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Gemini DH frameset

mack

Turbo Monkey
Feb 26, 2003
3,674
0
Colorado
Ok, ive decided to go with the gemini DH frame set as my final choice for bike frame. Does any 1 here have one, ide like to know how they ride, and my bigest question, are they huckable?
 

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
Originally posted by mack
are they huckable?
Ever heard of Cedric Gracia? Maybe the Red Bull Rampage? Or maybe how Cedric won the Rampage on a Gemini DH?

If that doesn't answer your question, I don't know what will.
 

mack

Turbo Monkey
Feb 26, 2003
3,674
0
Colorado
oh yeah, i forgot, but then again hes a pro and could win on any bike..... but that does answer my question about huckability.
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
Originally posted by dexterq20
Ever heard of Cedric Gracia? Maybe the Red Bull Rampage? Or maybe how Cedric won the Rampage on a Gemini DH?

If that doesn't answer your question, I don't know what will.

like he was riding a stock gemini, or at the very least, like if he would be worried about replacing it every other week.
 

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
Originally posted by vitox
like he was riding a stock gemini, or at the very least, like if he would be worried about replacing it every other week.
Um.... he was riding a stock Gemini DH frame (except for a prototype swingarm that gave the bike 8" of rear travel). It was in MBA a couple months ago.
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
Originally posted by dexterq20
Um.... he was riding a stock Gemini DH frame (except for a prototype swingarm that gave the bike 8" of rear travel). It was in MBA a couple months ago.

ah ok so really stock then was it?, with the part most likely to break being different and with more travel...

you really think the shock was stock too?
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
Originally posted by dexterq20
Yes.
.


you know, its not really about it cedrics bike is stock or not, its about what sort of conclusions you can draw from the fact that he used a "gemini" at the rampage.

now put yourself in cannondales shoes.

they have a superstar rider who has to ride all these events, what would happen if his bike didnt hold up and the public caught wind of that?

not cool for them right?

so they just have to make sure it holds up, either by using a non stock swingarm on his bike that has more travel and is softer and flexier but that doesnt break, or by in fact making a bike that doesnt break.

but what route did they take? who knows?

the only thing that is certain is that taking cedrics bike as a reference is not going to lead to any useful conclusions because none of us knows for a fact what kind of bike that really was, all we know is that THAT bike in particular had one mission in life, which was NOT TO BREAK.
 
May 24, 2002
889
0
Boulder CO
I can say, being that I ride for Cannondale, that Cedric was using a stock Gemini almost all of last year. Until right before Red Bull he even had a "stock" swingarm, that being almost identical to the swingarm you now see being produced. In the time Cedric has ridden the Gemini, he has cracked one. (this is the ENTIRE time he's ridden the gemini)

I obviously think its a great frame and am loving mine.
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
Originally posted by dexterq20
Um.... he was riding a stock Gemini DH frame (except for a prototype swingarm that gave the bike 8" of rear travel). It was in MBA a couple months ago.
Dude, it was in MBA. It has to be true:rolleyes:
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,031
9,687
AK
hint: unless you actually saw the tubes open, how do you know its a "stock" frame???
 

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
Originally posted by neversummersnow
I can say, being that I ride for Cannondale, that Cedric was using a stock Gemini almost all of last year. Until right before Red Bull he even had a "stock" swingarm, that being almost identical to the swingarm you now see being produced. In the time Cedric has ridden the Gemini, he has cracked one. (this is the ENTIRE time he's ridden the gemini)
:eviltongu
 

biker3

Turbo Monkey
I have a gemini 900 and it has held up great so far. I do everything on it from hucking to pretty hard DH. Its pretty stiff and is very stable. You got a 3 year warranty from an awsome company even if it does brake they'll hook you up. I work at a shop that deals cannondale and they have a VERY fast turnaround if ur worried. BUT IM ALMOST CERTAIN you won't have any durability issues.
 

mack

Turbo Monkey
Feb 26, 2003
3,674
0
Colorado
I mostly like the bike because. A. it was made in my home town of wilton, CT, USA and B. it has the same colors as the rossingnol race skis:D my two sports in matching colors.
 

TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
i know perople who ride for cannondale one of the guys i know did a 20 foot drop and in all of the new world disorder videos exept for the rampage part in 4 cedric was on a "stock" jemini and he races a "stock" jemini he tild me persenoly at sea otter
 

Tom Church

Monkey
Jan 25, 2004
239
0
Beacon, NY
It is the same frame with a new swingarm and custom fitted Geometry...I have a few friends that work for cannondale...the swingarm will be avaliable for the public soon I believe...that bike was set up special for the rampage with the swingarm and the tuning of the shocks but it was a stock frame that was just custom fitted...

It was also a stock swinger 6-way.

