Cannondale F500 HT MTB 2003

Been browsing through Gumtree and stumbled upon this bad boy. All original (as it seems to me) bar the cables. The guy I got it from said he owned it for about 10yrs and it sat in his shed for the last 4.
Funny enough I was looking through Cannondale catalogues few days ago and it looks to me this bike is from 2003, which is the same year my road bike is from. Time to start a collection haha.

I haven't tried pumping up the Ultra Fatty fork yet but it might need a service, which is the only scary thing.

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About an hour and half and half a can of wd40 later.
Love the sticker too. The bike must have seen some things in its lifetime :O
The bike appears in pretty good condition, way better than I'd expect it to be. Had a lot of gunk and grease all over, but all came off just fine. Happy days.

I'm surprised the bottom bracket still appears perfectly smooth, so is the headset and freewheel. I might give them some service and re-grease just for the sake of it once I get to replacing some bits.
So far it's the tyres, inner cables and chain that need definite replacement. I am not too sure about mechanical disc brakes too, although I like the original Cannondale branded brake handles, hydraulics are much better.

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Went on eBay after after a glass of wine and had a shopping spree:
26*2.1 Schwalbe Nobby Nic tyres
SRAM PC-951 9sp chain
Shimano Hydraulic Brakeset (that's what it said in the ad) w new brakepads
2x 160mm Clarks rotors
2x cable inner cables
set of lock on grips.

That should do me for now and help stay within reasonable budget.

Will look into the forks once the bits arrive.

I had the same year F500 but in dark green. The cable discs were shockingly bad

How was the forks mate? Compared to something more modern. Google says they're quite decent when function properly.

I remember them being quite decent, but bear in mind I bought it in 2004, and didn't really cycle much between '07 and '10, by which point they'd seized and I replaced them with Marzocchi Bomber 44s, which were probably better. Not actually ridden anything really modern

The forks are very light, very stiff and very precise.

Only problem is...80mm ish of travel. These were racing XC bikes back in the day.

F series is the new fixie.

Thanks!

I've noticed in the other thread that you got quite some knowledge regarding these?
Might seek your advice once I get round to pump these up and further examine. Hopefully the seals are still there and it'll be an easy jobbie.

Otherwise...oh well...at least it was cheap!

I'd probably never buy it if I wasn't to find it in that catalogue tbh. I just sold two of my bikes (one being FS MTB) and got another one for sale as I wanted to downsize the fleet but...but could not resist. Oh me oh me.

Time to start a collection haha.

Mines still available :)

Uhuh yea I know may around these and have the tools.

I feel you. Just sold the FS thinking I'm about to downsize and now eyeballing a steel hardtail. This needs the new 11speed SLX...or better, m592 XTR.

The neverending bike ownership story hehe. I'd love to have 11 speed groupset on this one as I did with road bike, but it would mean way too much investment as it would mean the wheels as well.
Will see how things go

1x9, wide bars, strip all the extra weight off, shred

If you need the castle tool to open the fork, Ze Germanz it is: Dr Cannondale got mine there :)

But take the fork out / top cap off with a pin spanner first. Maybe all is well and no need to spend ££ if fork moves ok and grease looks clear.

Do check the fork boot for holes.

Should be a good wee bike, entry level MTBs cost a lot more. Ok fork travel isn't much but unless you really must go nuts you may not need more.

Enjoy it's definitely 2000s should be a good MTB! 1*9 may suit well if you are not planning on climbing steel hills.

Cheers for the advice, hopefully should get round on Friday or Saturday to check what's going on there.

Just got the brakes through - these are Shimano BL-M395, looking fresh and the pads are brand new just the way the seller advertised.
Awaiting rest of the bits.

Nice bike, I have the same one. Headshok has always worked pretty well for the kind of gentle MTBing I enjoy. Have got round servicing issues so far by not servicing it... assisted by not getting to ride it very often.

Woop woop here's the bigger brother! Glad you're enjoying it mate and I can see you've upgraded the Groupset and brakes too? Looks stock otherwise, same as mine.
Views look similar to lovely Scottish scenery too...
I'll see what mine will run like once serviced adjusted and new cables. Shame I'm a SRAM guy, but...oh well. Shall control my spendings just now.

I've generally just replaced parts as old ones wore out. When I got it (cheap off ebay due to terrible photos) it had some rubbish magura disc brakes which I got rid of pretty quickly and some budget shimano wheels where I stripped the rear disc brake mount touring in Scotland and had to ride front brake only for the week after. I suspect if I tried a more modern mtb it might seem a bit lacking, but it's worked well for most things I've used it for - here it is touring in Scotland, loaded down with unfashionable panniers.

The previous photo is just on the South Downs. Though weather was pretty Scottish.

All the bits arrived now. Time to fit as the weather is absolute rubbish.

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Before and after

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After then before, right? You trickster.