My new old bicycle

I got a new old bicycle.  My current bicycle is completely worn out.  I have been limping along on it the past few months.  I had bought my current bicycle in June 1996 and have ridden over 42,000 miles on it.

My old bicycle

A few weeks ago I stopped by a few bicycle shops in search of a new bicycle.  I am looking for what used to be called a "sport touring" bicycle back in the late 70s when I seriously started to ride a bicycle. Now with all the bicycle styles like mountain bicycles, commuter bicycles, etc., "sport touring" bicycles are a thing of the past.  I don't want a racing bicycle, a touring bicycle, a mountain bicycle, a commuter bicycle.  I want something in between.

Apparently the nitch I want is something like "cross fit" or "cross train" or something like that depending on the manufacturer.   I want the drop handlebars and relatively narrow tires.  And eyelets in the frame to mount a bicycle rack on the back.  But not the twitchyness and harsh ride of a racing bicycle.

I found a Trek "cross 'something'" bicycle.  The tires at 32 mm were a little too large as I prefer 25 mm widths.  But I think I could replace the 32 mm tires with 25 mm tires once the 32 mm tires wore out.  But I would have to double check if the wheel's rim would allow the difference.

The bicycle had disc brakes.  This is something that I only saw on tandem bicycles years ago.

The Trek bicycle also had other changes since I last bought a bicycle 17 years ago.

The bicycle seemed like a good fit though it felt different.  The wider and heavier tires made acceleration a little more sluggish than my current bicycle.  And the drop handlebars style now-a-days are different.  Not bad - just slightly different.

The price: $1150.  The shop was having a sale which ended at 6 pm that day.  The sale price was: $1025.

Now I know there are not many bicycles for me to test ride in the style and size I wanted, but I wanted to test ride another bicycle or two before spending over a grand on a bicycle.  As you can see from my history, I used my previous bicycles for many miles over many years.

I was unable to test ride any other bicycle by 6 pm so I passed on the sale.

Lo and behold the next weekend I saw some photos of items at an upcoming auction.  In the background of a photo was a bicycle.

The bicycle looked to be the frame size that would fit me.  So I made sure I was at this auction on time.  The auction would start with items outside and I didn't want to miss this bicycle.

I got to the auction, looked the bicycle over and found it did indeed fit me.  And it was a good bicycle.  From the thick layer of dust the bicycle had been stored inside for many years. Other than the rubber on one of the brake hoods being old and dry the rest of the bicycle was in good condition.  It looked like a bicycle someone bought, rode a little bit, then put away.  The components on the bicycle were old style. Friction shifters were mounted on the down-tube and no index shifting.  The wheels were in inches and not millimeters. The frame appeared to be aluminum - but not the over-sized frame tubes Cannondale later became known for.  So I guessed the bicycle to be from the early to mid 80s. Which was fine with me as I actually prefer the old school components.

The auction outside started at the far end and not the end where the bicycle sat.   There was four batches of hand saws spread through the items.  But whenever the auctioneer sold the handsaws he would bundle it would other more expensive tools I didn't want and the bids got to be more than the saws were worth.

Over an hour and a half later he got to the bicycle.  Shortly before bicycle was auctioned an older guy I had seen at auctions before but couldn't place carefully looked the bicycle over.  Augh!  Why couldn't the bicycle have been the first to sell before more people arrived.

This guy didn't  bid against me.  Someone else did. We started at $10 as old road bicycles don't sell for much. I won the bid at $65 when he wouldn't bid $70.  Once the 10% buyers premium was added I paid $71.50.  An excellent deal.

When paying for the bicycle the cashier remarked that someone not in attendance had placed a bid of $60 and had just called asking if the bicycle was sold.  I wonder if that was who I was bidding against.

Once I got the bicycle home I added the bicycle rack and my bicycle computer.  The rest in the photo came with the bicycle.

I've put a hundred miles on the bicycle over the past few weeks and the bicycle rides good.  While the frame size looks very similar to my old bicycle the ride is a little different.  The frame size is 25" and not the 60 mm of my old bicycle. The handlebars have a slightly different shape than either my previous bicycle or the new model I had test ridden the other week so they feel different.  They are also a little narrower than what I am used to.  Not bad - just different and something I can get used to.

I would compare the ride of the two bicycles as such: my old bicycle often felt like driving a moving van or truck as the 60 mm frame was a half size too large, and this bicycle feels like driving a mid sized sedan.  The bicycle looks and feels like a Sport/Touring bicycle.

This Cannondale is an aluminum bicycle.  My previous bicycle is the only other aluminum bicycle I had owned.  After growing up with steel frame bicycles I prefer steel over aluminum.  But steel frames are pretty much only found on custom made high-end bicycles now-a-days.  And I'm not ready to fork over the dollars for a titanium frame bicycle for the type of riding and abuse I put my bicycles through.



I researched the bicycle based on its serial number.  I found the bicycle was made in either late 1983 or in 1984.  From the catalogs I have a 1984 bicycle (though sometimes a 1984 bicycle was manufactured in late 1983 (1984:  http://www.vintagecannondale.com/year/1984/1984.pdf  or 1983: http://www.vintagecannondale.com/year/1983/1983S.pdf ).

1983 was when Cannondale first started making bicycles.  That would explain the frame tube size similar to steel frames at the time and not the over-sized aluminum tubes Cannondale did later.

The bicycle is a Sport/Touring model ST-500.  The only bicycle Cannondale made in the beginning.

With such a history maybe I should only use the bicycle as a backup bicycle - a nostalgia piece.  Right now I don't think it would be considered a vintage bicycle as Cannondale isn't an older company.  But as time passes...   having one of the first Cannondale bicycles made would be pretty neat and maybe valuable.

Well... I need a bicycle now so it will get used until I am ready to drop a grand on a bicycle.