Growing on top of last year’s enduro revamp, the Jekyll family gets a big-wheeled sibling by way of the 2019 Cannondale Jekyll 29er. As an 27.5″ enduro racer, the Jekyll was refreshed with more aggressive trail geometry and a name-appropriate two-mode travel to either flow or hustle. Now a new 29er gets all the same Jekyll tech with slightly shorter travel and improved rollover.
2019 Cannondale Jekyll 29 150mm enduro mountain bike
The new Jekyll 29 shares a carbon front end design that closely mimics the carbon 27.5″ bike, again employing a BallisTec Carbon construction to build in enduro-ready & all-mountain durability.
Interestingly the new 29er version of the enduro bike does not get a carbon rear end or linkage, instead using a SmartForm C1 Alloy swingarm, alloy seatstays, and a multi-piece welded alloy shock link.
Jekyll 29 Tech Details
Suspension layout is unchanged for the 29er and uses the same high single pivot, faux-bar design with a long link driving the high-mounted shock (making way for a full-sized bottle beneath), all with stiff thru-axle pivots. Travel for the larger-wheeled Jekyll 29 is dialed back to 150mm in the longer Flow Mode and gets matched to the same 150mm of fork travel (vs. the 165mm frame/170mm fork of the Jekyll 27.5).
Of course the Jekyll 29 keeps that same dual-personality of its namesake, with the special Gemini dual-mode air spring system Fox rear shocks. Use the shock remote to pop the bike into Hustle Mode where it firms up to just 120mm of rear wheel travel for more efficient ascending.
The Jekyll 29 still keeps Cannondale’s Ai offset drivetrain, plus the same frame features as its recently revamped sibling, including ISCG 05 tabs, modular internal cable routing, a PF30 bottom bracket, that future-proof flat mount rear disc brake mounting, a tapered headtube, and overall Boost spacing.
Geometry
The new Jekyll 29 come in four frame sizes (S-XL) and just three build options. For now all of the builds share the same carbon front end mated to an alloy rear, but we wouldn’t be too surprised to see an all-carbon or all-alloy version pop up in the near future to match the 27.5″ offerings.
Jekyll 29 Pricing & Spec
The $6500 top spec’ed Jekyll 29 1 gets a SRAM X01 Eagle 1×12 drivetrain with Code RSC brakes, Stan’s Flow wheels, and Fox Factory suspension, including the DPX2 piggy back air shock.
The mid-tier Jekyll 29 2 dials back to Fox Performance suspension, again with a DPX2, then to a mixed X01/GX Eagle drivetrain and XT brakes for $5300.
Rounding out the most affordable option at $3800, the Jekyll 29 3 goes for a SRAM GX/NX Eagle mix, Guide R brakes, and Fox Performance suspension with a single chamber rear shock. All three get Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5″ front & DHR 2.4″ rear tires with varying casing specs.
