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2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er Shipping – Eyes On & Weights

Written by Tyler Benedict
2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos
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2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

What you’re seeing here is the first 2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er to be delivered in the U.S., sittin’ pretty after just being unboxed, weighed and built by our friends at Freshbikes in Arlington, VA.

We’ve covered, seen and weighed these a couple of times with a full tech rundown here and the dream build here, but it’s always good to see what they end up at on the showroom floor. Click through for tons of pics…

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

If you work at a Cannondale dealer (or you just hang out there a lot), here’s what you see when it’s pulled out of the box.

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

Remove the reflectors and don’t install the cheap flat pedals that come with it and you’ll get a weight of 22.66lbs (approximately 10.28kg or 22lbs 10.6oz, size Large).

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

Besides the wheel size, the key differences between the 26″ Scalpel is the addition of a lower pivot…

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

…use of an X12 thru-axle…

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

…absence of a true seatstay bridge and the linkage pivots from above the shock mount rather than below. The removal of the brake bridge is to help get the rear wheel tucked up closer while still allowing a full 100mm wheel travel (the 26″ model is only 80mm travel). To compensate for the lack of that structural brace, the frame uses the same massive 15mm pivot axles as on their Jekyll all-mountain (er, sorry, Over Mountain) bike. Plus, it connects in front of the pivot, too.

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos

2012 Cannondale Scalpel 29er full suspension mountain bike weight and photos
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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19 Comments
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Jeremiah
Jeremiah
12 years ago

Wait, they didn’t remove the pie plate? Fail.

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tom
tom
12 years ago

Drool……..

Looking forward to your review!

If it will be in the Northern VA area, I would love to tag along for trail side analysis – I promise to look with my eyes only and if its a bonus, I’m a trained bike tech at a Cannondale retailer.

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jonas l
jonas l
12 years ago

Nice, Cannondales nicest bike 2012! but agree with Jeremiah about the pie plats 😉

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Hand/of/Midas
Hand/of/Midas
12 years ago

While i liked the progresses C-Dale made for the sport years ago, these days i just can not support Dorel, for all the same reasons i do my best not to support walmart.

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Olivier
Olivier
12 years ago

Good news!
I hope that Cannondale will honnor their order in Europe on time…Meaning december 2011 or january 2012…Beside that, the bike looks awesome! Looking forward to ride the beast!
Congratulations to the happy owner!
Olivier

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mark
mark
12 years ago

It’s hard to support Cannondale with Dorel ruining the company. The Lefty design is great but good luck getting them serviced at an LBS!

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CBontheMV
CBontheMV
12 years ago

Awesome bike. Too bad they shipped it to freshbikes. Awesome shop, but the staff are mostly douches. Avoid that place like the plague unless you like overpaying for attitude.

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coop
coop
12 years ago

The bikes look great but will we see a true racing machine? I was told a ultra high end bike was on the way in limited numbers. Any truth to that? Also what is the price range on these? So much for my 26inch scalpel!

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Monkey
Monkey
12 years ago

Yeah,
um that frame design looks nothing like a specialized EPIC!
LINK

I don’t know anyone that has had a lefty that hasn’t had it in the shop more than a few times a year.
I like the frames, the designs, the light weight, the race features, I don’t like the prices, they are not affordable anymore, like Trek and specialized have both or all three have become so costly. In this era, the big three need to be making carbon bikes more affordable with better components.

Bike Rumor _ How about a chart comparing the 29er bikes, their components, weights and costs!

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Brett
Brett
12 years ago

Are the people who design these bikes, all roadies or what?…..the clearance between the seat and chain stays to the tyre looks like about 5mm (1/4 inch) at the most!….never heard of mud have they!!!…..just another reason why i don’t do 29ers!

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Dan
Dan
12 years ago

2 pivots? Not a scalpel!!

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Ryan
Ryan
12 years ago

I was lucky enough to ride one last week and is by far the best full suspension 29er on the market. The addition of the lower pivot made the suspension much more active while descending and it still climbed like a dream.

