I have a 2005 Cannondale 1fg which I purchased from someone on the forum a good few years ago as a first ‘proper’ SS. I have to say I really like it and choose this over my Anthem for most rides and did D2D solo on it. I’m no lightweight and there is no give in this frame at all. I love chucking it about as it so light and the more you put in the more it gives back.

But…..has a headshok fork (which admittedly is probably in need of a service)with Magura internals which is really light and the lockout is solid and it performs reasonable well for general duty. Lately though I feel it just isn’t up to the job when things get more technical (if you can call riding into a ditch technical). The EBB works great now too after a small mod to the extraction screw.

So if you are still with me here is the question. Do I put my 100mm Reba SL forks on it (which will require adapters etc for the cannondale headtube)? If so will it spoil the balance and feel of the bike? I’m sure there are a few Cannondale owners out there that have done this swap, if so how did it go?

Or am I better off just going for something else and not wasting time and effort on an experiment that will ultimately lead to me wanting to buy a different frame anyway?

NB-Feel free to offer me spacers or headset converters cheap.

If its a medium I’ll buy it off you and you can buy something else…..

Can the fork not be serviced, tuned/upgraded to give better performance? Speak to Magura or find a decent Cannondale service centre.

Or speak to Lloyd @ http://qwertycycles.co.uk (nowt to do with me), he should be a top banana for info.

I think it could be a large UBP. I will measure it later though as I have been meaning to check this.

The fork service will cost more than they are worth for Cannondale forks.

If it is a medium, drop me an email. Been looking for a 1FG for a while and have been wanting to go back to a headshok also. Even if it is a large drop me an email with the tt measurement as i may take it anyway.

I had a F700 with a similar fork. I had it serviced through Chevin Cycles in otley. (A few years ago)

Its was about £60 and transformed the ride. Since then i’ve been a big fan of headshox.

The only thing worth replacing a Headshock for is a Lefty. Anything else will leave you sorely disappointed!

headshoks are fairly straight forward to service, even with the magura upgrade, however you may find that it’s the 80mm travel that’s limiting you, as it’s not a lot by todays standards.

adapters and new headset is the way to go, although I did find a US company making adapters for the cannondale headset. Allowed use of a Si headset and 1 1/8″ forks. currently I can only find these that are similar: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cannondale-Headshok-Reducer-Headset-Lefty-1-1-8-Adapter-Conversion-w-Bearings-/350777873933?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51abfd960d

Hi Smorgie, If you wish to run a 1-1/8″ headset on your bike all you will need is one of these Click here
It sits directly into the headshock headset cups to reduce it down to 1-1/8″ other options are available but we (Qwerty Cycles)find that this is the tidiest. In stock and you get 10% as you are a STW member. Just use STW10 in the very final checkout window.

To replace the cartridge would set you back £160, as for servicing we are obliged to recommend FT Tuned as they are the official UK C’dale service center. Sorry we can’t help on this front.

uglybassplayer,

I sent you an email, did you get it?

I have the converter Lloyd suggests and it works faultlessly. Not a bodge by any means. I think most 100mm forks can be reduced to 80mm travel with a spacer inside so a secondhand fork and a chepa trip to someone like Loco could be your best bet…

Dan,

Thanks for the post but I have been running it with my reba forks for a while now. It was OK and I wasn’t reaching for the lockout as much as usual. It didn’t need reducing, it was fine with 100mm.

However I have a new frame and build on the go so I was seeing if UBP was still after the frame.