Canondale Bad Boy - to buy or not to buy? That's the question

[Hamilton Pruim]

I'm a bit of an old fart (sliding gently towrds 50) and I'm finally
going to change my 18 year Muddy Fox for a new hybrid bike, and I'm
thinking about the Bad Boy.

I'm looking to move away from the hardcore offroad setup on the Muddy
Fox and lose a little bit of weight - on the bike as well as the waist
;-). I don't off road seriously any more and only really use the bike
for a daily commute (10 miles each way) into London. I loved the
Muddy Fox because it is built like a steel reinforced brick outhouse,
but it is getting long in the tooth now.

The Bad Boy is light, I'm told is strong, feels sturdy and isn't too
showy. One of my main reservations is that the chainset looks to me to
be offroad, so I may well have the same problems as the muddy fox,
which doesn't go fast enough sometimes.

What I want from the bike is a strong, reliable commuter bike that
will soak up the hammering from London streets.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Hamilton

[email protected]

(Leave out auntie, add a dot leave out com)

 

[Peter Clinch]

Hamilton Pruim wrote:
> I'm a bit of an old fart (sliding gently towrds 50) and I'm finally
> going to change my 18 year Muddy Fox for a new hybrid bike, and I'm
> thinking about the Bad Boy.

Given your self-description, I wonder if there's a market niche for a
bike called a Phat Phart? ;-)

> What I want from the bike is a strong, reliable commuter bike that
> will soak up the hammering from London streets.

The Cannondale should fit the bill, but a few caveats:

- you say it's not too showy, but the word "Cannondale" on it will make
it a thievery target so I'd only want to use it as a commute bike if I
had reasonably secure parking/storage at the work end

- you may want to make it rather less "bad" by putting on rack and
mudguards for commuting. Cleaner and more comfortable if the roads are
wet, and the bike gets to carry your stuff rather than you.

- for a commuter bike I'd sooner have something like the Orbit Orion
City 7, which has built in dynohub lighting off the peg so you don't
have to worry about your batteries going in winter or recharging. You
could put a dynohub on the 'Dale, but it'll cost you extra. The 'Dale
frame will probably be better than the Orbit, but that's not the same as
the Orbit being a bad frame, and it should be up to the job. Having hub
gears and a chain guard you get to spend much less time on cleaning and
maintenance, which is a Good Thing. Hub and chain guard, plus not
having "Cannondale" written on it, also make it less of a thievery target.
There's a review that CTC's Chris Juden did online at
http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/orionreview.shtml
Looks good, but the 'Dale is definitely sportier. You just have to
decide how "sporty" your commute is!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Call me Bob]

On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 15:08:58 +0000 (UTC), Hamilton Pruim
<[email protected]> wrote:

>The Bad Boy is light, I'm told is strong, feels sturdy and isn't too
>showy. One of my main reservations is that the chainset looks to me to
>be offroad, so I may well have the same problems as the muddy fox,
>which doesn't go fast enough sometimes.
>
>What I want from the bike is a strong, reliable commuter bike that
>will soak up the hammering from London streets.
>
>Any thoughts gratefully received.

The problem you'll have commuting with a Bad Boy (particularly in
London) is where to leave it. Cannondales scream "STEAL ME!!!" to
every thief within a ten mile radius. If you have somewhere absolutely
secure to park it then this won't be an issue of course, but I'd be
very wary myself.
--

"Bob"

'The people have spoken, the bastards'

Email address is spam trapped.
To reply directly remove the beverage.

 

[James Thomson]

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote:

> - for a commuter bike I'd sooner have something like the Orbit
> Orion City 7, which has built in dynohub lighting off the peg so
> you don't have to worry about your batteries going in winter or
> recharging. You could put a dynohub on the 'Dale, but it'll cost
> you extra.

Cannondale's 'Street' range has some interesting city bikes, some dynohub
and mudguard equipped:

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/05/ce/cats/ST.html

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/05/ce/model-5SS3K.html

I don't know about UK availability, but those I've seen in Paris look
well-conceived. Price and stealability is all Cannondale, of course.

James Thomson

 

[Martin Newstead]

"Hamilton Pruim" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...

>
> What I want from the bike is a strong, reliable commuter bike that
> will soak up the hammering from London streets.

Sounds like you need something built like a steel reinforced brick outhouse.