I don't know why people bust on Cannondale...great bikes...just as strong as any other bike at the same level...if you case a jump on a bullit (or on any similar bike) you stand just as much of a chance of breaking that swingarm as you would on a gemini...Just about all my frineds have Kona Stinkys and 2 have broken linkage parts...

Cedric's bike has a few modifications in the components but he rides the same frames as everyone else...

Tom
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
im not bashing cannondale, not at all

that however doesnt mean im not going to be blind to the fact that judging the resistance of any product by looking at their sponsored athletes is a big mistake.

theres a lot of marketing dollars at stake and a company image also, so why can it be so difficult to accept that cedrics bike is going to be just as stock as cedric/cannondale needs it to be.
(paraphrasing kyffin when asked about the amount of travel on peats fork)

i dont get it, i still see the argument going on about cedrics bike, it being stock or not, but its seems to be an accepted fact that the swingarm was custom. that to me spells it out loud and clear that the stock swingarm wasnt up to the task and thats the end of it.

that doesnt mean the bike is bad, just that either cannondale didnt want to risk a failure, or that cedric wanted more travel, either way they changed the rear end and that is a clear indicator of what they think the weak link is.
 

Kornphlake

Turbo Monkey
Oct 8, 2002
2,632
1
Portland, OR
Was cedric running custom shimano derailurs too? Everybody knows that XT stuff doesn't hold up well to big hucks so since Cedric is a very high profile rider shimano must have given cedric a custom derailur so that the public wouldn't see that Cedric DNF'ed because of a shimano derailur.

Let's not get too carried away with our assumptions, if you're saying Cedrics frame wasn't stock then you're outright calling him a liar, which he may well be. Why not give him the benefit of the doubt?
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
Originally posted by Kornphlake
Everybody knows that XT stuff doesn't hold up well to big hucks

do we?


youre missing the schroedinger cat part of this, i can agree with your logic save for the shmono part (because its not applicable to them), but the point ive been trying to make is not really about the stockness or not of cedrics frame, its that its not valid as a reference.
 

TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
2 things he rides a stock XTR and the reson he got the new swing arm was IN NO WAY because it wasent strong enough the new one alows for more travel
 

Matt D

Monkey
Mar 19, 2002
996
0
charlottesville, va
"Is this frame huckable?" For christ's sake...:rolleyes: No, it is strickly forbidden to "huck" anything on Cannondales unless you are sponsored by them.

For one thing, even if you did ride it hard enough to break it, they'd just warranty it and you'd have a new bike.

And I'll take the comments about you wanting to buy it because of the colors as sarcasm.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,421
7,805
Originally posted by TheMontashu
2 things he rides a stock XTR and the reson he got the new swing arm was IN NO WAY because it wasent strong enough the new one alows for more travel
and how do you know this?
 

RhinofromWA

Brevity R Us
Aug 16, 2001
4,622
0
Lynnwood, WA
Originally posted by Tom Church
I don't know why people bust on Cannondale...great bikes...just as strong as any other bike at the same level...if you case a jump on a bullit (or on any similar bike) you stand just as much of a chance of breaking that swingarm as you would on a gemini...Just about all my frineds have Kona Stinkys and 2 have broken linkage parts...
Tom
Well, They didn't get their Crack-N-Fail nick name by chance........

Cannondale of the past had some light stiff frames. High quality stuff. That said.... they also cracked, a lot. Roommate in college went thru 4 HT frames in 2 years riding XC. All but one cracked at the seatstay/Seattube junction. He then got the Super V Carbon....nice bike, but the carbon bits rattling around in the big hallow swingarm made such a racket. ;)

Cannondale earned their nickname in the 90's, and that is a tough stigma to shake. Look at Manapoo.....their product was tempermental at best for many, many years but have came back some yet still face a uphill battle with many consumers.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,031
9,687
AK
Originally posted by RhinofromWA
Well, They didn't get their Crack-N-Fail nick name by chance........

.
It's simply true. I watched my friend crack his super V, then he got a jekyll, and he cracked the main frame and swingarm 3x each, and he's only an XC rider. It was the epitomy of the name "crack-n-fail", and I witnessed myself on one occasion. If you had a good experience with them, then great, but I've seen firsthand why they earned the name. Keep in mind that the gemini is a lighter-weight DH bike, for racing, it isn't a demo9 or a banshee scream-end of statement on that. I don't think they they are making bad bikes right now, and there are some features of their bikes that are pretty nice. Will they crack more than other bikes? Well keep in mind that it is NOT a banshee scream, probably won't break more compared to a comparable frame, but make sure you are using the right comparission. I think their big "cracking" problems are somewhat in the past, but a lot of people are going to be apprehensive and stay away from them from those past experiences.

They may have almost gotten over the "problems" when they came out with the Jekyll, but for a lot of riders, the Jekyll only perpetrated what people already felt about cannondale. That bike broke for a lot of people, and didn't help cannondale much in that respect.