Broke my 4th Cannondale frame last spring. Sudden tire rub indicated I had broken spokes or a bent rim. I tried truing the wheel but suddenly noticed a gaping whole in the drive side chain stay. Hmmm I don’t think that’s supposed to be there! So naturally I went online looking for another Cannondale to replace my Cannondale which had replaced other Cannondale’s.
It goes something like this – I bought an original Cannondale MTB with serial number 21 from a my good friend Wes Harris when we both worked at Bikesmiths in Bloomington, IN. It was a tank! 24″ rear wheel, 26″ front and a fork that I swear was off a 500cc pro motocross bike. But… the paint fell off the frame in big flakes – they hadn’t quite mastered painting aluminum. That got me a free frame #1. I sold that bike and bought a new Cannondale MTB from our shop. That frame failed and I had it replaced under warranty for frame #2 at the Pony Shop in Evanston Illinois with an SM 1000 exactly like the one pictured below – here at the start line of the Cat 3 Illinois State CycloCross Champioship circa 1995 or so – me with the Bell jersey and the “NO” frame. Rode that for a few years and ended up back at the Pony shop for another warranty where the Cannondale rep tried to tell me it wasn’t under warranty because I raced it – so I gestured to the Cannondale poster on the wall showing Tinker Juarez… racing. That landed me my last warrantied frame – #3 the Cad3 pictured below. The Cad3 served me well – here at a cross race on lake michigan – and here at the start of the 1998 Illinois State Master Championship (red front center), my last race and the only state gold medal I’d ever landed. Well the old Cad3 gave out after 15yrs and I don’t think the warranty covers that… so I landed an SM 1000 off eBay for $100. The exact same paint and size I’d had 15+ years ago – it’s my back to the future retro rebuild and it rocks! (until it cracks…)
Crack n Fail – amazingly with the above history and having sold Cannondale’s I’d never heard the term until I visited my LBS and let them know I was rebuilding after a frame failure. Mechanic replied, ah yes, good ole Crack n Fail…
