[hophead]

Thats all i ride. i ride a prophet with lefty shock for mtb. and a r500 for road bike.

Those lefty's freak me out--especially after watching a pro soloist at Big Bear 2 years ago break 2 in the same race. After the 2nd one fell apart, he carried his bike back to the start/finish line and dropped out of the race.

 

[hophead]

That is very interesting, I have not heard much negative feedback regarding the lefty forks but thats interesting to say the least.

I tried to dig up some info on it, but all I found was this. I didn't realize at the time that it was Rob Lichtenwalner (aka vegan Rob). There was a write up about him a while back in Dirt Rag.

 

[hophead]

Good read, please post up if you dig up any further information.

Apparently, Cannondale recalled a bunch of models back in June of 2007 for the lefty problem:
Cannondale Announces Recall of Mountain Bicycles; Lefty Forks Can Break Unexpectedly

 

[hophead]

I have yet to have mine break. Altho I dont really ride hard on it. Im to afraid of cliffs hahaha. Im just getting into mtb I road bike alot.

You shouldn't have a problem unless you have one of the bikes covered by the recall. If it is, I'd get it to a Cannondale dealer asap and get it taken care of.

I think they are a little over priced for what you get. Cannondale is going through changes so we will see what comes out of it.

I think that many bikes are overpriced, but sometimes it's worth paying a premium price if the company backs up their product. For instance, a guy that I ride with broke the front triangle on his Ellsworth Truth. It cracked right above the shock mount. He wrote an e-mail to Ellsworth and the owner responded. They ended up sending him a new front triangle for the cost of shipping even though the bike was out of warranty.

 

[hophead]

As someone mentioned in an earlier post, they are an innovative company

My gf has two Cannondales. She says that if Cannondale made toasters, you'd have to buy special Cannondale bread.

 

[hophead]

I will point out that my car is 100% Japanese.

Not likely. Even the Japanese buy from foreign subcontractors.

 

[hophead]

According to the sticker on the window, the content is 100% Japanese.

As you pointed out to Grape Ape...

It's also very difficult to only buy food and clothing that is comprised of 100% US content. Of course, your bike would only have a frame made in the US, but where did the tubing come from?

That statement applies to cars as well. Take just the stereo for instance. There are probably components made in several, maybe even a dozen different countries.

I find "Made in America" and "Buy American" to be silly concepts.

From a quality standpoint, I agree that country of origin is no longer an issue. I sell products that are made in China, Korea, India, Israel, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Canada, and the US to name a few, and there is no difference in quality among them. It's more a matter of who is making it rather than where.

The sentiments expressed here by Grape Ape and clemfan seem to be more about spending their money at home rather than supporting foreign nations which I don't think is silly at all.

 

[hophead]

It is indeed very difficult to ascertain what is really made in the USA these days or any other country for that matter. We live in an ever shrinking global economy which has blurred that line. Unless you are willing to forgo modern conveniences, it's nearly impossible to buy 100% American. There are no cars that are built from parts that are all made in the USA. There are no consumer electronics that are 100% made in the USA. Unless your Amish, some of your stuff is going to be foreign made. And if you buy products from a publicly traded company, of course there are going to be foreign investors.

I don't like to see industry going overseas, but its a fact of life. Economics dictates it. In my business, if I were to sell only goods produced in the US, I'd be out of business. I'm an American and all of my employees are legal American citizens.

 

[hophead]

I just bought a new 2010 Toyota car...made in America by Americans. The money goes overseas. At least the American have the jobs.

I operate a fleet of US made Toyota Tacomas as delivery vehicles. They are some of the best trucks on the road. We get somewhere between 2 and 300,000 miles on them before retirement and even then, they still run fine. I've yet to have one develop any serious drivetrain problem.

Ya can't go wrong with a yota!