Cannondale

Cannondale is a bicycle manufacturer based in Connecticut, USA. From road, gravel, electric and mountain bikes to equipment, clothing and components, the company produces a host of products for almost every type of cyclist.

History

Founded in 1971 by Joe Montgomery, Cannondale started life by making bags and trailers for the bike touring industry out of the loft above a pickle factory.

Cannondale continued just making clothing and bags for bike touring up until 1983 when it launched its first bike, the ST500. As one of the first companies to make an aluminium frame, Cannondale faced a lawsuit from Klein Bikes for patent infringement. However, after a number of years, Cannondale successfully argued that Klein’s patent was null and void.

The company entered the mountain biking market a year later with the SM-500, a unique MTB that, alongside a Shimano Deore XT drivetrain and Surgino Aero Tour crank, featured a BMX rear brake and seat post and as well as a sprung saddle.

By the start of the 1990s, with Joe’s son Scott playing a pivotal part, the company had launched operations in Europe and Japan and was revolutionising the mountain bike market especially thanks to the introduction of dual suspension. Cannondale went public in 1995 and two years later made an equally big step in its growth - sponsoring pro road team Saeco and bolstering its reputation within Europe and road cycling.

An unsuccessful venture into the motorcycle industry in 1999 nearly killed off the company altogether four years later when Cannondale was forced into bankruptcy protection to save its bicycle sector. The company was bought out for $200 million in 2008 by Canadian firm Dorel Industries.

Despite occasional years out, Cannondale has remained present in both elite road and MTB sponsorship throughout the 21st century. The company is currently bike sponsor for WorldTour outfit EF Education-EasyPost and its sister team EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, providing them with its performance road bikes such as the SuperSix EVO and SystemSix.

Did you know?

Pro Cycling

Current sponsorships: EF Education-EasyPost, EF Education-TIBCO-SVB

Highlights:

• Cannondale bikes helped Saeco win the Giro d'Italia three times around the turn of the century. Ivan Gotti took the top spot in 1997 before Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego donned the maglia rosa in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
• Mario Cipollini won four consecutive stages at the 1999 Tour de France, equalling Charles Pelissier's record set all the way back in 1930.
• Two giants of the sport in Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Sagan arrived on the scene for Liquigas in 2010. Nibali won his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España whilst Sagan, in his first WorldTour stage race, won two stages and the points jersey at Paris-Nice.
• In both of his first two Grand Tours, La Vuelta and the Tour de France in 2011 and 2012 respectively, Sagan achieved a hat-trick of stage wins for Liquigas-Cannondale.
• Riding a Cannondale SuperSix Evo, Alberto Bettiol soloed to his first-ever professional victory at the 2019 Tour of Flanders.
• EF-sponsored adventure rider Lachlan Morton completed a highly popular 'Alt-Tour de France' solo ultra-ride aboard a Cannondale in 2021, raising over $750,000 for charity.
• Alison Jackson, of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, used Cannondale's SuperSix Evo 4 LAB71 to stun the field and win the 2023 Paris-Roubaix Femmes from the day's early breakaway.