rebuild of a Cannondale headshok ELS

Todays post is about my Cannondale delta V 700:

 Ever since i got it off Craigslist the fork has never worked. If I pushed real hard down on the handle bars the fork would compress about 1/8 of an inch. So for all intents and purposes it act's like a ridge Fork. I have been riding it like this for several months now and while i LOVE this bike I wanted to see if i could bring it back to its former glory.

I have been wanting to learn how to repair and maintain my Cannondale Forks:
I have a Lefty DLR (2000)
a Lefty DLR2 (2007)
a Super Fatty D
and the "Delta suspension system" fork that I'm writing about today.

According to this site: the fork I have is a Headshok ELS with a whopping 50 MM of travel. 

HEADSHOK--1992-1995

50mm of travel
Cartridges are non-serviceable
Upgrade to Spring Kit, DD60, or Fatty 50
Max. travel of 50mm
HDTL148/

There a few tools that one need's to work on Cannondale Headshok's and lefty's.

Most of all the "cannondale castle tool"

Wwwwwwell I dont have one of these so after seeing this video:

I adopted the idea of using the 90° pliers this man uses. Hats off to you buddy! that was a good idea you had there! 

OK, so a while back was farting around a local community bike shop yacking it up with one of the guys that volunteers there. I was going on and on about how much I love Cannondale's and the headshok / Lefty's that thy make. When he pulled out from a box a replacement spring kit that someone had donated. He said that thy don't see many old Cannondales with the 1.5 head tubes and that these (there were two spring kits) had been sitting on the box for a long time. So he gave me one. (SQUEEEE)

SEE more images here

At the time i didn't know that it was useable on the Fork of my Delta V. well as it turned out it was.



I decided to take apart mt Delta V's fork to find out why it didn't move more than 1/8 of an inch. as i found out, this fork used a elastomer. Over the years the elastomer had rotted out.
Here is what it looked like when i puled it out.

Parity Nasty!

As it turned out this the 90° pliers were the only special tool that was needed to take this fork apart. I used it as a pin spinner (not having a real pin spinner) to remove the top cap from the top of the telescoping tube.

Under this is another cap that had two holes for a spinner tool to go into. It was too deep for the 90° pliers so I used a two small tipped screwdrivers to back this cap out.


under here was a LOT of ROT! Dry powdery gummy stuck on ROT!

The elastomer was wedged down into the fork so hard that i had to use a long screw to stab into it and pull it out. (See photo above)


Here's what the inside of the telescope looks like:

WHOPPIE!

After cleaning out all the crap from the inside of the telescope I took the spring and its not as rotted elastomer, slathered it in grease and dropped it in. I didn't get to take photos of this because my fingers were covered in grease and didn't want to mess up my iPhone. (I don't have a real camera)

So, now that it's all back together the fork works MUCH better. The top has a Hole that has a Hex nut inside of it the can be used to set the per-tension on the spring. (now that it has a spring)
This is a nice feature as i can "Dial in" the stiffness of the fork and it relay WORKS!

So, now the fork is back on the bike, the brakes reset and stem is aligned, this cannondale rides better than it ever has.

This Fork now has a new lease on life and I LOVE my bike even MORE!
Riding on this fork now that it is fully functioning is like a hole new ride. the bike feel's like i have a new fork.



Next up is the rebuild of my Headshok Super Fatty D. this aught to be fun.
Stay tuned!

WOW, Rely?

So, yesterday was "First Friday" so i decided to ride my bike to Railroad square for the monthly art gallery hop. While I was there I meet this guy named Keith. He was riding with a group of people i know that were doing a gallery hop / pub crawl. I was showing off my Delta V and going on and on about how much I like this frame style and what not and he tells me that he has a "Killer V" frame just sitting around in his garage collecting dust. We talk for a while about Cannondale headshok's and Lefty's He tells me that he has some experience in repairing these and would be up for helping me out teaching me what he knows,  we exchange info (we both work at the University) and off the group go's.

So, the next day i call him up and i go over to his house, turns out this dude is a relay cool cat, he into home brewing and make some rely good pilsner. We hang out for a wile and he shows me his stable of 29'ers and all the Old stuff he just has laying around. Long story short, I wind up walking out of this dudes house with a 19.5 inch Killer V 900 HT frame, three wheels and a little plastic bag of scrap cannondale headshok parts.

I OWE KEITH BIG TIME!!!!!!!

