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New Caffeine F2

3K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  Dan Gerous 
#1 ·
I've been riding my brand new Caffeine F2 around for the last few days, and am loving every minute of it. Very nice bike.

I turned it upside down yesterday, and heard something sliding around inside the downtube.

Tonight, i took the lefty off. Observe what emerged from my frame....



I think someone at cannondale deserves a slap...

Bit slack that my local shop didn't hear the fragments moving around when they were putting the bike together out of it's box.
 
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#5 ·
I have seen machining fragments in a lot of different bikes, looks like the shop just took it out of the box and threw it together. We always check frames for any of that stuff, not that it does any damage.
The blue is a nice color, I had a team CAAD8 with that and liked it. I have to confess I almost bought one in the neon yellow/orange because it is so 80's retro its cool!
Now the bike should fly uphill because you just saved 1g :D

Kevin
 
#7 ·
because of cost reduction policies

Cannondale's golden age was until 1999 when Montgomery started with the motocross/atv vehicles, the motorcycle/atv project failed...no matter how much research and development you do, you can't expect to compete against Honda or Yamaha who have manufactures motocross and atv machines for more than 50 years...
The project failed and Cannondale went bankrupt twice, Cannondale should have emphazised in R & D for bicycles which is what they did best, not motorcycles. All this negative changes impacted on the quality of the finish of the bicycles decreasing very much, just compare a CAAD4 to a Furio, you'll notice the solderings on the CAAD4 are much more polished and have a much nicer finish than the Furio's, I have a Furio frame that had right out of the box bubbles in the clearcoating, this together with the system integrated crap aims to decrease the manufacturing cost. I even have been informed by my cannondale retailer and Lefty Service that the company is actually sending its frames to Taiwan to have the manufactured according to the cost-reduction policy...Cannondale is no longer what it used to be, I love cannondale bikes until 1999...the best manufacturing quality.
 
#8 ·
XXXX happens

Well it's not nice that you found machining pieces inside the frame, but if it's an isolated issue we shoud not be too severe with Cannondale!(maybe the handcaft has a discussion with his gf :D )

In any case can be also a duty of the shop during normal montage!

let's see what a cannondale shop should do when giving the bike to the client....

any shop out of there??
 
#9 ·
CAAD 4 said:
I even have been informed by my cannondale retailer and Lefty Service that the company is actually sending its frames to Taiwan to have the manufactured according to the cost-reduction policy.
And you believe them?

"Headquartered in Bethel, Connecticut, Cannondale designs, develops and produces bicycles at its factory in Bedford, Pennsylvania." - http://gb.cannondale.com/company/index.html

Did you see the pictures of the frames getting built in the thread 2 weeks ago http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=290147

I suppose 'handbuilt in the USA' stamped on the frame means either there is gonna be a big class action lawsuit, or your 'cannondale retailer' is talking out their a**h***.

So go on, back up your heresay bull third hand libellous gossip with some blooming facts, or STFU!
 
#10 ·
7hz said:
And you believe them?

"Headquartered in Bethel, Connecticut, Cannondale designs, develops and produces bicycles at its factory in Bedford, Pennsylvania." - http://gb.cannondale.com/company/index.html

Did you see the pictures of the frames getting built in the thread 2 weeks ago http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=290147

I suppose 'handbuilt in the USA' stamped on the frame means either there is gonna be a big class action lawsuit, or your 'cannondale retailer' is talking out their a**h***.

So go on, back up your heresay bull third hand libellous gossip with some blooming facts, or STFU!
In 2006 I bought a bad Boy Ultra:

1st: Out of the box I had to have my brand new Fatty Ultra completely dissassembled and and built up again because it didin't work correctly, If I had sent it to Cannondale it would have taken a month to recieve it back.

2nd: I found that same aluminum debri in the picture inside my frame, that shows that nowadays they don't even spend 30 seconds blowing away that debri after the frame is built. This happens on every cannondale...just check the posts

3rd The matte clearcoat looked like an amateur paintjob with bubbles

4th I have seen "chain produced in Taiwan" bicycles that have better quality finishing than these "Handmade in USA" such as Fuji bikes.

I don't need to explain nothing to you...the facts speak for themselves....

I say Cannondale is no longer what it used to be

Jhon Tomac has a more sincere policy with his motto "Designed in the US, manufactured in Taiwan"
 
#12 ·
That's weird...

I replaced my '00 CAAD4 hardtail frame for a Rush frame last year and it seems to me that Cdale improved the welds, paint job, finish and overall quality over my older frame.

Maybe they're cutting corners with the AL hardtails since they're cheaper and most people have jumped to the FS bikes. And it shouln't be an excuse of course.
 
#13 · (Edited)
CAAD 4 said:
I don't need to explain nothing to you...the facts speak for themselves....

