It’s been two summers since Cannondale put out a new Scalpel, saying then it put an extra X in XC to tackle more technical World Cup level race courses. Well, after releasing an all-new & even more precise Lefty Ocho fork earlier this summer with their new F-Si hardtail, Cannondale are updating the Scalpel Si too.
2019 Cannondale Scalpel Si XC bike with Lefty Ocho fork
OK, so this might seem like a simple spec change, but after seeing how quickly Cannondale’s Factory Racing Team made the switch to the new fork, it’s pretty clear that the new single crown Ocho is a big step up on the trail.
It is lighter, smoother, and said to be more predictable over technical terrain. We rode the new fork with an F-Si hardtail on Albstadt’s World Cup course and the surrounding trails, and it performed as well as any other XC race fork we’ve ridden.
What stays the same with the 2019 Scalpel?
Pretty much everything about the 100mm travel single pivot frame itself stays that same, for what Cannondale says is their best climbing, best descending, all-around fastest XC full-suspension race bike ever.
The bike keeps Cannondale’s Ai asymmetric integration offset drivetrain meaning it needs a specific dished rear wheel. It keeps OutFront front end geometry which is essentially Cannondale-speak for long low & slack, while also a shorter rear end. It also keeps the frame size specific wheels with the men’s S & women’s XS & S both using 27.5″ wheels (and 5mm less fork offset), while the larger frames stick with 29″ wheels.
What changes with the 2019 Scalpel?
Of course the new Lefty Ocho is the biggest change. Scalpel Si in its four Hi-Mod carbon frame versions – the Scalpel-Si Limited Edition, $10,000/9500€ Scalpel-Si World Cup, $7500/7700€ Scalpel-Si Carbon 1 & 7700€ Scalpel-Si Women’s 1 – all come spec’ed with the new top-end 100mm travel Lefty Ocho Carbon, in both 27.5″ & 29″ sizes per frame size.
All of the new 2019 Scalpels get a lower headset cup spacer to maintain the same overall geometry since the new fork is more compact than the previous double crown Lefty. Interestingly, you might notice that the pros aren’t riding with that spacer, which would suggest that their geometry is steeper, or they could be running custom length forks.
Spec-wise the Scalpel-Si Limited Edition is completely new in that it features a new Shimano XTR M9100 1×12 groupset & Cannondale crank, although no word on pricing or an estimated availability on this bike. Gone are any front derailleurs or any Di2 builds for that matter. Everything is SRAM 1x below this Limited Edition bike. The Scalpel is still Di2 compatible though (with an integrated battery housing inside the toptube) and you can still mount an electronic front derailleur to the chainstay.
Once you get down to the standard carbon frames of the $6800/6300€ Scalpel-Si Carbon 2, $5500/5500€ 3 & $4200/4200€ 4, 4200€ Scalpel-Si Women’s 2, and the alloy $3000/3200€ Scalpel-Si 5, you get the alloy legged Lefty Ocho.
That still gets the same 100mm travel, new Chamber damper with its cable remote lockout, the new OppO air spring, the 1.125-1.5″ tapered steerer, and wheelsize specific 50 or 55mm fork offset. (The 2200€ Scalpel-Si 6 replaces the Lefty with a RockShox Reba RL.)
Availability
All of the new 2019 Scalpels with the new Lefty Ocho fork will be available this month, September 2018, as they have already started shipping to Cannondale dealers worldwide.
