Cannondale has just published a teaser video showing a Lefty suspension fork equipped gravel road bike, which looks to be the direction they’re taking for the single-sided suspended cyclocross bikes that’ve been spotted at the races recently.
Details are non-existent, but a few well timed screen grabs help get the story started. As does the blurb accompanying the video:
For those whose love for the road extends beyond just the road. For those whose thirst for fun and adventure cannot be quenched by mere road bikes or those dreary grinders of gravel. For all those who don’t necessarily want to road-ride, but who just want to ride the roads, and the verges, the trails, and whatever strikes their fancy, we proudly offer a road bike unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Check the video and more pics below…
These prototypes, as ridden by Tim Johnson and company, have an alloy frame with cables running through the downtube. They’re both setup with mechanical disc brakes, but our hunch is a hydraulic brake equipped version won’t take long to follow when these hit the market this fall.
Not surprisingly, the seat- and chainstays appear to have Cannondale’s flattened SAVE micro suspension to mute road chatter, and a thin carbon seatpost is likely also contributing to rider comfort.
The video moves briskly, making closeup detail shots tough, but we didn’t spot any rear rack/pannier/fender mounts. And obviously those would be pretty tough to incorporate into a one-sided fork, suggesting this will at least initially be a more performance oriented offering.
Cannondale will be showing part of their 2016 range next month in Austria and we’ll be there to cover it. More as we get it.
