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Cannondale 1998 Super V 900

MSRP $
# of Reviews 8
Average Rating 4.13/5
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Submitted by DN a Weekend Warrior from Dallas
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2008
Favorite Trail:Moab
Price Paid: $1300.00
Purchased At:Used
Strengths:As an engineer, when I bought it, it was the highest technology available without going to boingy, spongy, make-shift or patchwork garage-shop rigging. The large frame, eye-candy, compact design was attractive. Although the brakes are not V-Brakes, the Avid brakes that came on it could break traction with little effort, even on the sandpaper traction of Moab - what more could you have? Airbrakes?
Weaknesses:After some abuse during a full week of heavy riding at Moab, the front deraillieur started skipping and adjustments couldn't fix it. Could be worn bushings, can't find the fix so far. Avid brakes are light and powerful but with soooo many axis alignment options, is a bear to have 2 sets of wheels (off-road / on-road) unless you have the same rims. I bought an extra carbon wheel set with smooth tires for the road (to still get a good workout while riding with slower road bikers) but gave up after it took 30 min to adjust the brakes between the weel sets. Waste of $500. Balance a little tall and rearward for climbing - easy to wheelie on a steep climb but good for descent. Front shock has limited travel, but no biggy.
Similar Products Used:Super V700, Specialized, Trek, other full suspension.
Bike Setup:XTR, Grip Shift, Avid brakes.
Bottom Line:Great bike then, still is. Perhaps not for competitive downhillers who want mega-travel and willing to carry lots of weight. But great weight/feature, style/function, technology/cost ratios. Still better looking than most bikes out there.
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:4

Submitted by Ralph a Cross Country Rider from Austin,TX,USA
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2001
Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
Price Paid: $700.00
Purchased At:Ebay
Strengths:Looks great, rides great
Weaknesses:Wish the shifters were rapid fire, or a smoother grip shift like ESP 9.0. The brake levers (LV-78E) dont look/function that great either. The front stx-rc derailleur could be upgraded to XT
Similar Products Used:Bianchi Alante, Mongoose DX60, Schwinn Voyageur, Kawasaki mx, Pioneer
Bike Setup:Stock.
Bottom Line:Love the split pea color - main reason for purchasing the bike. Could the down tube be any bigger?? takes 2 hands to wrap around it.. looks like a rugged SUV of bikes.. Very comfortable ride, and easy on the back (and eyes). Could do with a better front derailleur - stx-rc doesnt cut it.. the rear xt is smooth.. Front shock could do with a bit more travel, but you cant have everything you want ;-)
Gotta give it 5 flamin turds on value, since I got it for only $700 used lightly. 5 flamin pigeon droppings for overall rating too... since the stx-rc front derailleur can be replaced inexpensively.
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

Submitted by Louis K a Weekend Warrior from Chicago IL. USA
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2001
Favorite Trail:Kettle Maraine
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Price Paid: $1200.00
Purchased At:Mission Bay Multisport
Strengths:This Bike has never failed on me and continues to take my abusive riding
Weaknesses:The components (good for one year) and headshock (NOT ENOUGH TRAVEL!)
Similar Products Used:Cannodale F-2000, Gary fisher sugar 1, Pro-flex 900, Gary fisher super calaber
Bike Setup:Esp 9.0 w/ XTR V-brakes and levers. CODA trantula crank, Sunrace rims, Stratos air w/ lockout rear shock, Awesome handelbar
Bottom Line:Out of all the bikes I have tested this bike has the best technical single track performance for a fS bike. The front shock does not have enough travel! The frame has held up and has never failed. This bike fits all areas, downhill, X-country, freeride. I love this bike. If you have the means of getting one GET IT! you will not be disapointed. You might want to change components enventually to get a better system.
Value Rating:4Overall Rating:5

Submitted by IVAN MEDINA a Racer from 387 PARK AVE SOUTH
Date Reviewed: January 21, 2000
Favorite Trail:VAN COURTLAND
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Strengths:After two years of extensive abuse the super v 900 held up pretty well.
Except for some minor frame imperfections it's definetly a
sight for sore eyes.
Weaknesses:Alot of the parts on the original bike never made it past
the first season. For example the rear shock (Fox Air Vanilla) didn't meet my expectation. Another thing that wasn't up to par was the short travel Headshock DD60
it just didn't meet my standards on the steeper trails.
The drivetrain and the other parts are temporarily exceptable.......
Similar Products Used:I've also ridden a super V 700 carbon fully equipt and loved it.
Bike Setup:S.I.D. fork, Race Face Cranks, XTR der. fr.& rear.,Brake & levers, Easton CT2 monkey bar, Dean short stem & seat post,
Mavic 217 Ceramic rim W/ nuke proof atom bombs w/ salsa QR's, King rasta headset, Continental double fighters
Bottom Line:This can be an exceptional ride but only with exceptional
components.
Value Rating:4Overall Rating:4

Submitted by Killian a Cross-Country Rider from Hershey
Date Reviewed: November 26, 1999
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Bottom Line:The bike is a little heavy in the rear but what do you expect for a full susp. The bike handles great and rides smooooooooooth. To any one who is thinking of buying one, do it and disregard that ass Paul. 5 SMOKING BIG ONES PAUL!!!
Overall Rating:5

Submitted by Paul a Cross-Country Rider from Chicago, IL
Date Reviewed: August 30, 1999
Favorite Trail:
palos
Duration Product Used:
more than 3 years
Strengths:
None
Weaknesses:
Manufacturing DEFECTS
Bottom Line:W A R N I N G , READ THIS BEFORE BUYING A CANNONDALE!!!!!! I have a Cannondale M900, it’s a couple of years old now but when bought it was one of their higher end frames. Recently I discovered a place in the frame tubing where the welder or someone at the factory had burnt a hole in the tubing & patched it with bondo. This was then painted over & you could not see it until the paint had chipped away much later. I contacted Cannondale & their field rep informed me that this is a common occurrence at Cannondale & in no way considered a defect. I’ve tried to talk to someone else in the company but keep getting the run-around. That hand-built American quality & attention to detail Cannondale advertises is BULLSHIT!! I WAS SOLD DEFECTIVE MERCHANDISE & THE COMPANY REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE IS A PROBLEM.
Overall Rating:1

Submitted by Mark a Weekend Warrior from Wilmington, DE
Date Reviewed: July 12, 1999
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Strengths:
Good frame and mostly good components
Weaknesses:
High stem, had to replace it with a flat one. I notice most people flip it.
Similar Products Used:
Klein, Trek-Y
Bottom Line:Great bike. Handles very well on singletrack and through the woods. With the high stem, it was scary going up some hills. The straight one helps. Very nice hanlding downhill. Disapointed that Cannondale snuck in cheap break handles and STX-RC parts, as I would have gladly paid a little more for better parts and now am stuck replacing them. I would have purchased an upper level bike, but most shops don't have them or have the rapid fire version. Also, the Coda 900 seat was ok, but I've just replaced it.This was the first mountain bike I've purchased, and its got me through 1 1/2 years of great riding.
Overall Rating:4

Submitted by Winter Biker a weekend warrior from Canada
Date Reviewed: February 10, 1999
Bottom Line:

I just bought my first FS bike, a 1998 Cannondale Super V 900 that I bought on clearout for $1300 Cdn. First thing I did was get rid of those crappy grift shift and switched to LX rapid fires. Because of the good deal that I got, and the beautiful ride, I'm gonna give 5 smokin Chilies...
Overall Rating:5






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