Cannondale R400 Dark Green

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  • Just picked up a Dale off the original lovely Lady owner which she had from 1994.
    All stock with Shimano Rsx all around (derailleurs, brakes, shifters), mavic cp10 rims.
    Nice dark green colour although a few deep scratches on the top tube.
    Needs some deep cleaning, so gotta nick a few WD40 cans at work.

    So far cleaned the cassette, hubs, spokes, rims and chain.
    Next to do is to strip it as much as possible for further clean/grease and replace the worn out bits, ie:
    New tyres and inner tubes
    Bar tape
    Saddle
    All cables (?)
    Wheel bearings

    Few questions - are the rsx any good? Haven't had a chance to check them in action as all the cables are stretched and slacked.

    Where do I get the proper cable set?
    How do I find out and where do I get the wheel bearings?

    Pics to follow. Will try to keep the thread updated.

  • I ran RSX on an old Peugeot and quite liked it. Occasionally a bit sticky but I saw that as one of its charming little foibles.

    Properly set up with new cables, it should work nicely. No shortage of things to replace it with if you don't like it.

    Love to see a pic of the frame.

  • Also thinking of what colour scheme shall I follow for the tires/cables/bartape/saddle?
    Currently my imagination is on holiday so I thought all black

  • Yusss! Another R400 joins us. Does your paint have a bit of a sparkle to it? You sticking to period correct or modernising some?

  • It does indeed. Some gold-ish flakes on a sunny day.

    I will keep it as it is, hoping that it will work fine once serviced. Only changes will be the ones mentioned in the first post.

    Im working on the stuff now, just got the wheels cleaned and had the pleasure of tyre exploding, so that one went to the bins. Also opened up the bearings, cleaned old grease and packed in some TF2 lithium grease.

    Also noticed that cable inners seems to been replaced not too long ago as still shiny and smooth. I will replace them after I get back from little holiday as Jagwires off ebay are 6 quid a set.

    Just started working on the shifters, as they were sticky due to old grease and kaka stuck inside.

    Just realised I should have taken some photos in the process but couldn't be asked to take the gloves off lol.


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  • Just found out that the right hand (rear) shifter is broken, and the right one is currently seized up but hopefully will be working.

    So I need a RSX 7 speed shifter. Just the mechanism.

    Update: seem to have fixed it. Little bastard!!
    That little spring you can see on top of the pawl had came of and bent. Took me half an hour to somehow sort it, jeez.. Off to bed


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  • i always just spray alcohol pray in without dissembling, seems to do the trick

  • really nice look forward to seeing it in sunlight.is the stem unbranded?

  • Tried alcohol, wd-40, beer, spells. Nothing.
    Had to work hard on it and even use sandpaper.

    I might eventually become an RSX expert lol.

  • Oh yes, I want to see it complete and working too, trust me :)
    And the stem is unbranded that's right.

    Also, what do I use to lube the shifters? Teflon grease from tube, or the sprayable one? Also I still got some Castrol Racing Chain lube from my motorbike, will that do?

  • I use low viscosity oil. Something like a 2.5wt. Not sure if there's wisdom in that, but it's worked out pretty well for me for two winters so far. Doesn't gum up or hold on to dirt as much.

  • just be careful what you use to clean the alloy parts such as the crank as mine got horribly tarnished by something and now i think im going to have to go the whole hog and polish stuff up to a mirror finish. Bravo on taking apart the sti shifters, inspires me to try and service a pair of early 105s ive got laying about, im thinking the design probably isnt that different? Id have thought injecting teflon grease would be fine as a lube.

  • I will probably buff the alu parts as well. Just don't want to destroy the stickers:)
    As for the shifters -- I'm no bike mechanic for an UCI team but the job is quite simple. Just takes a while and is a bit messy as I've used quite a lot of wd40.. It probably changes if you have to fix something as I haven't got a Scooby where you source the parts for a 20yo shifter.

    Mines were sticky and had the pawls not working properly as haven't been used in a while, also one had the spring that came off.
    It was a bit annoying for me as some bits are really tiny and I haven't got the proper tools (got just a basic do-it-all setup)/bench to use. Also once finished me and my mate me looked at it from different perspective and I am even a bit proud of myself lol.

