1998 VOLVO CANNONDALE SUPER V DHF FULCRUM

"Kim Sonier"

Kim Sonier (USA)

DH Vice-World Champion 1992, 1993

DH World Cup Overall Winner 1994

DH World Cup Round Wins: 3

NORBA National DH Overall Champion 1994

It is with great sadness that we have heard about the passing of Kim on April 2nd, 2022.

Kim Sonier Obituary:

Kim Sonier was born July 31, 1963 and passed away April 2, 2022. She was an exceptional mathematics instructor at Coconino Community College for many years. She was a very athletic person and excelled at downhill bicycle racing, racquetball, and gymnastics. She was a world traveler and most recently was focused on the western US National Parks. Most importantly she was the mother of Abby Sonier, whom she gave all her love and support to help Abby become the independent person she is today. Kim loved her four dogs and her three cats and was an avid supporter of all animals. She is survived by her parents Judy and Carl, her brother Tim, and her daughter, Abby.

Story of the bike

This is Kim Sonier's all original 1998 season Volvo Cannondale Fulcrum race bike that I received from one of her mechanics, Mike "Napper" Napieralski.

It's "just" missing the fork.. yeah that Moto 150, which was only available to the 7 team riders.

On most Fulcrums, the forks are missing, as they probably went back to the Cannondale lab to inspect them for wear and tear.

This fork was also the base for the one legged Lefty fork. The square stanchions and needle bearings turned out to be super strong and stiff, so that the engineers and team mechanics were joking about taking one leg off and still being able to ride it - 2 years later, the Lefty was introduced.

Meanwhile I used a Moto FR fork and I was in the process of replicating a Moto 150 fork, when all the sudden, 8 years later a French guy named Xavier posted photos about Volvo Cannondale bikes and parts, that he had just found at Anne-Caroline Chausson's parents house in Dijon.

I noticed that there was an extra fork and was able to convince him to sell it to me.

ACC joined the Cannondale team in 1999 and I assume this Fulcrum that Xavier found, was a pre-season bike, as it had the 1998 fork mounted - plus the extra one.

The 1999 fork was silver (as on my 99' ACC Fulcrum), so it was probably built after the frame and not available yet for pre-season testing.

I don't know yet if there's actually any difference between the 98' and 99' fork - other than the color.

I was also able to find a Cane Creek S5 headset in yellow. It is mounted in eccentric cups which apparently was an innovation by the Cannondale team engineers.

Eccentric headset cups have offset bearing seats, allowing you to adjust your bike's head tube angle (making it slacker or steeper) and reach (moving the fork forward or back) for personalized geometry and handling, without changing frame parts. They achieve this by rotating within the headtube, shifting the fork's alignment relative to the frame's centerline, offering customization for better downhill stability or quicker steering.

Kim's bike also had a lock-out for the rear shock, that was activated through the left side Sachs Power Grip shifter.

The bike came with a front wheel from Todd Snider and the rear wheel from Missy Giove.

Here's a great video and article explaining the technology of the Fulcrum.