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Submitted by
John Hess
a Cross Country Rider
from Sarasota, FL, USA
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Santos trailhead in Belleview FL | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$2500.00 | | Purchased At: | Bikesenjava, Inc. | | Strengths: | Light weight, comfortable, and very sharp looking Volvo Cannondale Team Blue with yellow accents. XTR rear derailuer for crisp and precise shifts. Fully adjustable suspension to fit the weight and terrain of almost any rider. Disc brakes assure reliable stopping power in most any weather condition. 27 speeds with a low gear that allows for climbing a steep incline as well as a tall top gear for speeding downhill. | | Weaknesses: | CODA Disc brakes are 1st generation and are prone to squeal. Upgraded pads tends to minimize this problem, as well as keeping the pads and discs free of any oil residue. Cannondale bikes are prone to corrosion/paint issues. | | Similar Products Used: | GT LTS2000, every Cannondale bike under the sun! | | Bike Setup: | F/R suspension. Blue/yellow road bike seat. Hutchinson Python tires. Upgraded XT cassette and Dura-Ace 9 speed chain. | | Bottom Line: | Very reliable, competitively priced, rock solid Cannondale frame that looks great! Comfortable, and recommended for anyone doing on-road or off road cycling. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob
a
from Rancho Santa Margarita
Date Reviewed: June 19, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1050.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | The bike is very light weight and handles very well | | Weaknesses: | CODA brakes start squealing after replacing them 3 times in 6 months. Retail and manufacturers support is very weak. I bought an American-made product based on national pride and product reputation but got burned big time.
| | Bottom Line: | I won't buy another Cannondale and I won't buy another bike from Supergo. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John Lim
a Cross Country Rider
from Bacolod, Philippines
Date Reviewed: February 20, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | tube, kanlaon natural park, | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$1600.00 | | Purchased At: | CYCLE TOTE | | Strengths: | flexible geometry, paint job, design, excellent floater, excellent pavement climber (when locked out), fox float rear shocks were | | Weaknesses: | tires, short front wheel travel on the ultra fatty, poor cabling, coda disc brakes | | Similar Products Used: | cannondale m400 (hardtail), tried giant nrs, intense tracer, jekyll 800, | | Bike Setup: | 2002 100mm rockshox judy air fork, sram rocket grip shift, 2002 xtr deraileur, hutchinson gold mosquito tires, the rest are still stock. | | Bottom Line: | I had a terrible time trying to adapt the first few months with the stock setup, the front fork travel was simply too short for the rocky terrain trails and it made the bike seem unbalanced. the xt deraileur plus the poor cabling design made it impossible to ride without pre ride tuning. its beautiful paint job (and even the aluminum tubes) were easily eaten up by the rubbing cables and therefore, setlaz protectors were needed in most parts of the bike. the cranks made some creaking noise at first but a quick greasing did the job without a need for a replacement. I quickly had the ultra fork retired by using my old 4 inch rock shox (used shimming) and replaced the xt shifter with a sram rocket grip shift and xtr deraileur... kept changing my tires until I narrowed down my choices into two. Hutchinson mosquito golds for moist and wet terrain (also excellent on pavement) and specialized team control pro for the loose and the rockiest terrain. After all the those necessary changes, i haven't encountered any problems anymore. It still has the best, most attractive finish/paint job I've seen. I enjoyed playing with the adjustable geometry and i say it has the right handling for every occasion. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Lila
a Weekend Warrior
from Escondido,CA
Date Reviewed: December 8, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Elfin Forest | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1050.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Lightweight, plenty of travel for XC and moderate downhill | | Weaknesses: | haven't found any yet | | Similar Products Used: | GT I.Drive 4.0, Giant XTC2 NRS | | Bike Setup: | Basic, XT/LX drivetrain, Coda expert everything else | | Bottom Line: | As a woman I enjoy the handling and lightweight of this bike, it steer incredibly well especially on downhill runs. I am not very large at all so the coda crank set is perfect for me, I have always wanted to try out a Cannondale and this one is sweet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kai Mau
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: November 15, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Daley Ranch | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1600.00 | | Purchased At: | Black Mountain Bike Shop | | Strengths: | Great design, love the dual lockout suspension, lightweight, decent components, Cannondale Warranty | | Weaknesses: | Crankset is weak, have to change it out
