products Used:
Currently I am riding;
Trek 5200 purchased in 2002 (phenomenal)
Raleigh R400 purchased in 1997 (my old training, touring, commuting, and even a couple of times racing bike!)
plus many many bikes in the past...