It seems to me that alot of people are wondering if dales are really nice bikes and if they hold up at all. I thought that it might help some of these people if I wrote a review of my expereince with my cannondale.
I bought my cannondale as a progect about a year and a half ago. With the help of everyone over at cannondaleriders.com, I built an affordable xc ready machine. I have actually been riding my dale for about six months. I have had very little trouble with the bike since I got it running. Getting it running was quite different.
When I first bought the quad with a bad crank on ebay, I had no clue what I was getting into. I recomend doing some research before you bite off more than you can chew. After researching, I had a sick feeling in my stomach for a while, but then I started on the rebuild and with some delay, I got through it. I chose a stock bore timbo stroker with nearly all the reliability updates there were.
The motor performs very very very well. lol I have only been beaten in drag races twice (ESR 310r and a homeade 727 raptor). Stock suspension seems to be pretty good (ohlins). The rear shock is placed at an angle that keeps the front end down and allows controlled slides. The dale doesnt like to have the front end in the air, when it does end up there, it doesnt balance well. Since it doesnt like to come up, you can launch out hard from the hole. Im not a big jumper, so the front suspension has been alright for me. I have only hit a 50ft table, but I have not bottomed it out. The brakes are awesome (galfer).
I have not had to replace many things since i started riding. The stock cannondale parts seem to be made with quality. I am running the mc1000 computer system. I have had no electronic troubles so far. I do not have the software to make maping changes to my fuel injection. After 6 months with no adjustments since I put it together, its a little off beat at idle, but still running good. Nothing has broken when I have gone over. All the plastics stayed intact. Most parts seem to be pretty tough. I ride rough rocky trails in the ozarks. I found that the stock holeshots and thin itp rims were no match for my environment. I replaced them with razr 2s and thicker stock 400ex wheels. The stock heelguards are not great. They are steadily falling apart under my feet. Overall, I have had very few failures on the dale. The coolant bottle sprung a leak and the cooling fan quit on me. I have really only changed oils, fixed broken aftermarket parts, made small adjustments and cleaned the air filter since the rebuild. Heres what ive expereinced with my other parts:
razr 2s: awesome tires, forward bite is good, good bite in ruts, still able to spin them and slide with them all I want to. No punctures yet.
Holeshots: Dissapeared very quickly and never performed well. The dale just spun them all the time whether they had tread on them or not. They just would not grab for me in the places I rode. No flats though.
tag fat bars: Comfy and have held up perfectly when I get carried away.
big gun pipe: Not recomended, wont hold packing, breaks cores, nothing but trouble. Go for an hmf on the dales.
ac skidplate (swingarm): Not a great plate. Thickest one offered, but it bends into my rotor and sproket easily.
Diamond plate skids: I got these from an ebay vendor, They are wonderful skids. Never even had to beat on them yet!
Feel free to ask me about my bike or anything on it. Other dale owners chime in!
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