Converting a T1000 into an Atlantis

[Will M]

Hi all. 

Ssssshhhh.  If you listen carefully you can hear my 1990s Cannondale T1000 whisper, "I wish I were an Atlantis!"  How many parts you can spot from the Riv catalog in this recent pic?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/millhiser/52412267528   

Answers:

• Cockpit: Tallux stem, Albastache bars, Dia-Compe long-pull levers*
• Silver2 friction bar-end shifter (right)#
• Downtube friction shifter (left)#
• Jack Brown tires
• SKS 45mm fenders
• Brooks Flyer Special saddle
• Sugino XD2 24/36/46 triple crank (and IRD bottom bracket)
• Nitto 2-strut top rack + Wald 139 basket**
• Nitto Big Back Rack ("large"; 40-pound capacity!)
• Busch & Müller Secula battery light
• King water bottle cages

Only 5 original parts remain: generic linear-pull brakes, 105 headset, XT & 105 derailleurs, RSX hubs,## and the CAAD2 Touring frameset.  Got Motolites and a rapid rise in my sights, when the time comes.   And any old 61cm Atlantis if the aluminum frame cracks.

Backstory: In the 1990s with time for extended self-supported tours, but no dough for the dream bike (Atlantis), I scraped up enough for this US-made Cannondale T1000.  Parts that wore out over the subsequent quarter century were always replaced from the Riv catalog, slowly turning the T1000 into an Atlantis. 

I know this transformation is not unique, but wanted to share.

Cheers,
Will M
NYC

* Many have written about Albastache bars working/not working for them, but after decades on drop bars, the Albastache for me is a revelation.  A rebirth.  A dramatic improvement.  Thanks to Paul G on this list for shifter cable routing advice.

# It was originally spec'ed with 105 STI 9-speed brifters.  Both brifters failed catastrophically after only 10 years.

** Back in the aughts, Grant's writing in the Reader inspired ditching the low-riders for the two-strut rack and 139 basket.  Self-supported touring with 20-30 pounds in low-rider-mounted panniers is amazing, stable, motorcycle-like.  Putting 18 lbs (the max weight) up in the basket is... well... I'll go back to low-riders for the next adventure tour.  

## The original Mavic T221 touring rims self-destructed with cracking between eyelets. Only hubs live on.

[Piaw Na]

I could never keep the paint on any of my bikes that immaculate! My new Roadini already has a paint chipped off the headtube (dunno how!). My Co-Motion Periscope Trident @ 12,000 miles has so many patched paint areas that there's no spot that hasn't been patched up. It's all beausage but I'm guessing if I break my Ti frame my replacement for it better be Stainless steel or something else that doesn't need paint! Good thing I live in California where it doesn't rain (and when it does I ride Ti or just live with the idea that the triplet will rust sooner or later and it's not a "forever bike" anyway --- the kids will eventually grow out of it!)

[Mackenzy Albright]

Wow! I have a soft spot for old Cannondales. Generally they seem to be "sported out" aesthetically which isn't my thing. I am amazed at how slick and classy it looks built up rivendell-esque. 

[Joe Bernard]

Mackenzy, 

I have this same soft spot, especially for the old T1000 and 700. This one is amazing! 

[David Person]

Beautiful green paint.  Been having fun looking through your Flickr albums.  Bikes and Leica's, whats not to love.

[Will M]

Hey y'all.  Wanted to share that for this T1000's "silver anniversary," I gave her a restoration sourced from the Rivendell catalog.  She'll never be an Atlantis, but she's even closer now.  A pic:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/millhiser/53976144686/

Here's what's new:

• Rich Lesnick-built Velocity Dyad wheels (RBW/Silver 135mm rear hub, SON dynamo front hub) 
• Technomic stem + 48cm Noodles (and Newbaum's white cloth + Zissner's amber shellac + twine finish).
  
• Silver2 bar-end shifters.
• Edelux II upside down light + SON rear light 
• Deore "Shadow" rear derailer + XT 11-34t 9-speed cassette
• B17 Champion Special with copper rails (from my 2004 Riv Ram)
• M12 front rack
• Crane brass bell
• (More part specs in the Flickr image description)

The bike pictured here with pump weighed in at 30.2 lbs.   

I removed the Albastaches and went back to drops.  More on that in another thread.

Cheers,

Will

[Bill Fulford]

I’m also a fan of the Cannondale touring bike. I love the graphic of the map of the world on the top tube. Mine has been through a lot. It was the bike I was riding when struck by a hit and run driver. The bike fared better than me. I lent it to my son for college where it was stolen,kicked around and left for dead in a ditch. I recently finished rivving it up and am happy with the results.

[Bernard Duhon]

Wow!!!

I had a T 400, great bike

I also was hit by a car.  Neither of us faired well.

It is hard to twist an aluminum frame but getting run over by a truck will do it.

I gave it to a college kid  it crabwalked sideways down the road     😉

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[Bikie#4646]

Will, that dark green, silver and leather could not look more perfect! It's a jewel.

