I am looking to resurrect my wife's nearly 20 year old Cannondale Jekyll for my 13 year old daughter.
I have a few old bits kicking around (carbon bars / good 26 inch wheels / hope brakes) but not sure what to do with the gears or what fork and dropped options there are.
Any suggestions?
Mark
It's not worth spending a lot of money on an old bike, so my approach would be to put the money into things you can transfer to a newer frame.
There aren't a lot of options for new 1 1/8" forks anymore, maybe Suntour.
If it were me, I would go with 2x9 with steel 22-36 Deore rings and 11-36 cassette.
What's the seatpost size. BrandX dropper is the obvious choice. They do an externally routed 105 mm drop post in 27.2 mm and 150 mm in 30.8 mm.
There aren’t a lot of options for new 1 1/8″ forks anymore, maybe Suntour.
I’d be amazed if that headtube wouldn’t take a tapered steerer, with a new headset.
I would save that bike. Its not like its a piece of junk. 13 year olds may well change their minds and also getting a new bike is pretty awkward now.
Try and get the bike going with what you have. No need to change anything.
I have stripped a couple of bikes and about to put stuff on the classifieds. Have some Fox forks 1 1/8, Deore brakes, XT shifters that would make 10 speed and a chain and cassette , which will fit if you need anything. Let me know 🙂
Yes the head tube is about 2" outside diameter so ahead of it's time!
I’d be amazed if that headtube wouldn’t take a tapered steerer, with a new headset.
Yes, that would change everything. First thing to investigate.
In the name of future proofing, a 659b fork will run a 26" wheel no problem. What wrong with the current fork?
I’d give it a good service and leave as is. It’s not as if it was a piece of junk when you bought it. If she takes to mountain biking, consider something better next time. Might update the tyres.
I've just done something similar with the wife's inbred for my 13 year old daughter.
[img] 
[/img]
1x using a narrow wide was the biggest game changer. It's 32t on the front mated to a sunrace 42t cassette.
I can't offer much advice re forks. If it were my bike, I'd just leave them, unless they no longer work, in which case a second hand pair of Rock Shox Rebas or similar air fork would be where I'd look.
I'd get rid of the front gears and just go 1x, cant imagine a 13 year old would get much use out of the big ring. Fit something small enough like a 30t, and you'd likely be okay with the current cassette.
A shorter stem and lower bars might be needed to get the fit right.
It looks just fine. Clean, straighten, bleed brakes, service fork and ride? Or is the drivetrain mashed?
What would be the best way of going 1x with an old style Shimano freehub?
Didn’t old Cannondale’s have 1.5” headsets to make them Lefty compatible?
What would be the best way of going 1x with an old style Shimano freehub?
Singlespeed kit 😎
Why not first try removing the outer and granny rings (replace outer with bashguard) and see if the cassette had a useful enough range for intended use?
What would be the best way of going 1x with an old style Shimano freehub?
You can get everything up to 12 speed on the older style hubs (SRAM and sunrace make cassettes for it.)