When it rains it pores! I couldn't believe my good fortune. It was only a week ago that I found a Super V 700 SX

    It came with the CODA wheel set that has the old 4 hole disk mounts, a Lefty DLR (2000) and a Fox Air Vanilla FLOAT. XT rear derailleur, LX Front. LX shifters. A 9 speed cassette, CODA stem and handle bars. My plan was to clean and fix up all the parts from this bike and use them to build up the Delta V 700.

Well NOW I have this Killer V frame. Now when i got the killer V frame Keith said it was a small. I was like "COOL, i can use it to build up a bike for my 11 year old nephew" Well it turns out that this Killer V frame is 19.5 inches from the middle of the bottom bracket to the set post. The same size as my Delta V. the only thing different between these frames are the Dropouts.

Above is the Delta V with the dropouts that extend out past the point that the seat stays and the chine stays meet. and below are the dropouts on the Killer V 900 HT frame:

Now had this frame had disk brake mounts on it I'd had shit my britches. but as i understand it only a few of the "F" bikes of the 1999/2000 years had that. BUT WHAT EVER! this frame is SO COOL!. I like the Cannondale LOGO:

 the paint job is a gloss black and now im thinking, 

1. The Delta V is 100% functional.
2. The Delta V is also stock.with the fork being original and matching the frames paint job.
3. The Lefty DLR and parts i am taking off the Super V would match the Killer V's paint job better.

So, now i have decided to leave the classic Delta V stock and change focus from upgrading the Delta to now build up the Killer V with the 3X9 and the Lefty DLR.

So, now I get to learn how to repair the Lefty DLE 2000 and the old "HeadShok".

Starting things off wrong

HAHA! this is my first BLOG ever and my first tow posts were off topic.(a sign of things to come?)

My idea for the scope of this blog is for it to center around my Cannondale mountain bikes and the things I do To, With and Because of them. With a focus on Cannondale's headshok and lefty forks.

So, i guess this is a good time to introduce you to my Bikes.

I have two cannondale mountain bikes. My Main bike is a 2007 Rush 4. and as luck would have it I just happen to NOT have any photos of it where i can access them. But there will be plenty of them in the posts to come.

My other bike's are a 1993 Delta V 700
(this one i DO have plenty of photos)

I picked this one up from Craigslist.org a few months ago for $180.00 USD.

I FRICK'N LOVE THIS BIKE!

According to vintage cannondale this bike was made in 1993, making it the second production year for the Delta V.  This frame would go through some name changes over the years. Going from Delta V XXXX to Killer V XXXX and then to F XXXX. with the "XXXX" being some numbers like 800, 1000, 2000 and what not. With the introduction of this bike came the introduction of the first fork that had it's telescoping in the head set. It was called "The Delta V suspension System" This would go on to be re-branded as the HeadShok. I might be wrong about this, I am in no way an expert on the history of Cannondale.

I just happen to be a BIG Cannondale fan. Mostly a fan of their headshok  and Lefty forks.

I think the Lefty is the coolest thing since the snow cone. As for Cannondale as a company, well, i wish them the best of luck now that thy are owned by the Dorel corporation and have turned their back on a history and company culture of HAND MADE IN THE U.S.A!. (BOOOOOOO)

In 2005 I started lusting over the Cannondale Prophet! So i started saving up my pennies. By the time my birthday in 2007 rolled around the Rush had come out. So that was the one i got. It was bought from Higher ground in Tallahassee FL.
I have no regrets in getting the rush over the Prophet. I rely love my Rush, I just have a strong attraction to the Prophet with its double triangle front.
 
Ever since getting this the Rush I have become a die hard lefty fan.

I just got a cannondale Super V 700 SX that has a Lefty DLR (the first lefty) that I'm in the process of servicing so I can install it on my Delta V 700. One of my main inspirations is KillerV800's blog. This guy has done some awesome things to his bikes. Check him out.

Hawk Rescue

So I found this Hawk just sitting on the ground acting as if it's right wing was injured, so I called the humane society, turns out thy don't help wild animals. I wound up calling the Leon County Sheriff office, who took my info and had the people that DO help wild animals call me back. it wasn't too long till a man showed up and captured the injured Bird. He took it to Northwood Animal hospital. Northwood will check it out and if it is OK thy will release it. if it IS hurt thy will turn it over to St Francis.

found a hawk

On 08/03/2011 i went to my bands warehouse for practice and there was a Hawk setting on the ground. normally thy will fly away when people get too close but this one stayed right where he was. after watching it for a wile it seemed to me that he was hurt. it kept holding out it's right wing and looking at it.


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