I bought a 1999 Super V 1000 SL (superlight)in as-new condition last year, the rare Mango orange color-and love it! It is fast, responsive, and light for a full-suspension bike(24.5 lbs)with XTR / carbon fiber upgrades. People always ask about the bike...what IS that? In my opinion this bike is better than any new X/C full suspension bikes available today. I rode the 2006 Cannondale Scalpels, and think the Super-V is still superior. Is there a Super-V owners group out there?

The Super V Active (1999) design makes for a stable "all mountain" or "x-country" ride, dependant on how you build the bike. Having owned mine for almost 7 years now, I still would choose my Super V over the current crop of bikes offered today.

Rear Suspension: The single-pivot design is nearly maintenance free and the pivot is located right inline with the middle (32tooth) chainring, aiding traction when going uphill and reducing preload when going downhill, otherwise perfectly neutral. I'm happy with the 120mm (4") for my riding style.

Front Suspension: The stock SuperFatty80 fork was great - light and always went exactly where pointed. However, I've upgraded to a new Lefty Jake with 110mm of travel: a good option, IMHO. The bike is now very ballanced where front-end travel used to lack.

The V-design frame leaves lots of standover clearance, is quite stiff feeling and is a bit shorter in wheelbase than other bikes resulting in nimble handling, but is sometimes squirmish on steeper technical descents. The design favors XC over DH or "freeride".

Only a couple notes of caution:

[1] Cable routing underneath the "seat mast" area should be done so that you avoid cable-scrub on the frame members. The braided stainless housing on my Shimano rear disk has done some damage to the seat stays.

[2] I found that Cannondale's ISO disk-mounting tabs on the rear swingarm dropout are a few MM's outboard of the current industry standard - they were designed for Cannondale's CODA brakeset at the time... So, you'll need to futz with chainring spacers to gap your brake caliper into the correct location which isn't ideal...

I LOVE mine! It has about a million miles of hardcore X-country hammering, moderate downhill bombing, general urban thrashing, wet-weather commuting and trailer-towing on it. I call it my "grown-up BMX bike"! It weighs sub-24lbs (full XTR & many other top-quality bits) and has never failed. I've worn out countless chains, chainrings, cogsets, a couple saddles & several bottom-brackets (currently Race Face Ti), without the slightest reliability issue from anything wearing the Cannondale brand. I've shown it little mercy, aside from reasonable mechanical empathy. The handling is sharp, aided by the precision of the Headshock. No twin-tube suspension fork can match the solidity and stictionless travel of the Headshock. The entire bike is very solid feeling; as if carved from a single piece of billet. I LOVE my Super-V! It does everything I need and want it to do, very reliably. It's truly "one bike that does it all".

not very dependable, i wish i would have checked around first

Best bike I've ridden by far,It' short wheelbase makes it excellent for cornering,it's a shame they stoppoed making them

exalent bike i don't really know what to say about it's just bloody good and you don't hit your balls as much because of the v

This is what it is all about. The best bike I've ever ridden. I've upgraded a few things like xtr brakes,FSA crankset,Panaracer tires, 2"riser bar etc. but could have lived with the stock options.

Good ride! Plush! Seems to be the most popular full suspension frame design. Most other bike companies model their bike along the same lines as the Super V.

Very progressive. This bike is too expensive for it's quality but it's still good stuff!

An excellent design in the headshock which is laterally stiff. The paint jobs stink.

This is an awesome full suspension bike. But I think this will only work well for downhilling due to the poogony effect. This bike is made heavy too, but for downhilling it doesn't matter. The design of this bike is great, allowing a 4 inch travel on the rear which can take all the large bumps.

Awesome bike. Lightweight and sturdy, especially the suspensions. Cannondale has a great suspension system, especially the front, and they have great quality.

The Super V Series is exactly that super. With Cannondale I never have to worry about my bike holding up. I know its a quality bike. They always use top of the line everything.