over the summer i herd some people saying that when cannondale first had the gemini it had two shocks on it. is this true, was it a different cdale? does ne one have pix if its true?
thanks
thanks
old cannondale gemini
- Thread starter pinkshirtphotos
- Start date
entirely true...also had about 30 grand in machining to run the whole mess...no measure of travel...imagine a box i think 6x2inches and the rear wheel could be anywhere in that area at any given time...crazy chain growth, but also apparently one of the best riding bikes ever. good luck finding pics, they are hard to find, but it is an awesome rig....now that i think of it kinda looks liek a demo frame but worked COMPLETELY different.
bump
i have to see a pic of this
i have to see a pic of this
dosent cannondale have a musame
so is the sinister VST linkage just like a newer version of this with one shock? both are designed to have a rear axle "area" and the wheel can move backwards as well as up. thats a good idea though. How old is that article/bike?
lol kinda but not officially....the R&D lab is freaking awesome to walk through....i think there are only 2 of those frames around anymore, at least around cdale....one of the old volvo wrenches Doug Dalton has one of Anne Caroline's old rigs, and there was one floating around the offices and being ridden, but those are the only 2 I know of....
the rear axle path claims to cover about 18 square inches in a general curve. or something like that. its history though. same idea in axle path as the VST but the shock actuation is different. the VST has an extra pivot that gives the rear wheel more movement. this c.dale is one arm and shock with the wheel conected to another arm and shock. for tuneability.
anyone have any pics of the sinister?
http://sinisterbikes.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/passionreduced.jpg theres better pics on like pinkbike
thats rly neat almost looks like a stinky,sunday cross
"the Geminis rear wheel can travel virtually anywhere in a rough arced path that covers 18 square inches."
That sounds really interesting, I wish I could ride one.
That sounds really interesting, I wish I could ride one.
thats what i said on bustedspoke and FTW kinda yelled at me.
what year was that gemini made?
get you pictures when i get home.
Yup! Weird bikes hanging all over the place, very fun to see. If there is a cannondale museum, thats the closest thing. Doug D had a couple pretty cool old team only bikes around his place a few years ago. Old Anne Caro and Miles race bikes. I got to take an old fulcrum for a spin. Talk about a lot of moving parts! Cannondle certainly isn't afraid to try just about anything.
the gemini:
this one apparently has the wheelpath 'area'. the fulcrum was more along the lines of the khs dominatrix (dual short swing links), only with extra chain stuff going on. looking for pix...
this one apparently has the wheelpath 'area'. the fulcrum was more along the lines of the khs dominatrix (dual short swing links), only with extra chain stuff going on. looking for pix...
There was later a simpler version of the Fulcrum that did away with the multiple chains and sprockets, but still had the dual swinglinks. Tracy Mosely rode one briefly.
Similary, there was briefly a simpler version of the Gemini pictured above, whereby the layout of the swingarm was changed so that both suspension arragements drove the same shock, thereby reducing weight and complexity.
It is interesting how Canondale have tried pretty much everything, and yet still come back to the single pivot with progressive linkage arrangement that's been favoured by Turner, Rocky Mountain Ventana etc for ages now.
Similary, there was briefly a simpler version of the Gemini pictured above, whereby the layout of the swingarm was changed so that both suspension arragements drove the same shock, thereby reducing weight and complexity.
It is interesting how Canondale have tried pretty much everything, and yet still come back to the single pivot with progressive linkage arrangement that's been favoured by Turner, Rocky Mountain Ventana etc for ages now.
one of the mags said that the cost of machining the forward part of the swingarm for the original fulcrum was around $1000 alone.
That doesn't translate well to a bike for you or I.
The gemini locked backwards under braking and forwards under pedalling, which is one of the reasons they scrapped the original design. Sadly, I think that's what is going to happen with the new sinister, but i might get one anyways.
That doesn't translate well to a bike for you or I.
The gemini locked backwards under braking and forwards under pedalling, which is one of the reasons they scrapped the original design. Sadly, I think that's what is going to happen with the new sinister, but i might get one anyways.
ps, i have pictures of all three of these bikes, but not the second gen gemini, i've never seen that.
come on post them up
hey DDs shop is basically the history of the cannondale DH bike, i love going in there, well that and he is a super cool guy. he also has cedrics gold gemini and pinkie, the bike that cedric road in one of the rampages. as well as a couple judges. super cool place. he also has a couple prototype prophet and gemini (just the swingarm) frames hanging up there....
doncha wish yer photo gallery were hot like mine? doncha? doncha baybe?
I give sinister a lot of credit....they make great bikes, I'm sure. But they're bringing nothing new to the table besides a mechanical actuator, which I'm not even sure is a good idea. Cannondale tried it and left it.
blue and red are fulcrums, v1 and v2. The original fulcrum was red, before it turned blue.
The gemini was so called because it used two shocks to form two axle paths, vertical and horizontal. supposedly it was fairly awesome aside from brake and pedal forces, but the fork was so bad that nobody could win on the bike. Cannondale refused to accept that so pro riders used to ride on blown forks just because they had the cdale name on them.
PS the fulcrum had all that crazy chain gadgetry so that no matter what size chainring you wanted to pedal, the force on the wheel would be the same. Basically an overly complicated way of doing what brooklyn does/did.
The gemini was so called because it used two shocks to form two axle paths, vertical and horizontal. supposedly it was fairly awesome aside from brake and pedal forces, but the fork was so bad that nobody could win on the bike. Cannondale refused to accept that so pro riders used to ride on blown forks just because they had the cdale name on them.
PS the fulcrum had all that crazy chain gadgetry so that no matter what size chainring you wanted to pedal, the force on the wheel would be the same. Basically an overly complicated way of doing what brooklyn does/did.
