Cannondale catalog 1987

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by benb

In 1987 were these Cannondale frames already aluminum?

The tubes do look oversized already in these pictures but I can't tell for sure from the pictures.

Yes, Cannondale's first frames (in 1983) were oversized aluminum. They were very stiff, and also fairly inexpensive. This made them popular for criterium racers of the time

In 1985, Gary Klein (of Klein bicycles) sued Cannondale for patent infringement. Klein had patented the idea of oversized welded aluminum bicycle frames, and started his own company to produce them in the late 1970s. In the lawsuit, Cannondales lawyers called Harlan Meyers of Hi-E Engineering, a manufacturer of lightweight bicycle components in Tennessee. Meyers testified that he had made a frame with welded oversized tubing in the early 1970s, and produced documentation for it. When asked if he had applied for a patent for the idea, Meyers responded that he didn't, because he thought somebody else must have already done it. Klein lost the case.