Steve Bauer Motorola Cannondale

[black lightning 1987]

This looks to be an interesting bit of Cannondale history, a frame made for the Motorola team as a demo - a sponsorship deal which ultimately didn't pan out.

1995 Team Motorola Cannondale Steve Bauer 54cm Bike Tour Giro Vintage | eBay

And the exact manufacture date of 5-14-95. Factory Cannondale, built for Steve Bauer when he rode on the Motorola team. More importantly, the bottom bracket carries the factory stamping of.

www.ebay.com

I can't ride a 54 or I'd be all over this pending closer examination of the pictures.

 

[JohnnyD]

I agree it is certainly interesting. I just have too many things on my plate right now to pick up another one.
The more I look at Cannondale frames from that era and see all the bubbles it makes me really wonder just WTF the paint department was/wasn't doing to prep the surface before painting.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I think the bubbling starts with a chip or scratch in most cases. Add salt from sweat and the corrosion gradually works its way under the paint.

 

[JohnnyD]

I think the bubbling starts with a chip or scratch in most cases. Add salt from sweat and the corrosion gradually works its way under the paint.

That seems like one way it can happen. When sanding down the Super V I noticed that there wasn't any primer under what remained of the original paintwork. Aluminum oxidizes really quickly and if you don't degrease and clean it properly before painting it is only a matter of WHEN the paint will start flaking off and corrosion to form under the paint. That is why aluminum aircraft parts have an strontium or zinc chromate finish on them to prevent that. It's definitely not for the cool green color.

 

[black lightning 1987]

What year is the Super V and do you know how it was originally finished? Worst frames for corrosion in my opinion are any with bare aluminum and clear coat. I had a CAAD9 CX that was showing signs of spider web corrosion all along the clear coated areas while the painted areas looked like new.

 

[JohnnyD]

It's a 1994 and had the original paint on it, well what was left of the original paint. I haven't gotten around to really checking out the 94 Delta V yet, but it does have lots of little spots of corrosion under the paint near the bottom bracket and on the downtube. From the LBS sticker that is on it, it came from the NJ/NY area and was then sold to the second owner in FL. As I said in the forum post about it, that frame looks to be repainted at one time or another because of the paint inside the bottom bracket area. Plus the Caymen Teal Metallic looks completely different than other Delta V 600 of the same year. It looks more green than the others which have a bluish hue to them..

 

[black lightning 1987]

The 3.0 frame I am stripping could be a bit older. Perhaps Cannondale quit using the zinc primer at some point.

 

[JohnnyD]

I wish there was someone at Cannondale today that could answer that question, or better yet one of the people that actually painted these bikes when they were made here in the USA. Can you imagine what one of those employees could tell us.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Considering the number of bikes that they churned out, the factory must have employed a lot of people. It's a bit surprising that we don't have regular input from a few of them.

 

[MikeA]

Considering the number of bikes that they churned out, the factory must have employed a lot of people. It's a bit surprising that we don't have regular input from a few of them.

I've often thought this myself. There must be dozens of mechanics that have worked in the Tech Room over the years, but the internet is full of old unanswered threads with simple technical questions.

On the other hand, after a 10 hour work day, I'm not going online and helping people with the crap I've been working on all day either.

 

[JohnnyD]

Glad to see I am not alone in wondering where they are. I'm thinking that they are like most people today in that they feel it was just a job to them. Not that they were privileged to work and produce some cool things that others enjoy. In my case still enjoy 30 yrs after I purchased it!

 

[black lightning 1987]

I've often thought this myself. There must be dozens of mechanics that have worked in the Tech Room over the years, but the internet is full of old unanswered threads with simple technical questions.

On the other hand, after a 10 hour work day, I'm not going online and helping people with the crap I've been working on all day either.

My guess is that to most of the factory employees it was simply a job, and they had no interest in bikes otherwise. I would have thought that there were some that were interested though. I remember a lot of photos in the catalogs of Cannondale employees on their bikes but can't remember any of them being factory workers.

It's been 12 years since Cannondales were made in the USA. Surely there are some factory workers that are now retired and would have the time to contribute their knowledge.