Aluminum Triangles, Part 2

     I can't really remember exactly when I decided to turn my Cannondale back into a true road bike.  I had been working at the bike shop for several months, I know that much, and I can only imagine I eventually felt the need to do the bike justice and return its drop bars.  Over the following several months I made small modifications to the bike, experimenting with my craft on my own vehicle instead of those owned by others.  New parts, old parts, different parts, all came and went on the frame as I played.  I will just explain what I did to bring the bike to its final form while still in Indiana, before we moved to Arizona.

The bike in its final form while still in Indiana.  Truthfully, it has been a solid bike no matter what I put on it.
Taken on May 4, 2011

     I returned the drop bars and stem that came with the bike.  The handlebars are bare of any markings, except for those from use and abuse.  They are quite narrow, even for their age.  The stem is a Nitto Technomic, still highly polished.  For a while I used the brake levers that came on the bike, Dia-Compe AG-C250 drop levers.  They are spring tensioned, a feature originally pioneered by Dia-Compe.  Eventually, I got my hands on an old bike equipped with some Shimano Dura-Ace components from the early eighties.  I decided to swap some of those parts over to my Cannondale, the first being the Dura-Ace brake levers.  Those levers stayed on my Cannondale until very recently.

Front of the bike.  Note the Dura Ace levers.
Taken on May 4, 2011

     The brakes that came on the bike are Suntour Cyclone side-pull single-pivot calipers--the norm for their day.  Sadly, this design does not have as much of a mechanical advantage as the dual-pivot calipers that are found on most road bikes today.  What's more, they are a little different to adjust, and I will admit that I was not quite sure how to deal with them at the time.  So, I swapped them out with a pair of brand new Origin-8 Pro Pulsion Comp calipers.  Truthfully, I can say I was always very happy with the new calipers.  They looked sharp and performed well.

Origin-8 Pro Pulsion Comp dual pivot road calipers.  Grey.  They have served me well.
Taken on May 4, 2011

     I wanted a road bike crank but my dad's immediate disapproval of the Shimano Biopace crank that came on the bike drove an unfounded bias into my mind, so I sought a new crank.  I settled on the Shimano FC-2300 crank.  The 2300 series was Shimano's absolute lowest end starting point for road bike specific components.  That being said, the parts still came at a decent price and quality level--Shimano's road componentry starts at a much, much higher level than its mountain componentry.  2300 has recently been renamed "Claris", although the price point and quality level remain similar.

Shimano FC-2300 crank.  Probably the best choice--at least economically--that I could have made for a new crank.
Taken on May 4, 2011

     As I stared at the bike in my new repair stand at home, I wondered why we had changed the rear derailleur.  The one that had come on the bike--a Suntour Cyclone 6000--was still in great shape, from what I could tell.  The Shimano Tourney derailleur that had hung on my bike ever since I started riding it looked cheap and crude next to the smooth polished aluminum of the twenty-six year old Cyclone.  I remember after work one day I asked my boss what was different between the two derailleurs.  He looked at each one, and explained "capacity" to me, and told me with a smile that I should probably use the Cyclone.

Suntour Cyclone 6000 rear derailleur.  Sadly, the markings had always been illegible.  They are completely gone now.
Taken on May 4, 2011

     Capacity, when talking about derailleurs, basically talks about the ability to handle the difference in the size between the smallest and largest gear.  It applies to both front and rear derailleurs, and for both types it is measured using the size of the cage.  On a rear derailleur, the cage is the lower pivoting assembly which houses the two pulleys.

     A short cage means that the derailleur will only work with a gear cluster that does not have a large range of gears.  This is typically found on road bikes, and tends to be a little more common on the more serious and performance-oriented road bikes.  A great example would be a 12 tooth to 25 tooth freewheel or cassette.  The "low" gear is only 13 teeth larger than the "high" gear.

Example of a short cage.  Note the relatively short distance between the two black pulleys.
A Falcon rear derailleur, year unknown.
Taken on August 20, 2014

     A long cage means the derailleur will work with a cluster of gears that has a much larger difference.  Usually that means something like a 12 tooth to 32 tooth freewheel or cassette.  There are 20 teeth inbetween those sizes.  Those sizes are typically found on, well, every other kind of geared bicycle:  mountain bikes, hybrids, touring bikes, and the like.

Example of a long cage.  Note the distance between the two black pulleys and how much greater
it is than the picture above.
A Suntour GT "Raleigh" rear derailleur, 1980
Taken on August 20, 2014

     Mechanically, what the size of the cage translates into is how much slack in the chain is displaced when in any given gear configuration.  When the cage is long, it can displace more slack in the chain, which means the chain can be longer, which means it can work with a larger range in gears.  Note that capacity does not talk about the number of gears.  That is rarely an issue, despite what the companies try to convey to us through labeling derailleurs as 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 speed.  It tends to only be relevant with the highest end componentry, which is made a little differently than the rest of the "crap" we plebeians get to use.

     So, I mounted the Suntour Cyclone 6000 rear derailleur and have had almost no issues since.  I also remounted the Suntour Cyclone down tube friction shifters.  This marked the first time a bike of mine used either downtube or friction shifters.  I would come to hold these types of shifters dear.

     Finally, I bought new wheels for the bike.  The wheels that came on the bike were a solid build--Shimano 105 hubs and some variety of Mavic rims.  However, they had been damaged at some point and I was constantly battling the spokes.  There was always a wobble in the rim, and it got worse the more I rode them.  The spokes that broke and earned me my job and career were no doubt an early indication of this.  So eventually I dumped a mound of cash and ordered some prebuilt wheels.  I know, I know.  But I was still a bit of a baby at this time.  Ha ha.

     The wheels I bought are defined by their SunRingle M13II rims.  Anyone who has actually been reading this blog knows I have an affinity for SunRingle rims, and this is where it started.  The rims had something of a vintage look to them, between their boxy profile and highly polished surfaces.  However, they also had machined sidewalls, which allows for greater braking power.  The hubs for these wheels are unremarkable, branded Quanta.  Despite that, the rear hub does have sealed bearings, which is nice.

Nothing terribly remarkable, other than the sealed bearing that is visible.
Taken on May 4, 2011

     I road the bike like this for seemingly at least four months--effectively the summer of 2011.  I had a lot of fun on the bike, venturing farther and farther on the Cardinal Greenway of Wayne County, Indiana.  I recall one afternoon specifically, when I ventured north on the bike path by myself.  I went the farthest I had ever gone that night, rolling around 27 miles total on silent pavement.  I also took the bike to Philadelphia for the Fourth of July, and got to ride a little over there.

     Just before we moved to Arizona, I got my hands on my Fuji.  After arriving in dreadful Bullhead City, I didn't really ride my bikes very much at all.  None of them left the porch.  They got covered in dirt and dust, blowed in by the gailing winds trailing south out of the Grand Canyon and over Hoover Dam.  I did take one--just one--pleasure ride in Bullhead City.  Several months in, I had enough and ventured out onto the shoulderless pavement of that barren town for a quick ride--on my Cannondale.  When we finally moved to Tucson, I took to riding my Cannondale to work for a few weeks or maybe a month.  Eventually I got on my Fuji, which I had barely ridden at all, and took to loving it.

     The Cannondale then sat unused for months and months and months.  The wheels I had bought were being used on my Fuji, and the Cannondale hid leaning against the wall neglected.  Finally, I decided to start cleaning it up.  Several months after starting that, I finally got to a position where I could finish it, and now its back.

     And I still like riding it.