His builds span a wide range, and he’s played with everything from wild track bikes to that premium “monster cross” bike to awesome full suspension mountain bikes like this BMC Speedfox. Some exist as computer renderings, while others are real-world carbon and metal.
Daniel’s favorite bicycle company was Cannondale long before he was a designer. His first real mountain bike was a Cannondale, and he says he has always admired the brand for doing things his way and driving the industry forward. After spending the past eight years freelance in automotive design, sports design and interior design, as well as design for Husqvarna, the opportunity to work with Cannondale was a dream come true, he said. -he declares. Working with Cannondales both inside and outside of his job, here are some of the bikes he reinvented.
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I wanted to create my really personal dream build, I think in many eyes it doesn’t make sense to spend so much effort and money on something so old … but let me explain . I’ve used this example before, but the Porsche 911 is an iconic sports car and the new 911 is fantastic, but the air-cooled 964 and older ones feel purer than the brand’s original concept. Not necessarily better, but purer. Again, my personal preference.
And as far as Cannondale goes, I really like the Flash, F29, and F-SI models ranging from 2009 to 2017. I’ve owned a few of these bikes, from early 26 “to late 29”. And for me it’s all about purity, when they were introduced they had amazing carbon frames that pushed the limits of build and low weight. The design was an organic interpretation of previous CAAD frameworks. And what I really like is the uncompromising mindset: “What can we do if we are not limited by suppliers? I think Cannondale can sometimes get run over for coming up with their own components and standards… but the goal is always system integration, not just designing a frame but a complete bike where everything is designed as a system, a frame. , fork, wheels, bottom bracket, seat post etc. It was and still is truly unique in the industry. Okay, a lot of nerdiness here… but the basic premise was to take a 10 year old bike, update it with modern technology, but still an older, neo-retro (ish) look. Common in the car and motorcycle world, but not so much in the sometimes conservative cycling world, where a 0.5 degree head tube angle can make a bike “useless”. I used that “Save a Dale” tag and it’s about keeping the Cannondales alive and on the road, upgrading them, or reusing them. |
Fortunately, there was no longer any warranty to cancel.
One of the first steps was to shave off all the parts that Daniel considered to be “horrors,” like the front derailleur hanger and all of the outer cable guides. It made a lot of holes in the frame, but he had the carbon working skills to patch the holes. He also drilled new holes for internal cable routing. He had to look clean, after all.
With the frame itself composed, it was time for the colors to burst.
Daniel paints most of his bikes himself, but for the F29 he got a friend from a local bike shop to go wild with him in an effort to recreate an ’80s and’ 90s vibe. With the change AXS gear and a mix of old and new parts, the bike plunges its toes into five distinct decades.
For his next Cannondale build, Daniel decided to bring all of his old parts together in one “neo-retro super bike” while celebrating the iconic Y-frame of the Cannondale Super V: “Compared to modern full suspension bikes,” he said. he said, “this one doesn’t hide anything, the design is like a big V for the victory hand sign.” In his first Instagram post on the bike, he explained that it wouldn’t be a vintage bike, but that it would incorporate parts from the late ’80s to the early 2000s.
While imagining his Super V build, he began to dream about what it would take to modernize the geometry of the Super V to match that of the modern Scalpel. Although this bike does not (yet) exist in real life, he started the sketching process and hinted that such a project was in the works.
As far as his current Super V goes, the biggest change he’s made has been the suspension, shortening rear travel to 20mm to make it “less crappy,” he said. “I built my own rear shock, took a coil shock from a moped and shortened it and slapped a Headshok boot on it, so the bike is basically a softtail now, and that’s a good improvement over the previous rocking chair experience. “
Two sides, a lot is happening.
Daniel’s favorite thing about the bike is that the training side is supposed to look more retro while the non-training side is a nod to Rapha-Palace bikes and EF racing bikes, many of which have featured. various blue-purple-pink color schemes over the years.
Ano violet is real.
Compared to modern mountain bikes, Daniel is well aware that his Super V won’t live up to a race bike no matter how nostalgic or historically intriguing it is. Still, he says, it’s cool to have brought him back. “I brought it back to life, maybe not like a mountain bike racing machine it once was, but maybe more like a low-instep commuter on acids and steroids,” he said. he declared.
The biggest thing he learned, he said, was to create the purple fade on the swingarm. It’s basically a clear polish on foil, but he added a bit of pink and blue and was impressed with the result. It’s a method he will play with in the future, he said, as he designs and builds more bikes.
What about his other notable bikes? He said the monster cross bike mentioned earlier was awesome to build, his Scott Sub made him realize the effects a simple color change can have, and his BMC build is still the best looking trail bike ever. eyes.
Scott Sub, before and after.
The Lotus Project, another celebration of the strange and the marvelous.
This year, outside of his job, Daniel plans to build two road bikes, a mountain bike and a children’s bike. Plus, he challenged Dangerholm to build a kid’s bike. What do you say, @bikerider?
