There are a lot of bicycle companies around these days but few have the colorful history of
Cannondale. A lot of these companies sprang up in people’s garages and basements back in the day but how many can say they began life in the loft of a pickle factory? And very few of those companies that were around back then can claim they still manufacture they’re goods here in mainland America. Thirty five years ago Cannondale debuted the first trailer for a bicycle, the Bugaboo, and since then it’s been an interesting ride. The first bike, a touring model, was sold to the public in 1983 and that was followed a year later with a road and mountain bike. All three of these were built with aluminum tubes which today are not such a big deal with a score of aluminum frames being welded in Taiwan, China and even Vietnam for almost every bike company out there. A lot of the credit for the acceptance of aluminum being used for bike frames years ago should go to Cannondale, as they manufactured one of the first readily available alloy bike lines.