When Cannondale introduced the Jekyll “Over Mountain” all mountain bike way back in June 2010, they said riders weren’t likely to go for a one-sided “fork” on a 150mm bike, so they went with traditional forks from Fox.
But, with the introduction of the Trigger 29er and its 130mm Lefty Super Max, they seem to have changed their mind. Cannondale’s marketing manager Murray Washburn told us that while the normal Lefty is plenty stiff for normal short travel (up to 120mm), a thicker, stiffer version could go up to 180mm.
In reality, it’s more likely to end up as a 150-160mm option on the Jekyll. Washburn says they have a lot of demand for something like that in Europe, and they’re testing it right now on team rider Ben Cruz’s bike.
While it seems like an easy transition to modify the 130mm 29er Max, Murray says it takes some time to get the damping characteristics and spring rates right for the intended application. Cruz is riding it now in training, but he’ll likely start the race season on Rockshox (his sponsor) until the project is a little further along. Even so, it should end up being available at retail by the end if this year. While C’dale was mum on the subject other than to say “we’d be foolish if we weren’t looking at it”, there’s no reason why the Super Max wouldn’t make a killer addition to a 650B trail bike, no?
In the meantime, as soon as they’re caught up on Trigger 29er bike production, the 29er Lefty Super Max will be available aftermarket…likely by mid summer.
