Although we never forget our heritage, Cannondale and our dealers have come a long way since our birth in a crowded loft above a pickle factory in 1971.

Cannondale introduced its first bicycle, a Touring model, in 1983. We raised the cycling world's eyebrows by building our bicycles around handcrafted, oversized aluminum frames that were both lighter and more flex-resistant than the steel models that dominated the industry at the time. We quickly followed up this success with a road racing model and a mountain bike model in 1984. Our creative reputation encouraged both bike dealers and customers to join the revolution, and widespread industry skepticism quickly gave way to a host of imitators.

In 1997, Cannondale was the first company to feature large, oversized aluminum bike frames on cycling's biggest stage, the Tour de France. After powering his Cannondale to four stage victories at the 1999 Tour, the flamboyant Saeco team leader proclaimed "Cannondale is the best bike."

In the last 14 years, we've won five Giro d'Italia Maglia Rosas, arguing that maybe we should add pink to our brand colors. Most recently we won the Girod'Iltalia and the Vuelta a España in one single year!

Widely regarded as the bike industry's leading innovator with game-changing technologies, Cannondale and its handcrafted bicycles continue to be recognized by organizations from both inside and outside the industry including:

Many of the ideas that keep Cannondale products on the cutting edge come from the sponsored athletes on the company's professional racing teams. The feedback provided by the company's riders, combined with Cannondale's best-in-class production processes, fuel a near constant stream of both new innovations and improvements to existing products.

With a laser focus on a rider-first mentality, we push our employees, our dealers and the bike industry. These refinements aren't limited to the company's competitive road racing and mountain bikes, however; the insights gained through racing, coupled with Cannondale's quest for constant improvement, have also benefited the company's wide array of lightweight recreational bikes as well as its lines of state-of-the-art cycling apparel and parts & accessories.

This is summed up in our mantra to: never settle in our quest to create the perfect ride.

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