I say Cannondale is no longer what it used to be

Jhon Tomac has a more sincere policy with his motto "Designed in the US, manufactured in Taiwan"
Sounds to me like the problem lies more with your local dealer (lies, misinformation, bad assembly) than with Cannondale. Ok the bad paintjob is poor. You should have sent it back for that.

The frames are built in the USA, there is nothing insincere about anything.

If you think they ARE lying, please put your money where your mouth is and sue them for false advertising! Otherwise, I think it is better not to cast accusations that are unfounded (far too easy to do on the interweb). Please be careful not to spread third hand nonsense overheard in a bike shop.

jiar577 said:
I replaced my '00 CAAD4 hardtail frame for a Rush frame last year and it seems to me that Cdale improved the welds, paint job, finish and overall quality over my older frame.

Maybe they're cutting corners with the AL hardtails since they're cheaper and most people have jumped to the FS bikes. And it shouln't be an excuse of course.
They had better not be, and I will be the first one to hit the roof if that is the case, as I have a £1300 Caffeine on the way to me as we speak!

TBH I can't see why they would lower quality on purpose.
 
#14 ·
The quality of my new caffeine is top notch. Beautiful paintjob, smooth clean welds. The lefty dlr2 is also very well built. Feels smooth, solid, stiff... bulletproof.

Except for the fragments left in the frame, I can't see any corners that Cannondale have cut. I'm still one happy camper.
 
#15 ·
The shaving are from the head tube, BB and seat tube reaming process. The little pieces fly off of the cutter head and end up inside the tubes. It is unintentional and somewhat unavoidable. There isn't the time nor the man power to sit there and flush them all out. If you hear something that bothers you, take some spray fixer and squirt it into the drain holes on all the tubes. This will effectively glue fragments in place preventing them from rattling any further.

Also Caad4 please note there was one bankruptcy to eliminate the bad half of the company. The people are largely the same and the frames have never been better. Sorry you got a blim paint job. I have seen 20,000 dollar cars with multi million dollar paint facilities have paint blims too. It happens from time to time. You just happened to be the unlucky one to get the mistake.
 
#19 ·
I think Cannondales are still among the best finished, built, welded and designed frames of all the major bike manufacturers. Sure a small custom builder will take more hours on each frames but how many frames Cannondale make each year? How many people complain the waiting times are too long when they order a bike? See other big bike companies welds, paintjobs and finishes and you'll notice that Cannondale makes great products. I also have a CAAD4 hardtail and it's not any better than today's frames in all aspects.
 
#20 ·
To clarify: When a new bike is sent from Cannondale to your shop the bike is in "dealer ready" condition. Just about anyone with any bike know-how can have it out on the showroom floor in less than 15 minutes. Maybe 10. All you have to do is tighten the stem, put on the wheels, put on the seatpost. Inflate tires. Done.

I know that Cannondale now has much, if not all their carbon framesets made in Taiwan.

In 1994 I bought a Cannondale rigid M400 new, that had a cross threaded bottom bracket installed at the Cannondale factory. I guess quality is all in the eye of the beholder.

I will say that my CAAD1 frameset had a better paintjob and cleaner welds than my 2006 Optimo but the manipulation of the tubes is much different. The Optimo is butted and has all sorts of tricky turns and bends. The CAAD1 is just straight tubing.
 
#23 ·
Some credit?

:incazzato:
apacherider said:
To clarify: When a new bike is sent from Cannondale to your shop the bike is in "dealer ready" condition. Just about anyone with any bike know-how can have it out on the showroom floor in less than 15 minutes. Maybe 10. All you have to do is tighten the stem, put on the wheels, put on the seatpost. Inflate tires. Done.

QUOTE]

This is SO far from accurate. If someone build you a new Cannondale on less than one hour they basically threw it together. Let's say for the sake of argument that we are talking about the F2:

Remove all packing material (this alone takes 10 minutes. Really!)

Install Rotors on Hubs

Set limit screws on both ders

Shorten shift cables to idea length

Lube shifter cables

Prestretch shifter cables to fully seat the housing in the ferrules

Install stem

Install seatpost.

Adjust air pressure in Lefty for rider weight

Inflate tires

Correctly position saddle, Bars, Shifters, and brake levers

Tighten lock on grips

Install clipless pedals

Adjust Release tension on pedals to suit rider weight / Experience

Cut Handlebars down to suit riders preference / Shoulder width

Setup disc Calipers.

Adjust seatpost / Saddle

Install chain-stay wrap

Install scuff guard decals

Test Ride

Recheck shifting

This should take 40 minutes. Maybe less if you are an ace mechanic.

A road bike might take even longer since you also will need to wrap the bars.

Don't discount for a second the hours of labor that goes into every bike. :nono:

BTW that F2 is a beauty. Now if it only was a 29er.. Perhaps in 08'??

j-
 
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