Looking for a model
- Thread starter Jose Rama
- Start date
Not sure what you mean by flat-ish. Have a look at some of the catalog archives. There weren't many different frame types in the 1990s.
Pretty sure that most of the tubes were round in the 1990s. Mountain bikes had oval shaped chainstays with flat sides. Here's a 1991 SM800.
Who, Nishiki or Cannondale? I don't think either used square tubing, but both used tubing with flat sides.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ri...126196?hash=item341797d674:g:u8MAAOSwRWddvyam
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ri...126196?hash=item341797d674:g:u8MAAOSwRWddvyam
martindavina
New Member
You're not crazy! Older Cannondales had distinctive oversized, flattened aluminum tubes. It may have been a different model, but hopefully another member can identify it.
Jon K.
Well-Known Member
It doesn't sound like a Cannondale. The Rock-a-dile was a Mongoose model, and from what I can tell, the top tube was rather triangular and the downtube was a rounded rectangle. It was similar to their cross-country racing MTBs, the IBOC series.
And example of a Mongoose Rock-dile: https://www.dunhamssports.com/thumb...CK_MTN_BIKE___001_1920x1920.jpg?ts=1752084919
rickpaulos
Well-Known Member
I had a Mongoose Rock-a-Dile, briefly. Round fat aluminum tubes, cracked head tube. Cut up for scrap. One of a dozen bikes that passed my way with cracked head tubes. All made in the same factory in the same year is my guess. Every one was a different brand. Mongoose, Raleigh, GT, Rock Machines, Mercier, etc.
The term for newer bikes with oddly shaped tubing is "Hydroform". Round tubes are put inside a mold, hit with a massive amount of pressure via water or oil. LIke 100,000 psi in a split second. Instantly forces the tube to take the shape of the mold. Much older bikes had cold set curved tubes by bending them over various shapes. A famous example is Schwinn's Typhoon. Some bikes had the ends squared up by clamping them in a vise (with smooth jaws) or a press pre-set for a certain size.
Some pre-hydroform bikes have ovalish tubes created by running round tubes though a series of rollers to reshape the tube, again a cold set method. BTW, cold means not red hot, they can still be pre-heated some to make the metal more pliable.
The term for newer bikes with oddly shaped tubing is "Hydroform". Round tubes are put inside a mold, hit with a massive amount of pressure via water or oil. LIke 100,000 psi in a split second. Instantly forces the tube to take the shape of the mold. Much older bikes had cold set curved tubes by bending them over various shapes. A famous example is Schwinn's Typhoon. Some bikes had the ends squared up by clamping them in a vise (with smooth jaws) or a press pre-set for a certain size.
Some pre-hydroform bikes have ovalish tubes created by running round tubes though a series of rollers to reshape the tube, again a cold set method. BTW, cold means not red hot, they can still be pre-heated some to make the metal more pliable.