Introduced at the Riva del Garda Mountain Bike Festival, the all-new 2017 Cannondale Scalpel Si goes further than ever down the “Systems Integration” path to become a far more capable XC race bike. One capable of the increasingly rough courses at on World Cup circuit. Fortunately, there’s a massive spread of price points and builds to suit those of us just dreaming of the week night training race.
Click through for spec sheets and pricing on the entire line, a close up of the Black Inc. version, and a sizing chart to show which versions (women’s, some men’s) get the 27.5″ wheels and which go big with 29er…
In order to make the bike fit everyone well, they did more than tweak the geometry to make it handle better. The entire size run now has a more linear stack-and-reach growth, and they used two different wheel sizes to keep overall bike size more appropriate. There are two women’s specific models in the lineup, both carbon, and both with 27.5″ wheels. The only real difference between them is spec, with the “men’s” bikes getting 760mm wide bars and “women’s” getting 740mm handlebars and a women’s specific saddle. The frames are identical, and there’s no pink/salmon/fuschia/purple to be found on any of the paint schemes. So, really, they’ll work just fine for small guys, too, and vice versa.
One interesting spec note is that you won’t find the OPI stem coming stock on any of the bikes. Nor do they get Cannondale’s heavily bent “down low” stem to get the handlebar over and in front of the Lefty’s crown. Cannondale’s mountain bike product manager told us that while there is retail demand for the OPI stem, and their sponsored XC riders like Fontana and Fumic are still using them, they wanted to stick with the one-piece steerer tube and standard stem for production bikes. The OPI stem uses a threaded two-piece design that takes more care to properly install, and so, for now, it’s easier to just stick to the basics. We’re thinking it could be an aftermarket item worth inquiring about at your local C’dale dealer.
The four top carbon models all use Cannondale’s BallisTec Hi-Mod carbon, and the remainder (including the women’s bikes) use standard modular BallisTec. At the top of the price range is the Scalpel Si Black Inc., coming in at $/€11,999, available in August. Click to enlarge any spec sheet to read them.
As usual, it’s built up with Shimano XTR Di2, Chris King/ENVE wheels and a mostly ENVE cockpit.
The price gets you both electronic derailleurs and Cannondale’s top-level SiSL2 cranks, which are paired with FSA double chainrings.
Next down is the Team model at $/€8,999, available in August.
The Race spec comes in at $/€8,499, available in April.
Scalpel Si Carbon 1 is $/€6,999, available in April.
Scalpel Si Carbon 2 is $/€5,999, available in May.
Scalpel Si Carbon 3 is $/€4,999, available in May.
Scalpel Si Carbon 4 is $/€3,999, available in May.
The Scalpel Si 5 is the only alloy bike in the line and will retail for $/€2,999. This one’s available in September.
The women’s bikes are both available in May and will retail for $/€5,999 for the 1 (above) and $/€3,999 for the 2 (below).
For the full tech article on the new Scalpel Si, click here.
