giving mountain biking a try

[RWright]

I have had the urge to give mountain biking a try for a few months and have been on the lookout for lower price bike in case I decide it isn't for me. I have been checking craigslist frequently for the past couple of weeks, looking for a used bike and hadn't seen much, the ones that did interest me were mostly over what I wanted to spend or I got no response when I replied to the ad. Today I was heading to Raleigh to pick up some equipment for work and about a mile down the road I thought that I would go back home and give craigslist a quick check in case something new had popped up and I was heading that way anyway....it had been at least 8 hours since I last checked. I found an older Cannondale F900 (1999) and gave the guy a call. I talked with him a few minutes and set a time to meet him to look at it.

I did some quick searching for reviews of the bike and a brief idea of what I was getting into. I knew it would not be state of the art but just starting out I didn't need anything that was. I just wanted to find something to do some trail riding on. I don't think I will blitzing whoops or getting a lot of air...well not to start with anyway.
I found this and gave $300.00 for it. It is a hardtail and the front does not have a lot of travel but it is not terribly heavy and has reasonable components on it. I wanted a 29er and may still some day get one, if I get into MTB. I wasn't very keen on twist shifters but these seem to shift very crisply, the bike seemed to fit ok and looked pretty fresh, so I went for it. The tires have some cracks from age but I don't know if the bike has ever been in the dirt or anywhere else very often for that matter. I checked the crank, frame and wheels and they all seemed very solid, the bike is very tight. I didn't go launching it off hills but I worked it pretty hard for being in the parking lot for his neighborhood pool and tennis courts.

The guy told me he had it serviced not too long ago and the bike has always been stored indoors. It was getting dark when I got home but took it out for a 14 mile spin (on the road) after I took a few pictures (I did adjust the seat after taking the pics too). Everything seems to be in good working order.

Here is my latest N+1......Black Magic. Time to release it back into the wild.

I knew going in that the forks on this thing can be a bear to work on. I hope I don't need to do anything about the front suspension soon. The cranks seem solid for now too. If I decide to ever upgrade either I can or if I really get into mountain biking I can maybe just flip this bike and get something more contemporary...and that is a 29er.

 

[lukesdad]

Bl**dy 'ell I don't know where to start. Well Firstly if you ever want to upgrade you can box it up and send it over to me but I don't think you ever will ! What a bargain. Unless he's got some new old stock those IRC mythos tyres havn't been available for some time over here, and seeing as there isn't a lot of wear I shouldn't think its had much use recently ( they are a cracking tyre by the way I still have some from my racing days). Cannondale were and still probably are the benchmark for ali frames and thats a cracker the quality of welding is second to none. The headshock is usually fairly reliable, but im sure someone your side of the pond does an insert ( or used to) to convert it to a 1 1/8th steerer,so you could upgrade the fork. Drive train is quality too. A rare post mount rear caliper is another diamond on it. Its only weak point I can see is the grip shifts , I'd make trigger shifters the first upgrade they re cheap enough, and if you can find an insert to convert the steerer I'd snap it up even if you dont use it,it will make the bike far more attractive to a purchaser. Enjoy feck Im jealous.

 

[lukesdad]

Here we are as Q&As state just make sure the cups are pressed into the frame and not the bearings directly, I think yours will be OK.

http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222353378/614/Problem-Solvers-Reducer.html

and here http://www.bikeman.com/HD9902.html

By the way can't see any cracks on those tyres, if you are referring to the marks on the sidewalls ? The mythos tyres allways had those from manufacture.

 

[lukesdad]

Good thread about cannondale reducer cups here

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cannondale-reducer-cups-and-headsets-explain-please

 

[RWright]

Here we are as Q&As state just make sure the cups are pressed into the frame and not the bearings directly, I think yours will be OK.

http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222353378/614/Problem-Solvers-Reducer.html

and here http://www.bikeman.com/HD9902.html

By the way can't see any cracks on those tyres, if you are referring to the marks on the sidewalls ? The mythos tyres allways had those from manufacture.

Thanks for the bike info. I am sure I will use it. Your sticky at the top of the forum was a great help for me too. I hope my knee can take the stress of mountain biking and I think it can. I am not going to push terribly hard, more just for fitness and fun. Shifters will more than likely be the first thing I upgrade. I still have a lot of learning to do on mountain bikes, riding and wrenching.

The cracks are between the knobs...I guess that is what they are called. It is not as bad as I thought at first but there are a few there. I was seeing lines from the tire mold and though they were cracks too. The sidewall lines I did think were supposed to be there. I really liked the look of the tires when I first saw them. The cracks are not as bad as I thought at first, but there are some shallow cracks from aging I think. Riding on the white lines on them really got my attention though. I will really be careful on them riding on wet paved roads, which I hope to not be doing a lot of, just to and from a local track.