 

[Chris Davies]

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 16:58:00 +0100, Peter Clinch <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Hamilton Pruim wrote:
>> I'm a bit of an old fart (sliding gently towrds 50) and I'm finally
>> going to change my 18 year Muddy Fox for a new hybrid bike, and I'm
>> thinking about the Bad Boy.
>
> Given your self-description, I wonder if there's a market niche for a
> bike called a Phat Phart? ;-)
>
>> What I want from the bike is a strong, reliable commuter bike that
>> will soak up the hammering from London streets.
>
> The Cannondale should fit the bill, but a few caveats:
>
> - you say it's not too showy, but the word "Cannondale" on it will make
> it a thievery target so I'd only want to use it as a commute bike if I
> had reasonably secure parking/storage at the work end
>
> - you may want to make it rather less "bad" by putting on rack and
> mudguards for commuting. Cleaner and more comfortable if the roads are
> wet, and the bike gets to carry your stuff rather than you.
>
> - for a commuter bike I'd sooner have something like the Orbit Orion
> City 7, which has built in dynohub lighting off the peg so you don't
> have to worry about your batteries going in winter or recharging. You
> could put a dynohub on the 'Dale, but it'll cost you extra. The 'Dale
> frame will probably be better than the Orbit, but that's not the same as
> the Orbit being a bad frame, and it should be up to the job. Having hub
> gears and a chain guard you get to spend much less time on cleaning and
> maintenance, which is a Good Thing. Hub and chain guard, plus not
> having "Cannondale" written on it, also make it less of a thievery
> target.
> There's a review that CTC's Chris Juden did online at
> http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/orionreview.shtml
> Looks good, but the 'Dale is definitely sportier. You just have to
> decide how "sporty" your commute is!
>
> Pete.
If you like a fast commuter, I would recommend having a look at the
Ridgeback switch mountain bikes. Alright, probably not as good as a
Cannondale, but it cost less so I would guess less nickable? It's a bit
like the Cannondale, a light, fast mountain bike set up for the roads. Not
enormously comfy, but great fun. Most at home blowing off huge lines of
cars at traffic lights.
I was more than pleased with mine. Until I sold it. ):
I know you didn't originally ask for it, but the chap in my LBS when I
ordered my new dynamo hub (thanks for the advice guys, asked for a Schmidt
but he offered me a really good deal on the Shimano) was telling me that
one of the 2005 switches will have hub dynamo lighting.


--
|C|H|R|I|S|@|T|R|I|N|I|T|Y|W|I|L|L|S|.|C|O|M|
Remove the bars to contact me

 

[Mark South]

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hamilton Pruim wrote:
> > I'm a bit of an old fart (sliding gently towrds 50) and I'm finally
> > going to change my 18 year Muddy Fox for a new hybrid bike, and I'm
> > thinking about the Bad Boy.
>
> Given your self-description, I wonder if there's a market niche for a
> bike called a Phat Phart? ;-)

That name is totally ass-on!
--
"The threads in your trousers are probably quite stable
dimensionally but you can deform the trousers quite happily."
- David Martin in uk.rec.cycling

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Hamilton Pruim
('[email protected]') wrote:

> I'm a bit of an old fart (sliding gently towrds 50) and I'm finally
> going to change my 18 year Muddy Fox for a new hybrid bike, and I'm
> thinking about the Bad Boy.
>
> I'm looking to move away from the hardcore offroad setup on the Muddy
> Fox and lose a little bit of weight - on the bike as well as the waist
> ;-). I don't off road seriously any more and only really use the bike
> for a daily commute (10 miles each way) into London. I loved the
> Muddy Fox because it is built like a steel reinforced brick outhouse,
> but it is getting long in the tooth now.
>
> The Bad Boy is light, I'm told is strong, feels sturdy and isn't too
> showy. One of my main reservations is that the chainset looks to me to
> be offroad, so I may well have the same problems as the muddy fox,
> which doesn't go fast enough sometimes.

The Bad Boy is a bit low geared. It's a fast bike, but for short blasts
rather than sustained cycling. In the Cannondale range you would
probably be better looking at the Road Warrior series.

> What I want from the bike is a strong, reliable commuter bike that
> will soak up the hammering from London streets.

I love my Cannondale, but the brand is rather well known to thieves, and
they're not exactly discreet bicycles. Unless you have somewhere secure
to keep it I'd be inclined to get something a bit less attractive for
London use.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

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