Leonardi Factory has a bit of thing for Cannondale, offering a range of upgrade bits and pieces for their Headshok and Lefty front suspensions.
This prototype stem was spotted at the Cannondale Team Mountain Bike Camp and offers a more severe reverse rise than the stock OPI stems. Keen observers will note the lack of bolts clamping it to the steerer, and that’s because it takes full advantage of Cannondale’s OPI (One Piece Integration) design. The lower portion of the steerer tube threads into the bottom of the stem, providing a very clean, low profile design. You can see how it works in more detail here and in a photo below.
The stem, which we think is named “Johnny”, has plenty of machining from all angles. Check detail pics of this, Leonardi’s XX1 SiSL chainring spider adapter and more, below…
Cannondale’s current OPI stem lineup offers lengths from 90mm to 120mm and rises from 6º to -5º to -15º, so aftermarket options that bring the cockpit lower might be in high demand as new longer travel Lefty forks make their way onto more bikes. Word around camp was this had a -20º rise. Shorter lengths will be all but impossible as bar/stanchion clearance becomes an issue with negative rise.
Here’s a diagram of how the OPI stems and steerers go together:
This design has been in use for a couple years, since about 2010 or 2011, and uses a 1.5″ steerer.
While Cannondale’s working on their own XX1 compatible spider for the new, ultralight SiSL2 crankset, there are still plenty of riders running the prior generation (and still sick light!) SiSL cranks that might want a simpler solution. For that, Leonardi’s got you covered…if you can get it. We’ve heard it’s a bit tough getting them to ship into the US (if you’ve found a method, leave it in the comments!).
It’s not quite as machined out as Cannondale’s upcoming part, but still pretty well relieved of any excess baggage. This part was also spotted on some of C’dale’s XC pro team bikes.
We saw Leonardi’s General Lee oversized cassette cogs for SRAM cassettes before, but not this close up. This one was sitting in a window display in a bike shop in Italy.
The four cogs replace the biggest four on any SRAM 1030/1050/1070 cassette and give it a 25t-40t spread, albeit with a pretty massive jump between gears.
You can find Leonardi Factory (also known by Leonardi Racing) online at http://www.leonardiracing.it/ with more products and a bit easier navigation on their shopping site here.
