Addons for a 2010 Cannondale F9

[Lochan Baratakke]

Hey guys,

I have a 2010 Cannondale F9 which I've been riding for more than a
year now. Although it's not a bike that's the top of the line, I've
always liked the way the bike has felt, looked and performed. Yet, of
late I've been considering getting an upgrade - perhaps a Cannondale
Trail SL 3 or equivalent. And with MTB Himachal around the corner, I
really fancy a bike that I could control well. Of course that
"control" is mostly my skill, but I would like a bike that would
respond well - on time and predictably - to braking for instance, and
that's not exactly the F9's forte. Its rim brakes are well, rim
brakes! So I'm in a bit of a fix on whether I should get a disc-brake
system installed on the F9 or simply save myself the hassle and go in
for a new bike. I'm more inclined to doing the former and understand I
may have to change my wheelset (The F9 comes with mounts for the disc-
calipers). So my questions are:

A: is that recommended?
B: where could I have this done in Bangalore and done well?
C: hydraulic discs brakes or cable-actuated ones? (least maintenance
preferred)
D: what brands are worth considering from those that are available
here?
E: what are the best-performing disc rotors that are also light?
F: how much could the whole deal cost?

I'd appreciate any of your inputs on this.

Cheers,
Lochan

[Surya Prakash Gurunarayanan]

Hey!
wassup man! long time since coorg!
A: u r better off getting a new bike than spending on "lot" of upgrades: brakes and saddle is fine, drive train, stem, fork or any other major upgrade is not very efficient i think !
B: BOTS!
C: mech brakes: fit and forget! except for pad wear
D: brakes? shimano, avid, tektro, promax, etc...
E: heard avid bb7 is the best in line for mech(has lot of self tuning features) and may be avid bb5 is comparable to the promax orange 160mm u get in cannondale trail sl4: the one i have...
not sure abt shimano/tektro.. some say tektro and promax are same company not sure...
chk this out: http://www.sram.com/avid/category/283
F: depends on the model... contact rohan...

--
biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)

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--
Surya Prakash Gurunarayanan
Software Engineer,
MRI, Philips Healthcare - Bangalore Center of Competence
Philips Innovation Campus, Philips Electronics India Ltd.,
Manyata Tech Park, Nagavara, Bangalore-560045. India.

[RT]

I would disagree about the brakes.

Mechanical discs require adjustment every now and then. Hydraulics do
not require anything and are fit-and-forget. However, hydraulic discs
are a b***h to fix if fouled up and things like bleeding will be messy
and annoying.

Apart from BOTS, Venky and Naveen at Wheelsports are also great at
setting up bikes.

I too have been told that getting a new bike is a better bet than
upgrading. Upgrading components, at this level, usually ends up
costing more than buying a new bike.

One more thing, IMHO, the single biggest and most telling upgrade you
can gift yourself is a new fork. It'll make a world of a difference to
your MTBing

On Aug 22, 1:19 pm, Surya Prakash Gurunarayanan

> *Surya Prakash Gurunarayanan*

[Rohan Kini]

Ditch the F9 and get the SL3 

- am assuming you can afford it and its on your mind - the SL3 is way better than your F9 and if you are considering MTBH, you must be riding enough of trails to deserve it. There is nothing called a MTBH which is too good for you :) 

- the SL3 is better on multiple counts - frame, suspension, drive train etc etc etc.

- hydraulic vs manual - depends on the kind of control over your braking you are considering. Dont worry about the maintenance. Thats immaterial to the actual question you should be asking. Hydraulic and Mech both have their pros n cons.

- if you are looking at getting something in a hurry, just get a whole new bike. Would be easier than squirreling different components and then paying to have it setup.

~ROhan

--
biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)

are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?

[RT]

Ok I just realised how much the SL3 costs and at that price Rohan, how
come you didn't recommend your pet Trek 6000? :)

And how come with a bike that costs this much you get a RST Deuce coil
sprung fork?! At least, the TnT website says

'RST Deuce Coil 100 mm, 1.5" Alloy steerer, coil spring w/re bound
adjust and lockout'

Does this mean that the damping is coil sprung? 'Cos I can't see any
other interpretation of it (unless TnT is wrong which is also possible
considering another couple of muckups on the site).

AFAIK, in that price range, The KHS Alite 2000 comes with an RST First
air fork, the Trek 6000 has a Rockshox Tora which apparently is a much
better fork than the RST Deuce Coil. Even my Alite 1000 has an RST
Omega which has hydraulic damping.

I know Rohan that you're going to say many different things make up a
great bike and that you can't judge it based on components alone :)
And I get that and this seems like a great bike (love that geometry
and the drivetrain) but the fork seems under-speced for the rest of it
(if I got it right). What's your take on it?

[Shankar Shastry]

@Rohan : Same question as Rahul - why not the 6000? Does the oversized 1.5 offer any significant real world advantage?? I'd put my money behind avid juicy 3s than tektros. Also, no kona mtb presence in namma bengaluru yet?

@lochan : Hesarghatta this weekend? You can try my bike and see if you like it :)

[RT]

@Lochan: Probably better you don't try Shankar's bike. You'll probably
love it and then will agonise over not being able to buy it in time
for the MTB Himachal (new stock is arriving only in October AFAIK and
thats after the event) :)

> > > > Visitwww.bangalorebicyclechampionships.comformore details

[Lochan Baratakke]

Well if I did buy an SL3 or any bike that costs as much, I'd probably
have to do so over two installments (two months) and that's not time
enough for MTBH. In which case I'll take my F9 for MTBH and wait a
while before I actually buy a better bike.

Shankar: Sree and I are going to Turahalli this Saturday if you want
to come along. If we change our minds about it, we may actually do
Hesarghatta with you (I guess we can also have a jam then?). I will
certainly try your bike and if I do love it the way Rahul describes, I
will try and convince you to lend me the bike over the period of
MTBH! :D

In the end I guess I'd go for the bike that feels best among the SL3,
Alite 2000 and Trek 6000. Are there any more bikes in this range that
are worth considering? How are the Orbeas?