1989 Cannondale Project- ISO recommendations

[LunaRavenclaw]

Hi everyone! I just joined this forum to connect with folks that know more than me! Meet my 1989 Cannondale 3.0. It’s a MTB that I intend to use as mostly a recreational road bike, but with the ability to go on gravel paths… I believe they call it “gravel bike”? I’m total newb. I’m very handy and mechanically inclined so I thought I’d see about some diy upgrades? The thing I want the most from a bike is its ability to climb hills. I’d also love to put a drop bar on it but I know that involves the gearset as well. I believe it’s a 21 speed? There’s 7 cogs in the back and 3 in the front.. but the biggest cog looks kinda small.

Yes I know, probably much easier and cheaper to buy a gravel bike (which is not cheap lol) but I want a project so I can learn…cause I learn by doing.

Having said that, looking for thoughts on what upgrades to prioritise? Should I change the gearset? I assume the gear size/ratio would affect bill climbing ability?

 

[Cycleops]

Hello and to the forum.

Would make nice project. You could probably leave the gears or change them to nine speed to bring them up to date a bit but this would involve changing the rear wheel or the hub at least as you have a freewheel at the moment and 9 would be a cassette. Depends how far you want to go. Here's a good video on how to do it by RJ:

View: https://youtu.be/f1vSHauv1VY?si=SbewX-MeUPRN0T7-

 

[chris667]

That's a truly iconic machine.

Gear upgrades would be both tricky and expensive and they'd destroy its originality. But you did ask so here you go:

1. Rear dropout width - that bike will have a 130mm wide dropout (gap where the rear axle fits in the frame). Modern MTB hubs are 135mm wide. Most mountain bikes from when this was built were steel which doesn't really mind about being spread out for a wider hub, but yours is aluminium so it won't. So that's a nonstarter really.
2. You could fit a larger cassette (cogs) in the back wheel. Your current freehub is probably be the now-obsolete Ultraglide standard. You can switch freehubs to fit a Hyperglide cassette (and there are some that take both). More info here: https://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html
3. It's a 7 speed freehub. 7 gears is plenty, but the cassette is narrower than a modern one.
4. Drops are possible. You need to find some that are 25.4mm in the middle (most drop bars are 26.0mm). Normal road bike brake levers would work, and you could find a set of barend shifters. If the drops move your hands further forward you might find comfortable you will need a new stem. Measure this with a micrometer or see if there's any markings on the stem. Almost all quill stems are 22.1mm (7/8") but some MTBs of this age used 1" BMX stems which are 21.15mm (13/16") - there is very limited availability for these.
5. Is that a massive dink in the chainstay? Looks nasty. Use it until it dies but don't spend too much. Some barends would give you many of the hand positions of drops and new cables and a service would make it work better generally.

If it was me, I'd just fix it and enjoy it.