Cycling UK Forum

Hi there,
Has anyone used a Cannondale Bad Boy for touring? I've been searching for a touring bike around £800, the best one I found was the Kona Sutra which is now out of stock everywhere. My local bike shop suggested getting the Bad Boy Fatty Alivio Disc 2011 £550 and spend a bit to upgrade it to touring standard - drop bars etc. I Id be interested to hear from anyone who has used this bike to tour on or knows anything about the capabilities of the bike. I have done a few shorter tours on my pinnacle stratus and had no problems but this tour will be longer, aprox 1500 miles London to the Arctic Circle in Norway.
thanks

Not used a Bad Boy but looks ideal - great gears, solid overbuilt frame with relaxed angles, rigid fork, 50mm schwalbe kojak tyres. Not much to argue about with the badboy. Looks like a good call from your lbs. I'd prefer 26" wheels if they still do that version of the BB and I'm not a fan of disc brakes, but these are minor things, personal taste probably.

You mention upgrades. A worthwhile thing is to figure out all the stuff you'd want to replace on the BB and cost it out so you can see whether you have other bike options hidden in the bike + upgrades budget. The BB looks good though, that's my vote.

Pete Gostelow (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/alongridehome) put 30,000 miles on one biking from Japan to England so they can't be too bad.

The badboys I've seen have all had hydraulic discs, (although I don't remember if Peter Gostelow's did or not) and that wouldn't work with drop bars. Don't think anyone has started making drop bar levers for hydraulics yet, and certainly not sti ones. If that is the case you'd have to change the brakes to cable discs as well as getting new shifters and such. Just something to consider. If you stuck with flat bars it sounds a lot less problematic.

Fair point schnell. I'd probably stick with the flat bars too and spend the money saved on the trip. I think Pete Gostelow had V-brakes.

Your budget would seem to allow reasonable choice and generally getting something that's right from the start should be cheaper (only buying one set of bits) and the bits should work ok together (probably).

Spa has a Dawes vantage for £600 for instance;
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s21p2414

Thanks for the info/advice, much appreciated. it is certainly re-assuring that ete Gostelow did 30,000 miles on his! The one I'm looking at as mechanical disc brakes so should be easier to work with. I'm keen to have disc brakes as I'm looking at some pretty steep downhills in Norway and it is likely to be wet. Another alternative I have come across is http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/revolution ... 2011/specs, any thoughts?

I've just remembered, this is the bike for the Norway trip in two years time? You mentioned in the other thread that the delay was for saving and planning. These bikes are great, both of them, but Al_yrpal had a good thread which might be of interest, showing his converted urban mtb, which achieves most of what the cannondale does but for just £300 - one option worth looking at if you did prefer to set off sooner but for the costs.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=36102&hilit=tourer+for+a+song

Ah thanks but mine is a different trip, that was Mattraisin who started the thread. Worth a thought though! No point spending too much if you don't have to. Will let you know what I decide to do, I'm hoping to order something this week

nmnm wrote:I've just remembered, this is the bike for the Norway trip in two years time? You mentioned in the other thread that the delay was for saving and planning. These bikes are great, both of them, but Al_yrpal had a good thread which might be of interest, showing his converted urban mtb, which achieves most of what the cannondale does but for just £300 - one option worth looking at if you did prefer to set off sooner but for the costs.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=36102&hilit=tourer+for+a+song

cycle2thecircle wrote:Hi there,
Has anyone used a Cannondale Bad Boy for touring? I've been searching for a touring bike around £800, the best one I found was the Kona Sutra which is now out of stock everywhere. My local bike shop suggested getting the Bad Boy Fatty Alivio Disc 2011 £550 and spend a bit to upgrade it to touring standard - drop bars etc. I Id be interested to hear from anyone who has used this bike to tour on or knows anything about the capabilities of the bike. I have done a few shorter tours on my pinnacle stratus and had no problems but this tour will be longer, aprox 1500 miles London to the Arctic Circle in Norway.
thanks

Hi,
I used a cannondale bad boy for my first tour. It was a 2009 version, I still have the bike. It survived 1500km, but If i pushed it any further, then the bb would have died, under so much pressure.
I have the avic juicy 3 hyrdalic brakes, and man they caused me so much trouble. Firstly you need to carry a bleeding kit with you, and secondly it is not very easy to bleed and get the bubbles out. transportation could be a pain too, when the wheels r off and u accidently press the breake levers, then u need to bleed the whole thing in order to get the calipers back to normal position. Had to do it several times, but still didn't manage to perfect it.
Secondly when I had a crash, the wheel buckled, and it seemed near to impossible to find a replacement 700c disc break wheel. Unless if you were prepared to pay over 130 euros. I ended up repairing it , with super high spoke tension. Since I have been back I had to purchase a new wheel.
The other problem I had was the frame, because it s very light and aluminum. . It didn't seem stable, when going super fast downhill with heavy gear.

Lastly it doesn't have any eyes to fit the rucks, which makes ur life even more problematic. But this problem is solvable.
Otherwise the components on the bike were perfect, I didn't have any problems with any of the parts.

I think my advise would be, if you have 800 to spend on a bike go with a strong steel frame. If you wish to have hydraulic brakes, go for the magura rim brakes. If u need a replacement wheel it will be easy and cheaper to find one. V brakes is what I would recommend.
Another thing I would recommend, depending on ur preference to get butterfly handle bars, it makes ur trip more comfortable as it has more riding positions, than the flat bar.

If you have any questions about the bad boy please pm me.

ara-the-bird wrote:Hi,
I used a cannondale bad boy for my first tour. It was a 2009 version, I still have the bike. It survived 1500km, but If i pushed it any further, then the bb would have died, under so much pressure.
I have the avic juicy 3 hyrdalic brakes, and man they caused me so much trouble. Firstly you need to carry a bleeding kit with you, and secondly it is not very easy to bleed and get the bubbles out. transportation could be a pain too, when the wheels r off and u accidently press the breake levers, then u need to bleed the whole thing in order to get the calipers back to normal position. Had to do it several times, but still didn't manage to perfect it.
Secondly when I had a crash, the wheel buckled, and it seemed near to impossible to find a replacement 700c disc break wheel. Unless if you were prepared to pay over 130 euros. I ended up repairing it , with super high spoke tension. Since I have been back I had to purchase a new wheel.
The other problem I had was the frame, because it s very light and aluminum. . It didn't seem stable, when going super fast downhill with heavy gear.

Lastly it doesn't have any eyes to fit the rucks, which makes ur life even more problematic. But this problem is solvable.
Otherwise the components on the bike were perfect, I didn't have any problems with any of the parts.

I think my advise would be, if you have 800 to spend on a bike go with a strong steel frame. If you wish to have hydraulic brakes, go for the magura rim brakes. If u need a replacement wheel it will be easy and cheaper to find one. V brakes is what I would recommend.
Another thing I would recommend, depending on ur preference to get butterfly handle bars, it makes ur trip more comfortable as it has more riding positions, than the flat bar.

If you have any questions about the bad boy please pm me.

Hi, thanks for the info, much appreciated. I think I've decided to get a Dawes Horizon or Karakum, makes sense to get a specific tourer and I've found a bike shop that are keen to spend time making sure the bike is fully serviced and tweaked before I go. Cheers

Got a Dawes Horizon in the end and love it! Thanks for all the advice!

Nice one. Enjoy.