| | Similar Products Used: | Specialized FSR, Cannondale Jeckyll 600 | | Bike Setup: | Basic set-up, with XT cranks. | | Bottom Line: | This bike works the moderate XC downhills well, it handles the single tracks better than anything I have ridden. The cost of the bike has dropped at stores are moving 02 stock, if you can get one for less than I did more power to you. I think it was worth every penny..... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian
a Weekend Warrior
from Escondido, CA
Date Reviewed: November 15, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Elfin Forest | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1450.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Light Weight, good handling, good brakes,Great price, $1049 before XTR derailler and Crank Upgrades... | | Weaknesses: | changed out crank set and upgraded deraillers before they put the bike together. | | Similar Products Used: | Schwinn Rocket 88 Stage 2 | | Bike Setup: | XTR deraillers, XTR crankset | | Bottom Line: | I couldn't pass up the great price, my brother has a jeckyll 600, I liked riding it, so I went for the 900sl on sale. It is much more rigid in the back end side to side movement compared to my rocket and handles much better went executing tight movements on single-tracks. I have always thought Cannondales were too expensive, but this was a steal and its built in the USA with a lifetime frame warranty which is rare for a full suspension bike | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jean-Francois Travers
a Cross Country Rider
from Mascouche, QC Canada
Date Reviewed: November 6, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | from a friend | | Strengths: | Light, fast, lockout on front and rear suspension, great handling in fast curves | | Weaknesses: | Low BB, tires, fact that you can't upgrade CODA disk brakes or change parts from other shops (Shimano, Hayes) | | Bike Setup: | Everything stock | | Bottom Line: | Great bike. I wanted a FS bike with lockout features on the rear suspension and for the price, my God!! Did a Century with it and it's comfortable. Also in X-country, it handles very great. My brother with a Cannondale F3000 '01 took my bike for a ride and was very impressed!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chad
a Weekend Warrior
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Mission Trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | The specs are great, very lite, awsome $
Disk brakes and comes in at 26 and a half pounds
Very responsive on the trails
Plenty of front travel, you get all 2.75 inches of travel when you need it. | | Weaknesses: | The Fox rear shox took a crap on me the first day, waiting on the responsiveness of supergo/ cannondale | | Similar Products Used: | santa cruz super light | | Bike Setup: | orginal | | Bottom Line: | Incredible bike for the money, nothing comes even close for 1K!! I feel very lucky to find such a deal!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew
a Cross Country Rider
from Byron, GA
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1712.00 | | Purchased At: | Atlanta Cycling | | Strengths: | Light weight, adjustable geometry, handling, overall performance. Lock out on the front and rear shok. | | Weaknesses: | CODA Cranks. These things creak worse than a bed in a honeymoon suite. Smuf blue saddle was a little too narrow for me. | | Similar Products Used: | Cannondale M500 - completely rigid
Specialized StumpJumper - demoed
Cannondale Scapel 1000 - demoed | | Bike Setup: | All stock with the exception of Selle Italia Max Flite Trans AM saddle, Easton E70 Riser Bar, XTR Rear Derailleur | | Bottom Line: | When I purchased the bike I was a little concernad about the bike being unbalanced with 70mm of travel in the front and 120mm in the rear, but the bike doesn't feel unbalanced at all. This bike performs well on XC trails in full suspension mode, and equally as well with the lock out feature engaged on both the front and rear shocks (this is a real life saver on the road). I have read a lot of reviews about the CODA Disc brakes, some positive and some negative, but I have had ZERO problems with mine and don't look to replace them anytime soon. I wish the same could be said for the CODA Cranks. About a week after i purchased the bike, the cranks began creaking, and it seems to be getting worse. I will likely replace the crank set with one from Race Face. Other than the cranks, the bike performs outstandingly well. I typically ride 60-70 Miles per week, with about 45 miles of that being on pavement or fire roads, and the rest on trails in the Middle Georgia area. Overall I feel this bike is a good investment for any level of rider, just plan on tucking away some extra cash to replace the crankset. Look at it this way, with Cannondale, you get a top quality frame and suspension setup, then you can upgrade the components to your level of riding whether it be weekend warrior or XC racer.