  • dead chuffed for you, guy in the us on ebay reconditioned my ultegra 8/s. he owns up to using
    second hand bits.grease ? teflon soft then wd40 type with teflon[ptfe] now and then.wd40 on its own wont last.
    with oversized tubes. ive seen all sorts of stems used and that one looks ok.
    money's no joke,but i reckon deepish section rims look cool on oversized tubes too.

  • Show me the exact rims mate so that we're on same page here.

    I'm on a little holiday now, so not working on the bike atm. As per grease, I will rewash everything with wd40 once again when changing cables, and will use the teflon one, as it seems to be the best for the job so far.

    Still havent figured out what colour scheme to go for, as the initial plan RED doesn't inspire me anymore.

    Update: RED v2 will include Red bar tape, red saddle, zaffiro black/red tyres and black cables.

    Update 2: Also, I need some ideas how to sort out the scratched top tube? I don't think I'm into respraying it, as well as not too sure if I would be able to find the matching colour to touch it up (?) so I thought of some sticker/tape to put onto TT.
    Something similar to this would do the trick just fine I'd guess, but where do I find a quality affordable sticker? Any other ideas?

  • Sticker tape on the top tube nah un cool. would look like a plaster to cover up a dent. a decent paint supplier would be able to mix paint for you from charts and supply in a rattle can,from the same place filler putty for any deep scratches. you can spray some in the lid and brush, or metallic, drill a 6mm hole in cardboard and spray through the hole moving it in sweeps.then wax or laqueer.you will prob never get it as good as the original finish [perfection is for wimps]
    wheel rims have a peek 'brick lane bikes' wheel section plenty there, 38mm v sections or subtle aero ? nothing worse than a klein or something with thin rims. best wishes.

  • Few shots of the finished build


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  • Too few :)

  • Can not add to prev post


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  • And another


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  • Was nice and slippery :)


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  • Bike is for sale. Located in Aberdeen. Will advertise shortly.

    In need of a CX machine and a Carbon weapon later on. So will consider swaps.

  • What size is this? a 54? Nice work btw, love these frames!

  • It's a 54cm frame indeed mate as seen in the picture. I'm about 5'10'' (177cm) and it's the right fit for me.
    A gorgeous looking bike it is, love the frame glitter in the sun!

  • I hope eveyone is this thread is well 8 years later. It was nice to see the comments. I just want to say Wow! This is crazy how your story is similar to mine. I have the same exact frame and color. And yes those goldish-flakes are everything here in the Miami sun where I'm from. This is the "ONLY" other bike like mine with information from an owner, with pics. Mine is a 58cm, And I'm literally in love with this bike. Anyways I brought it on Offer Up for $300 cash! Mint condition aside from left shifter sticking from the grease. Like yours. (I sprayed it with W-40 really well, let it sit for 15-30 minutes. Went through the gears and they shifted like a charm.) Some are worst than others. It came with clip on aero bars, a nice tool bag, a cpu, two lights, and an extra saddle. I was literally blown away with how clean this bike was for a 95. The seamless welding had me confused for a second. I had to make sure it wasn't carbon fiber. Lol. So far drivetrain is stock RSX like yours. Except I upgraded the wheels. I'm running a Mavic Cosmic 50mm aero wheel in the rear. And a Mavic Aksium Race in the front. Both 23mm running on Hutchinson Race Gold Carbon Comp Tires. Which I brought with the tires on Offer Up for $150 for the set. So $450 total on bike so far. I ran a yellow bar tape because of my tires, wheels have yellow in it. And it brings out the gold flakes in the paint. Plus my favorite team is the Packers. So the Green and Gold was a easy choice. Lol. Anyway I'm going to upgrade the front end, shed just a little weight. Carbon front end. I'll post pics. I would like to see your bike 8 years later! Really puts into perspective the love foe these frames.

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Cannondale R400 Dark Green

Posted by Avatar for fizzybubbelech @fizzybubbelech

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