Cannondale had their near-production ready Scalpel 29er tucked away in their truck, and we’ve got your sneak peek!
It has 100mm front and rear travel, which means this is their first 100mm 29er fork (they are 90mm on their hardtails). It borrows the SAVE seatstays from the 26″ scalpel and pivotless dropout, but it does get a pivot at the front of the chainstays. The SAVE seatstays are designed to flex a little, but nothing like the Flexstays on the 2011 26″ Scalpel. Borrowing from the Jekyll, it gets 15mm thru axles for the main and link pivots and a Syntace X12 (x142) rear axle.
Lots more after the break…
Pressfit30 BB gives them a lighter, all carbon bottom bracket node.
It has an external headset cup at the top of the headtube that gives it a lower standover height. The design worked so well for them that the Scalpel 29er is the first 29er bike they’ll make in a Small size. Frame and shock weigh about 1900g (claimed) for a size large, which is what we weighed.
Headtube angle is 70 degrees and seat angle is 73.5 degrees. BB height is 335mm and chainstay length is 452mm. They worked closely with both Fox and Rockshox for rear shock tunes, and both will be offered on various trim levels.
Two carbon models will be offered, coming out in September/October. Prices TBD. Top model will have their Hollowgram SL cranks, and both will have the Lefty fork.
Most of the frame is monocoque high modulus carbon, but several construction methods are used throughout the frame. Johannes Huseby, Cannondale’s director of global product management, says this lets them build a lighter overall frame.
Bike weighed had SRAM X0, Stans wheels with DT hubs, Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires, Fizik seatpost and saddle. It came in at 21lbs 4oz. More pics coming soon, but had to get this up ASAP!