FYI - I have found that the best time to buy a bike from Cannondale is late June and early July, most of the bike shops run discounted deals on exsisting year models so they can make room for the newer bikes. Even if you have to order the bike through your local bike shop, you can save a ton of cash. My Jeckyll 900 is a 2002 model with a list price of around $2000 without taxes, I had one place offer to order me one for $1700, and another place, which had one in stock, offer to sell their's to me for 20% of the list price which came to $1600. The deals are out there, you just have to look.
Happy Riding | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Oceanside, CA.
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1300.00 | | Purchased At: | SuperGo | | Strengths: | weight and handling | | Weaknesses: | short travel | | Bottom Line: | Initially I had trouble with the front derailleur, but after shortening the cable and moving the derailleur, it worked fine. The continental tires did not have the right pattern for true cross country riding. This is a responsive bike in need of a few componit upgrades and disc brakes. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JAVIER
a Weekend Warrior
from TUCSON
Date Reviewed: January 11, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1800.00 | | Purchased At: | FULL CYCLE | | Strengths: | NICE SET UP, GREAT HANDLING AND SPEED. | | Weaknesses: | CRANK, MANUFACTURER'S SUPPORT | | Bike Setup: | NO DISC BRAKES | | Bottom Line: | THIS BIKE WAS REALLY COOL AT FIRST, BUT I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT. I RODE IT ONCE ON A TRAIL THOUGH BUT I HAD MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THE FRONT DERAILEUR AND CRANK. INITIALLY THE THING WOULD NOT SHIFT RIGHT AND I HAD A HARD TIME GETTING THE CHAIN TO SHIFT INTO THE CORRECT FRONT SPROCKETS. THE BIKE SHOP MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS BUT IT DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM AND THEY EVENTUALLY CHANGED OUT THE "CODA" CRANK (RELUCTANTLY!)TO A SHIMANO CRANKSET... IT SHIFTED FINE, BUT THEN THE CHAIN STARTED FALLING OFF...ALOT MORE THAN USUAL. CANNONDALE GOT INVOLVED BUT THEY DRAGGED THEIR FEET AND HAD NO ANSWERS EXCEPT TO GIVE ME A WHOLE NEW BIKE (AFTER ABOUT THREE WEEKS). BETWEEN BOTH THE MANUFACTUR AND THE BIKE SHOP, THEY BOTH MADE ME FEEL LIKE THIS WAS MY PROBLEM AND THAT I WAS DOING SOMETHING WRONG. EVEN THOUGH THEY ADMITTED THEY COULDN'T FIX IT. I'M NOT A PROFESSIONAL BIKE RIDER OR ANYTHING, BUT I'M NO IDIOT EITHER...I RIDE EVERY WEEKEND AND I KNOW HOW A BIKE SHOULD CHANGE GEARS. AFTER MUCH WORRY OVER SPENDING "GOOD" MONEY ON A BUNK BIKE I TOLD THEM TO KEEP THE BIKE. BOTTOM LINE IS IF YOU'RE GOING TO BUY THIS BIKE, MAKE SURE YOU SAVE SOME MONEY FOR THE A NEW CRANK AND FORGET GETTING HELP FROM ANYONE. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alex
a
from Guatemala
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$2100.00 | | Strengths: | weight 26 lbs
great handeling
tires
| | Weaknesses: | breakes
short travel in the fork | | Bottom Line: | this bike is well set up for its price, to have a 5 rated bike I will change the brakes for disks ones and fit in a lefty front shock.
Great balance and and weight for a doble suspension. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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