Meribel World Cup XC Pro Bike Checks – Cannondale & Bianchi

Cannondale Factory Racing pro rider Manuel Fumic placed third at Meribel. He opted for his full suspension Scalpel, and he was among many of the top finishing men in using front and rear suspension. Most of the top placing women, however, opted for hardtails…just something we found interesting, particularly since the Meribel course wasn’t particularly rough save for a few rock gardens.

Behind it is teammate Marco Fontana’s FSi hardtail 29er. Check the weights and details for both, plus Team TX Active rider Gerhard Kerschbaumer’s Methanol SL, below…

Fumic’s running Cannondale’s OPI stem on his Lefty with a massive bend to keep the bar low. Then, he flipped the handlebar to get just a hair lower.

Rockshox’s Full Sprint dual hydraulic lockout seals up the compression ports for both the Lefty XLR and the Monarch rear shock.

Decked out with Hollowgram SiSL cranks, XX1 drivetrain, FSA bar and post, Prologo saddle and foam grips, Schwalbe Thunder Burt tires and Enve 50fifty wheels. it comes in at 10.02kg (22.04lb).

Fontana’s FSi hardtail uses a virtually identical build but with a straighter stem.

His hit the scale at just 8.8kg (19.4lb).

BIANCHI

Gerhard Kerschbaumer’s an Italian racer on an Italian brand. He opted for a 27.5″ wheeled Methanol SL despite not being a shorter fella. I asked why he and his teammate, also probably about 6′ tall, weren’t riding 29ers and they said the smaller wheels are faster. Or maybe they said “quicker”. There’s a difference. Either way, it carried him to 5th place in the XCO.

Like the Cannondale boys, he’s running his bar upside down, too. Could just be to get a more wrist-friendly upsweep (or, rather, downsweep).

FSA cranksets join the branded cockpit, but without any sort of narrow/wide chainring, he bolted on an FRM carbon chain guide.

Extra cable adds weight.

Bianchi-branded and red anodized Carbon-Ti red water bottle cage bolts give it that little something extra.

Wheels are Crank Brothers Cobalt 11 carbon rimmed models with Hutchinson Black Mamba tires.

Complete bike weight was 8.9kg (19.62lb).