Paul Germain

Midlothian, Va.

[Ryan]

Agreed. Very classy! May have mentioned before that I've owned 3 Cannondales; an M500 from mid 1980s with the 24" rear wheel. a 1990 M2000 and a late 1980s T600
 which was a fine touring bike that was also fun to ride unloaded. 

[vernon brooks]

Apples to oranges but I have found myself admiring the early 26er Atlantis time and time again. So much that I decided to build a riv inspired 26er to ride around over the summer this year. It’s fun and a certainty less expensive alternative to an itch that needed scratching.

Most components came off a late 90s Cannondale (F1000) that I picked up off facebook for $75. All and all I’m pretty happy with how the build turned out and as of lately it’s been my primary ride.

Vern in Madison

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[Mathias Steiner]

Can't believe I missed this thread.

I'm a big fan of Cannondale tourers. I own two 1995 T400s, one I ordered new from the LBS, the other I bought used and it's parked at my parent's house in Germany.

My wife has one, too. As do several of my friends.

I also have a 198y ST600, which is a better rider unloaded. I think it's the springy fork.

The Rivendell equivalent is not the Atlantis but the Hillborne. 
I've looked at the geometry numbers, and the "T" Cannondales, the Trek 520, the Hillborne, and the Bruce Gordon Rock'n'Road / BLT all have the same geometry to within one or two millimeters. Where the seat tube angle is more slack, the top tube is a few mm longer, so move the saddle forward and it's the same. I believe it's the collective wisdom of what the community learned about touring bikes.

The Atlantis has more MTB in its DNA, so it fits bigger tires and is stronger.
They're all too stiff to be nimble randonneurs, except the Hillborne has a remarkably light fork for its overall weight. I'm looking for one to explore that a bit. The others all have 'unibrow' forks and are touring-bike stiff.

My T400 is the last bike I'll give up -- best allrounder ever.

Here's a picture from a fall bike ride with friends from work... mine's the one in the middle. GREAT bikes.

[Ryan]

@Mathias, I couldn't agree with you more...Cannondales' ST series were great bikes. I too had a late 80's ST600, red as in your picture ,equipped with Deore DX (drivetrain - derailleurs and cranks with Biopace rings) and 600 brakes and hubs and decent components everywhere else. It did have a steel fork; Tange crmo I think....and I paid a tick under 700 CDN for it. Had an unusual spec of 27" instead of 700c wheels...BUT an excellent touring bike and a fine unloaded rider. As a matter of fact , for centuries and long rides , I preferred the Cannondale over the very nice full-Campy Rossin that I just had to have in the mid 80s. When I went all Riv I gave the Cannondale to my late partner who put moustache bars on it and sold the Rossin frame and Campy crankset/headset/BB to a neighbor for $400 without a pang of regret.

I remember I did something to bugger up a shifter (105 downtuber) in the early 90's but otherwise the Cannondale was like a Timex and kept on ticking. 

I think their sport tourers were well-designed and made and intelligently specced. Not steel, not lugged, not Riv-ish, but certainly Bob-ish and I think the bike was a flat-out bargain.

[Steve]

Will M, that is one good looking T1000. Nice build!  I test rode an early 90s T400 a couple years ago. When I went back to see it again it had been sold (He who hesitates...).  I did snag a Trek 520 though, in all its original 1990 livery (minus the saddle).  With a little help from Nitto it has attained a RIV enlightened state of being.

Steve in AVL

[Bernard Duhon]

I had a T 400 Cannondale.  I  stripped the stock and set up campy eight speed with Mavic wheels. I took the  stock parts and put them on another frame. It was great. I would still be riding it had I  not been rear-ended by a pickup truck some 30 years ago. Luckily I was thrown clear and only had minor bruises but the bike was a pretzel. The driver of the pickup truck thought he was in real trouble. I was representing his ex-wife in their divorce .  then again, maybe that's why he ran over me 🙁

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Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Converting a T1000 into an Atlantis

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[Mathias Steiner]

Ryan:

>> Had an unusual spec of 27" instead of 700c wheels

Yes, that decision was based on 27" tires being easier to source in out-of-the-way places. The situation reversed pretty quickly, but a nice side effect is that with 700c wheels, there is just enough clearance for 700x32 tires under fenders. The front is easy, the rear needs some finessing around the brake. Wider tires won't fit anyway because of the fat chain stays.

The T series bikes are better do-everything bikes, but the STs are fantastic sport tourers.

[Shannon Menkveld]

These early-90s Cannondales have another little secret: The H-series hybrids also used the Touring frame and fork. They just put flat bars and down-spec parts on them. I had an H300 that I converted into a Rivend-ish like the ones here. That's were I learned that my hands despise moustache bars even more than my eyes love them. I literally had stabbing pains in my palms before I made it to the stop sign... about two blocks.

But the framesets are amazingly good. Maybe the best factory touring frames ever made. (Mine was a 3.8 series, but they were all outstanding, as far as I know.)

--Shannon