Cannondale 2001 T800

Price Paid:  $1200.00 at Edinburgh Bicycles

Bike Setup:
As stock with above amendments

Summary:
Looked like the proverbial dogs in the showroom, but straight out of the box, this bike was not so cool!

Within 100 miles, the rear wheel had fallen to bits! New wheel within 2 days so can't complain, but when you buy a bike from a company with this name at this price, it shouldn't happen.

Gearing - I thought these guys knew how to build tourers? Gearing WAY too tall. Got new chainset with 22 34 46 as cheaper than replacing chainrings. Little hanger for your rear gear? Useless. broken twice.

Now have these problems sorted and the bike is A1, but have ended up spending an additional £100 ($150) to get there.

Next time - will do my homework properly
and go for a Thorn - build only touring bikes designed specifically for the purpose. Check out www.sjscycles.com

Strengths:
Frame

Weaknesses:
Wheels, gearing, corner cutting, penny pinching components

Similar Products Used:
Dawes Super Galaxy, various road and MTBs.

Price Paid:  $1300.00 at Taichung Taiwan

Favorite Ride:
Where I Live

Bike Setup:
Classic elite wheels, Ultegra cranks, speedplay frogs.

Summary:
As mentioned by other posters here, the spokes that came stock with the bike are a joke. I don't see how going on a loaded tour one can expect these wheels to stay true for long using them. I decided not to chance it and picked up a pair of Mavic Classic Elites. The hubs did not the instill confidence either. They began squeaking after it's first mountain century and the front hub dust cups began spinning with the wheel which it shouldn't do. The original Coda cranks are adaquate but I had them switched out for the Ultegra because the Ultegra's come with ramped rings. Better for me because I also changed the granny to a 26t.
In retrospect I probably should have just gone for the T2000 but what the hell it's fun to switch things around on a new bike.
I paid a lot more for this bike because it was imported from the states but my value rating for it is based on its MSRP stateside. I gave it 2 stars because of the spokes, hubs, cranks and because they don't come with fenders.
My overall rating is for my bike at its present configuration and for the feel of the ride.

Strengths:
Frame, XT rear derailer

Weaknesses:
Spokes, coda hubs.

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $1100.00 at Bike World Iowa

Favorite Ride:
Anything that ends with a downhill

Bike Setup:
stock...XT rear, Tiagra shifters and front der., lots of Coda,

Summary:
1000 miles on the bike and only half of them have been noise-free. While on RAGBRAI (ride across Iowa) I annoyed other riders with a frame/component creak that would not go away despite nightly trips to good mechanics. One week and 500+ miles of creak, creak, creak. I was ready to throw it in the Mississippi when I finished the ride. Because of the noise I heard lots of stories along the way about Cannondale bottom bracket and rear hubs causing all kinds of noises. Make sure any aluminum/steel contact points are greased and EXTREMELY TIGHT or my story may be your's. Bike World was great, but it took them a long time to isolate the noise to a bent rear quick release. Not their fault, and probably not Cannondale's fault (although it was a Coda QR), but it sure soured me on the bike. Amazing what a $10 part can do to ruin an $1100 purchase!

The last 200 miles have been creak-free, and other than the still-streching cables and ghost shifting (easily remedied) I have few complaints...but I did hear from others on RAGBRAI with the same bike that the brakes have been difficult to adjust correctly.
Have since ridden Bianchi San Remo...give it some serious though if looking for a touring bike! Be sure you know what you want from the frame. I currently ride steel, carbon fiber, and now aluminum bikes and appreciate the unique ride each has...the T800 aluminum is quite comfortable, probably due to the huge Conti touring tires (700x35) and I'm not a big guy (6'1" 170 lbs.) but agree with a previous reviewer that a seatpost shock is a great idea if one actually plans to spend multiple days in this saddle with this great frame.

Strengths:
Frame is beautiful, wheels may be heavy (no spoke problems yet) but seem durable.

Weaknesses:
I know it's a beefy touring bike, but it still seems heavier than it needs to be.

Similar Products Used:
First touring bike

Price Paid:  $1000.00 at lbs

Bike Setup:
caad 3 frame ,tiagra sti and front derailleur,coda saddle,cinelli bars, mavic 519 rims, deore hubs,avid shorty brakes,conti top touring tires, sram cassete, cannondale cranks,xt rear derailleur.

Summary:
nice bike when rolling. questionable choices in componetry for cannondale a company who i'm under the impression made their name building touring bikes. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED.There is no benefit to replacing a cheap durable componet with a cheap lightweight componet, especially on a bike that people purchase for utilitarian purposes.The only redemtion for cannondale is that they have dealt with all problems question free.

Strengths:
well assembled from shop,nice frame finish which when paired with the all black componetry looks stealth . Braze-ons for all the crap you need to carry.no wasted energy on the flex

Weaknesses:
I purchased this bike because it was being sold as a touring bike and wanted the durability that should accompany it. The wheels were built with 16 gauge spokes which i found strange for a bike that in addition to being built for riding long distances would also be carrying significant loads.within two months of 75 mile a week rides spokes started breaking.replaced happily by the dealer maybe 2 weeks went by until it started happening again.the response to dealer calls to cannondale were " yeah we screwed up" prompting them to have to build a new wheel with 14 gauge spokes.. Three months later while cruising around the saddle rail busts in half right where the word manganese is printed. returned to dealer the seat is replaced with a chrome-moly version.Due to our fairly remote location and small population thelocal bike shop does'nt have a huge inventory so all these tnansactions have included waiting time.Also the routing of the rear brake and accompaning hardware leaves something to ba desired perfomance wise.

Similar Products Used:
fisher, schwinn, montebecane

Price Paid:  $1500.00 at Russell's Cycle and Fitness, Washington, IL

Bike Setup:
Stock - Tiagra group with Deore XT rear derailer, cane creek headset, Avid shorty brakes, Continental touring tires, gerneric SPD pedals, Coda for the rest.

Summary:
I'm really enjoying this bike. The aluminum frame is listed as both a strength and a weakness. The stiff aluminum is really light and responsive, without the bottom bracket swing that I'm used to from my heavy old lugged steel touring bike, but, boy - you can feel every bump, crack, and undulation on the road. It is in fact a pretty harsh ride. My first upgrade (after I pay off my credit card) will be a suspension seat post. Oh, and the welds - a work of art - beautiful!

My only real complaint about the bike is the cost, and it's comparable to other touring bikes, so going non-Cannondale woulnd't fix that much. But compared to a combarably equipped mountain bikes, road bikes in general are a bit steep. I think the listed MSRP is a little low, but the price I paid included racks, water bottle cages, and SPD shoes.

The Tiagra/XT combo has worked well so far - no missed shifts - clean and precise. I've had to deal with a bit of cable stretch, but everything has barrel adjusters, so that's not that big a problem. A word of advice, go with the STI shifters as soon as you can. Not having to take your hands of the handlebars to shift is a great increase in both safety and confidence. The Avid's stopping power is more than adequate as well - I can lock up the tires, so that's certainly sufficient.

I'm a big guy (6'-1", 240 lbs) and this bike's been great for me. A little harsh, but great for poundihg up hills and through intersections. The only thing holding it back from 5 stars is the harshness of the ride and the price.

Finally, a plug for Russell's Cycle. I've been to some good shops and some not-so-good shops, but I've never received a level of service like I get from Joe Russell. If you live in central Illinois and you're looking for a new or used bike, you own it to yourself to give them a visit.

Strengths:
CAAD 3 frame, Avid brakes, Tiagra components

Weaknesses:
CAAD 3 frame

Similar Products Used:
Older, steel touring bikes