[S.K.C.]

This is kind of a branch off of the "Predictions for C-dale next year ..." thread.

...so apparently C-Dale re-badged the "Gracia DH" as "The Judge" for Hannah to ride for 06':

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/06/cusa/cats/Gravity.html

My qusetion is this: Has anyone placed an early order for the Gracia DH and recieved it with the "Gracia" CNC work on the rear swing-arm? If so, would this frame/bike be considered collectable??? - I mean if the Gracia has gone into full production and now it's being re-badged I guess it depends on how many rolled off the line w/ the "Gracia" badging, but I was just curious...

What do you guys think???

 

[Zutroy]

I don't think they had started shipping them yet.

 

[S.K.C.]

...I could swear I was reading somewhere that people had been ordering them since a couple of months ago. This would mean that some have either already rolled off the production line, or were in production.

If the first batch rolled off the line with the "Gracia" CNC work in the swingarm, what would C-dale do??? ... Stickers are easy to cover over, or remove, but metal work???

 

[Banshee Rider]

Last time I heard there were only several gracia's in excistance, and none of them belonged to customers. This was recent and from a cannondale employee. Since cannondale does all of this work in house, and doesn't order mass produced frames from oversea's, then they ultimately have control of start/stop production. I'd imagine if gracia had been in the works of leaving the company months in advance, then they certainly wouldnt start production on bike named after him until it was final. I think thats why they covered their ass's by not releasing a set production date when the 06' info was released.

 

[S.K.C.]

...awww crap - that's right!

They are one of the few large companies who make their DH MTB frames here in the states!

Yeah - I was wondering what they were going to do about production dates... interesting.

Rumors about Cedric leaving C-dale for Commencal have been around for exactly one year now, so I guess C-dale either didn't know, or just hoped he would stay after finishing development on the Gracia...

 

[Sherpa]

This is kind of a branch off of the "Predictions for C-dale next year ..." thread.

...so apparently C-Dale re-badged the "Gracia DH" as "The Judge" for Hannah to ride for 06':

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/06/cusa/cats/Gravity.html

My qusetion is this: Has anyone placed an early order for the Gracia DH and recieved it with the "Gracia" CNC work on the rear swing-arm? If so, would this frame/bike be considered collectable??? - I mean if the Gracia has gone into full production and now it's being re-badged I guess it depends on how many rolled off the line w/ the "Gracia" badging, but I was just curious...

What do you guys think???

Uhh, official price lists don't even have a price for the bikes yet. They won't be out for a while.

 

[gemini2k]

end of january
________
CandyCumz

 

[Sherpa]

end of january

Wishful thinking, but it'll be worth any wait.

 

[gemini2k]

thats what josh the c-dale sales rep told me, and josh would never lie to me!!!!!
________
Expert insurance

 

[Superdeft]

I just wish c-dale had never created this judge/gracia disaster. In my opinion the gemini is a much better platform that could have benefitted from a small design review. Shave some weight, alter things with a swing-link, but this new thing seems like a step in the wrong direction. If the gemini headed in a 224 direction by keeping the weight super low and the design simple, it could have made a great bike even better. Right now it appears c'dale has taken away some of the aspects that made the gemini great and replaced it with something uncertain, so I can't see the Judge being a popular DH rig based off what cannondale is revealing at present.

 

[Curb Hucker]

I just wish c-dale had never created this judge/gracia disaster. In my opinion the gemini is a much better platform that could have benefitted from a small design review. Shave some weight, alter things with a swing-link, but this new thing seems like a step in the wrong direction. If the gemini headed in a 224 direction by keeping the weight super low and the design simple, it could have made a great bike even better. Right now it appears c'dale has taken away some of the aspects that made the gemini great and replaced it with something uncertain, so I can't see the Judge being a popular DH rig based off what cannondale is revealing at present.

I got to ride one at the US Open and it felt way better than a gemini DH in almost every aspect

 

[bballe336]

It looks pretty sweet. Although it's listed as having a 69 degree HA. Kinda strange.

 

[Bicyclist]

It sure doesn't look like that in the pictures.

 

[blt2ride]

...awww crap - that's right!

They are one of the few large companies who make their DH MTB frames here in the states!

Yeah - I was wondering what they were going to do about production dates... interesting.

Rumors about Cedric leaving C-dale for Commencal have been around for exactly one year now, so I guess C-dale either didn't know, or just hoped he would stay after finishing development on the Gracia...

I was kind of surprised when I heard that C-dale was making the Gracia "pro model," since there were rumors that he was leaving the team for some time now. Then again, you're talking about Cannondale...remember their motorcycle?