The thing looked like it had been in a collision. The shoulder didn't fit and you died of thirst on it. No, the new Cannondale stars didn't want to go on the race track with a "Delta V", whose two-piece top tube was reminiscent of a drunken V. And there were suddenly plenty of Cannondale stars in 1994, after company boss Scott Montgomery was allowed to recruit almost all the stars of the World Cup circuit on Volvo's account. It was the time that went down in the history books of bike sport as "the golden age". The time when the race tracks resembled arenas - the god-like cycling heroes in the dust in front of the fluttering ribbons, ecstatic groupie crowds behind them. The time when the UCI removed the traditional 100-kilometre team time trial from the Olympic programme to make way for the bikers. The time when the new Volvo/Cannondale stars Tinker Juarez and Alyson Sydor downgraded the "Delta V" because it could hardly be shouldered and there was no room for large bottles in the frame triangle. They might have turned a blind eye to the quirky look. Cannondale had to find a solution quickly.
The problem: although the company had an "M" series with a classic diamond frame in its programme, it had no front suspension. The equally rear-rigid "Delta V" series, on the other hand, was equipped with the company's own "Headshok" forks, but was spurned. So "M" plus "V" became "F" - Cannondale's first hardtail with suspension fork and diamond frame, the "F 3000". "F" - like front suspension. Our "Dirty Pages" reporter at the time, Eddie Wagner, saw it for the first time at the 94 World Cup opener in Madrid: an aggressively styled bike with a high fork, low-slung stem and the new Coda drive unit, which had been developed by Magic Motorcycle. The "CAAD 3" tube set had been worked out on the computer to achieve the highest possible stiffness-to-weight ratio.
The "F" bikes are still successful today. The dropouts have changed in twelve years, as have the rear triangle, the wall thickness of the tubes and, on the top model "F 4000 SL", the design of the fork. Roughly speaking, however, that's it. There is a little awe when you ride the original red model through the trail. "Frank Roman" is written on the top tube - the downhiller was one of the Volvo/Cannondale stars in 1994 and used the bike for general fitness training. It is unlikely that he was only cranking loosely. The bike requires traction on the chain. Hardly any of the energy input is wasted in spongy frame tubes or wobbly fork legs. The "F 3000 Worldcup" is a super-stiff, lightweight overall system, from the frame to the crank to the fork. Thanks to the 88-pin bearings, the fork glides agilely over its 70 millimetre short working range (the successor generation of the original "Fatty 50" with 50 millimetres was installed in the test bike).
Next round, this time with the current top model "F 4000 SL". Firstly, the big surprise on the scales: the 2006 "F" version is 100 grams heavier than the original. This small difference is not noticeable off-road. On the contrary: the "F 4000 SL" is a racy speed machine. The power transmission is tremendous, the "Lefty" fork buffers reliably, the SRAM gear system sorts the 27 gears quickly and smoothly. Incidentally, the pros' mutiny against the "V" paid off in 1994: Sydor and Juarez won world championship gold and silver on their "F" bikes in the same year.
ALT -
NEW
Rigidity: The stiff rear triangle has always been a trademark of the "F models". Back then, Cannondale relied on a thick monostay; today, thin high-tech tubes suffice.
Bearing work: The extremely rigid Coda bottom bracket unit was once developed by Magic Motorcycle. The Hollogram unit on the "F 4000 SL" (right) is an offspring of this original version. The bearings are pressed in.
Front use: The "F-" series started in 1994 with the "Fatty 50" fork. Today, you can choose between different "Fatty" and "Lefty" versions. The massive headset bearings have remained.
Cannondale F 4000 SL 2006
Manufacturer information:
Distribution: Cannondale, Tel. 0031/541589898, www.cannondale.com
Price: 4,999 euros
Measurement data:
Weight without pedals: 10.05 kilos
Steering angle: 70°
Seat tube angle: 73.5
Top tube length: 592 mm
Suspension travel: 110 mm
Equipment:
Fork/Shock: Headshok Lefty Speed Carbon DLR2
Cranks/gear: Cannondale SI Hollogram/SRAM X.O (with trigger)
Brake system: Magura Marta SL
Wheels: Mavic Crossmax SL, Maxxis Larsen TT UST 2.0