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someslowguy
someslowguy
12 years ago

1. tallest handlebar height in the industry: 29er combined w/ cannondale’s one size fits most headtube height. 2. ugh those wheels – try not to break a spoke. or at least have your heat gun ready… otherwise it looks cool.

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Marc
Marc
12 years ago

@ryan
What size did you ride? I ordered a large and checking the geometry I really think the TT is super long. The gap between the Large and the Medium is pretty big.

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Mark
Mark
12 years ago

Great looking bike, but dual pivot is not a Scalpel. Where is the rest of the range? How many of us will be riding a US$7600 Cannondale? I am sure in Australia it will be more like AU$9000 even though our exchange rate is as good or better and Taiwan is just as close to Oz as USA. Why do you guys only weigh the carbon Trek, Cannondales etc? The majority MTB’s sold are Alloy, that is why they still make them(even Cannondale). Or is it because the manufacturers want you to make their products seem ultra light. (Conspiracy)
Review some real bikes please, not just the Ferraries and McLarens.

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Mark
Mark
12 years ago

Oh almost forgot. “LIMITED NUMBERS”. The 2012 range will arrive in Australia at the start of April(winter) cold, wet, rainy. While Trek, Giant etc all released their 2012 in November 2011 in time for Summer and Christmas.
As far as limited numbers go in Australia we will see 6 Scalpel? 29er alloy 4’s in XL for the entire 20 million Ozzys, so dealers are asking for full retail prepurchases now. So pay for the bike and see it in 4 months, I don’t think so. By then we coulf be all riding 69er’s. lol
If you can’t build the product, just get Giant to make it for you like everyone else.

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Andrew
Andrew
12 years ago

I just got my Carbon 2, and with Pedals [Crank Brothers], a 24 ring instead of a 26 and tubeless [otherwise as spec. from cannondale] it is 24.34 lbs.
It is really cool, thanks REVO for getting the bike…..

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Strom
Strom
12 years ago

I purchased the 2012 Cannondale Scalpel Carbon 1 a few months back and feel inclined to report on my results. I buy a lot of things on the web and have never written a ‘review’. That is not my style. I inclined to do so now because of this bike. Hands down, this is the best mountian bike I have ever ridden!! I have been riding since 1993 and ride about 3 times a week. I have ridden all over the world and consider myself an advanced XC rider. I have owned a range of bikes over the years.

This bike is stiff, responsive, and fast. 23lbs fully loaded (computer, pedals). It is absolutely amazing. I am a technology guy and keep track of all my rides. Consistently I have taken 15% time off my rides. It is absolutely amazing. I am turning 3 hour rides into 2:30 hour rides. That is right, 30 minutes off a ride. Massive gain in performance. Simply amazing.

FYI, I am not sponsored or affiliated with Cannondale in any way and have nothing to gain by this post.

Be careful if you test this bike. You better have your check book ready to purchase!!!!!!

I only have one major gripe. I had the bike built with the stock rims and tires (racing ralphs) tubeless. Acccording to Cannondale, both the rims and tires are tubeless ready. Big mistake. The shop and I could not get the Schwable Racing Ralphs to stay on the bike in a tubeless setup. In fact, the front tire blew off the rim on my bike! The bike tire would keep leaking and required be to add air on every ride. Schwable redesignet the RR tire for 2012 and I think there are problems with the trim/tire combination in tubeless format. I also have a good friend who bought the exact same bike and had similar problems. Hopefully someone can sort this out. I ended up putting a Panasonic Panaracer on the front rim and a Maxxis Ignitor on the back rim in a tubeless format. It added a little bit of weight but gave me more tread and made the entire system rock solid. Cannondale was very helpful sorting out this issue. I have no idea if the problem would also exist if you ran the bike with tubes. I never tried it or intended to ride it that way. Someone else may comment on their experience with stock rims/tires and tubes.

I cannot over emphasize how awesome this new ride is. Save your pennies and buy this bike!!!!!

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1957cerros
1957cerros
12 years ago

What’s the right size frame for a 5’7″ rider?
Thanks…

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