 

[RWright]

I also found a step by step how to on working on the forks at Sheldon's web site. It is pretty complicated looking to me. I would more than likely just upgrade the forks. Thanks for the links. I saved them in my bicycle mechanics bookmarks folder.

 

[Mo1959]

@RWright Nice bike Rocky. Well done on finding it. Looks like you made a great deal.

I still have a look on ebay and Gumtree most days too as I fancy an old mountain bike to run around on when the roads get really messy and there are actually some nice trails not too far away that I might be tempted with. I find I am starting to get just slightly stale and think mixing things up a bit would help keep my interest going. I can't afford very much though so won't be as nice as yours. Hope you have great fun on it

 

[Crackle]

Ld's said it all, that's an absolute cracker for the price and those brown wall tyres just aren't available anymore. I've an original pair of WTB Velociraptors like that, superb tyre but not available in a 29er, otherwise they'd be going on my new bike.

As it is, that bike is great but it's also worth upgrading. Great find, have fun on it.

 

[lukesdad]

I also found a step by step how to on working on the forks at Sheldon's web site. It is pretty complicated looking to me. I would more than likely just upgrade the forks. Thanks for the links. I saved them in my bicycle mechanics bookmarks folder.

If you do upgrade the forks with the reducer make sure they re a short travel fork 80-100mm besides keeping the geomtry sweet, if you go any longer you may encounter problems with the fork crown comming into contact with the downtube. As crax said well worth the effort upgrading.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Head Shok Fatty integral to the look of the bike. That bike is absolutely beautiful, and you have some fine places to put 'er through 'er paces. Everything looks new on this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Gear-Wal...&ie=UTF8&qid=1379467005&sr=1-42&keywords=gumw

 

[RWright]

Head Shok Fatty integral to the look of the bike. That bike is absolutely beautiful, and you have some fine places to put 'er through 'er paces. Everything looks new on this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Gear-Wal...&ie=UTF8&qid=1379467005&sr=1-42&keywords=gumw

Thanks for that link. I have it saved now too

I took the bike out today to the easiest track in my area. It was my first time on the trails with a mountain bike. I mean I rode in the woods when I was a kid on the bikes I had but that was before all the cool mountain bikes were being made. I have also been riding dirt bikes (motorcycles) since I was about 12 years old, so I had an idea of what it would be like on a bicycle. I had a great time. I enjoyed the workout off road riding gives. The bike seemed to do fine with what I was putting it thru, which was taking it easy and trying not to get thrown off.

I made it through most everything on this track easily. There were a couple of technical areas with rocks, roots and very short, very steep climbs that switched back at the top that made me get off, I made it to the top but just didn't quite have the ability to get over the big tree roots at the top and cut it back, but it was a lot of fun. I have a lot to learn about riding technique in the woods on a bicycle. I also just used flat pedals. I am not comfortable enough yet to go clipless. I don't have any MTB pedals at the moment anyway. I just have SPD SL for the street.

I found out that jumping a log is not as easy at it looks, at least not to me yet. There was a log obstacle, and it wasn't very big, maybe 10 inches tall or so, I could just not figure out how to clear it. I tried it over and over several times. I don't know how to bunny hop properly and I think it is easier to do with clipless pedals. I could loft the front wheel over it easily but couldn't quite clear the cranks and back wheel. Riding by myself I was a little shy about really blasting it much harder than I was trying it at. I will be youtubing riding tutorials and practicing some whenever I get a chance.

I only saw one other mountain bike out the entire time, it was a little late in the evening when I arrived. I don't know my way around the place very well. So many trees around that it is hard to get the area memorized quickly. I did enjoy it and think the bike is going to fit my level of riding just fine, at least for some time.

oh yeah, the twist shifters...my hands are large enough that I can't grip the bars really hard without also gripping the shifter. It made for an interesting shift or two thru some rough sections. Nothing I cant live with but I think I would prefer something different eventually.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I use thumbies and click shifters, same problem with twist shifters. That, and many twist shifters are prone to problems and hard to repair. You have Grip Shifters, the better ones than basic twist shifters, but if they give you trouble, do not hesitate to change.
.

 

[lukesdad]

In ref. to the log episode, when you lift the front and it starts to clear the obstacle shift your weight forward to lighten the back wheel and it will follow, its similar to doing an endo on a motorcyle only your not using the brakes and keeping forward momnetum.

 

[Crackle]

I can't bunny hop either, well I can, if I'm lucky and there's a fair wind. I don't use clipped pedals either.

 

[02GF74]

nice bike you here for a good price. I suspect it is an oldish model but don't be put off - Cannondale know how to make a good frame.

grip shiftes - I hate them myself, nasty things that seemed more interested in tearing my gloves
than changing gears.


oh, forgot to mentiion the bar ends are on upside down.