Cannondale T500...

Earlier this year I picked up an older Cannondale touring bike for my wife, thinking she might want to ride a bit. Normally I do not go out looking for bikes for her, but I ended up getting an amazing deal on this one. This bike has an interesting story though: My friend has had it in her basement for years, holding it for her friend who needed a place to put it while in college. But this bike was not just some recreational toy, it was ridden completely across the country! My friend's friend, bought it only to ride across the nation, and when she came back home, she stashed it in my friend's basement. Wow. Great history on this bike. So what am I going to do with it?

My plan from the beginning was to turn in into more of an "errands" bike. Sure I have my cargo bike, but sometimes it is just too much. This bike would fill that gap. Also I figured that my wife would like a road bike in this setup, but maybe later in life, as for the moment, no. Luckily, my wife and I share similar size bikes!

Road bars are gone, in their place is an old set of mountain riser bars. Since it was an older bike, it came equipped with a threaded fork. A stem adapter was installed to enable me to use the mountain bars and stem. New Avid FR5 brake levers, and an old Shimano friction shifter round out the bars. The friction shifter will move the Deore rear derailleur across the 8 cogs on the rear wheel. Hopefully this setup works, I do like a single chainring up front. Still more to do, so here are only teaser photos: