REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

Cannondale Frame Question

978 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by SuperBad, Jun 22, 2009

msc8116

Discussion Starter · Jun 20, 2009

I'm probably reposting something that has been hashed out already but I don't have time to dig through search results. I owned a Cannondale F400 a few years ago and even though it was a lower end bike had great luck with it. I sold the bike and got out of riding for a while but I caught the fever again. I'm looking at sticking with a hardtail and like the looks of the Cannondlae F5 and maybe the F7.

My question is, how do you tell which Cannondale Frames are Made in the USA and which are outsourced? My initial research led me to believe that the F5 was still Made in the USA and the F7 in Taiwan but now I'm seeing where the F5 may also be made in Taiwan. I havent been able to find and F5 in a shop to see if it says Made in USA. Anyone have any insight into this? Any reason to doubt the quality of the Cannondale frames made outside of the USA?

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

jdr01930

· #2 · Jun 20, 2009

F5's are all Taiwan.
When looking at frames, the Caffiene's are made in USA, the CO2's are made in Taiwan

F3/F2/F1 = made in USA/Caffiene
F5 thru F9 are CO2/made in Asia.

F4 = depends on the year

Save

CheapTrek

· #3 · Jun 20, 2009

msc8116 said:
I'm probably reposting something that has been hashed out already but I don't have time to dig through search results.

wow:smallviolin:

Save

Cayenne_Pepa

· #4 · Jun 21, 2009

Nothing wrong with a Taiwan-made frame...just the welds and overall finish is not as good as the Bedford-made USA ones. Plus, the CO2 aluminum tubing is all sourced in Asia. The 2007-2008 F1-F3 Caffeine USA-made extruded Alcalyte tubes came straight from the Alcoa plant in nearby Pittsburgh.

Save

SuperBad

· #5 · Jun 22, 2009

My 08 F4 was made overseas. I will say compared to my previous Cannondales the welds don't look as good. I miss the smoothing and attention to detail my USA made frames have had. There is a reason the RAW finish on my F4 was paint and not raw unpainted tubes like my Chase, and what I actually thought I had ordered. The frame is not flawed, but just not up to the level I was used to seeing on my previous Cannondales.

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month