Picking Apart My Collection

   Regular readers may recall that I am a big fan of the show American Pickers, despite the fact that star Mike Wolfe has banned me from commenting on his Facebook page. I had good-naturedly pointed out the fact that he calls himself a “bicycle guy”, yet during one episode, he butchered the pronunciation of Campagnolo (his: cam-pag-NOH-loh, should be: cahm-pahn-YOH-loh) and Cinelli (his: sin-EL-ee, should be: chee-NAY-lee).

   If you have seen the show, you may have noticed that his sidekick Frank takes particular pleasure in proving Mike wrong. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s obvious he doesn’t like it, and take it from me, he also has no sense of humor about it!

   I’ve never let the incident detract from my enjoyment of the program, and one particular episode involving a Motobécane bicycle was the inspiration for me starting to build vintage bicycles. I have also often used Mike’s favorite phrase (in his case, enter pretty much ANYTHING in the blank) “I’m a ____ guy” to describe myself as a “Cannondale guy”. Despite my love of all cycling things Italian, deep down I’m all about the old railroad station logo and the crazy, oversized-diameter downtube!

   Since 1989, I have always had a Cannondale bicycle, although for a period of just over four years I only had a frame that was damaged in an accident. I eventually turned that into a handy wheel truing gauge, but otherwise a rideable Cannondale has always been among my collection.

   For many years I had a red Saeco-Cannondale team replica bike that I had intentionally over-geared for some of my regular rides that involved a ton of climbing. Red has always been my favorite color, but there was a period of time where it seemed I was only building and repairing red bicycles (check out photos of the Cipollini Cannondale , one of my favorite projects), and I was looking to change things up a bit.

   I really liked the carbon fiber bikes the company produced in the green and blue colors of the Italian Liquigas team they had sponsored from 2007 to 2013, but I couldn’t justify having another expensive modern carbon bike in addition to the Pinarello FP2 I already had. Cannondale has always been an innovator in the production of aluminum bicycles, I decided to try one of their modern aluminum CAAD10 models. I happened to meet someone who had purchased one that was too big for him but the right size for me...and in Liquigas colors!

   At first I couldn’t pinpoint the issue, but I just wasn’t enjoying the ride quality of the bike. It was comfortable, in fact it came equipped with perhaps the most comfortable saddle on which I’ve ever ridden. During the handful of long rides I took on the CAAD10, I didn’t receive the slightest bit of “butt fatigue” on its Prologo Kappa Evo saddle.

   The bike itself felt like it was transferring a lot of road vibration through the frame, and the bike just felt sluggish, which seemed strange, considering the reputation of Cannondale frames for stiffness and power transfer through the pedals. The wheelset was really an average Shimano product, and relatively heavy, so I tried swapping out with a pair of top-quality Mavic Cosmic Elite wheels.

   It was definitely an improvement, but it still didn't have the jump that I was getting out of every single one of the bikes I owned at the time, including the 1988 Cannondale “Black Lightning” bicycle that I keep at the shore. Really, there is no reason to own a bicycle that you don’t enjoy riding, and I considered my options.

   During my original Cannondale search, I had been admiring the look of the 2012 SuperSix 5 in Liquigas colors, and at the time of my CAAD10 dissatisfaction, an affordable SuperSix became available. I told Sue that I had no intention of keeping all of these bicycles, but I really wanted to try this particular bicycle and attempt to put my bad Cannondale attitude to rest.

   This SuperSix model was originally equipped with Shimano 105, but the previous owner had upgraded to a mix of Ultegra and Dura-Ace. When the bicycle arrived I wanted to install a compact crankset, and in a previous blog entry I made reference to a small issue I ran into when switching out the replacement.

   I ended up loving the bicycle and decided to keep it! Sure, it is a racing bike (just look at the small amount of clearance between the frame and rear wheel!), but it is also surprisingly comfortable, not transferring a tremendous amount of road noise through the frame as most carbon bikes do.

   The bike has plenty of jump, as it is even lighter than the FP2, and the Cycle Logix carbon clincher wheels that were installed on the SuperSix are of a better quality than the relatively inexpensive Chinese carbon wheels that I had on the Pinarello. I decided to spend a few bucks on eBay for some decals to replace the boring black-on-black Cycle Logix graphics. The wheels are now badged as Mavic Cosmic Carbon Elites, which would have been appropriate equipment for the Liquigas team.

   Sure, I would like to have access to every bicycle that is unique and interesting, but I am determined not to be a collector, as I don’t have the funds to waste or the space to store it all. Having some family members with hoarding issues has exposed me to the dangers of accumulation and has reinforced the importance of streamlining one’s belongings.

   Although I really enjoyed the bike, I decided to sell the Pinarello. Fortunately it was purchased by a local guy, so I will probably get to see it again out on neighborhood roads, and hopefully for the occasional tune-up!