Cannondale co-founder Joe Montgomery died on 2nd January at the age of 86, so we thought that now would be a good time to look back at the brand’s first bike, the 1983 ST-500 touring bike… Just a little Bike at Bedtime tribute.

Cannondale was founded 55 years ago, back in 1971. Its first cycling product was a bicycle-towed trailer called the Bugger. There’s a name that didn’t travel well. We’ll come back to it in a mo. Cannondale didn’t start producing bikes until years later.

In 2021, Cannondale produced a book to mark its 50th anniversary. That book says, “The undisputed founder of Cannondale bikes is Joe ‘son-of-a-glove-maker’ Montgomery. Though Joe started the company with three other partners, Cannondale would simply not be around without him.

Joe Montgomery in 1974
Joe Montgomery in 1974 (Image Credit: Cannondale)

“It wasn’t Joe’s tangible skills that forged Cannondale into a bike company. It was his values, his mindset, his brash approach. One that was equal parts relentless and driven. Relentless on notions such as compromise or giving up. And driven in his conviction to be able to fix blinders into business realities.

“While it’s true to say that Joe wasn’t Cannondale, equally, Cannondale wouldn’t be Cannondale without Joe.”

Cannondale’s first bicycle was the ST-500 touring bike, launched in 1983, which was revolutionary for its time due to its oversized, TIG-welded aluminium frame, designed to be lighter and stiffer than the steel frames common at the time.

As an aside, the USA’s other big bike brands cut their teeth with touring bikes too. Trek’s first bikes were hand-built, steel touring frames made in a small barn in Waterloo, Wisconsin, starting in 1976, while Specialized’s first bikes, introduced in 1981, included the Sequoia sport-touring model (along with the Allez road bike). All three soon became big in mountain biking, of course.

Cannondale was already making trailers and bags, but the ST-500 marked its entry into bicycle manufacturing and established its reputation for innovative aluminium frames. The concept of a bike made from aluminium was new to touring cyclists.