Cannondale Scalpel review

At the rate new XC bikes have been announced lately I thought I’d best write about this one before the next Scalpel comes into view.

In the last few years I’ve had quite a list of XC suspension bikes. Why? Well in truth I’ve not been entirely happy with any of them.

Why a Scalpel? If I’m honest I’m running out of options, having gone through quite a few alternatives and worked out what I do and don’t like. An added incentive was a shop in Spain offering a significant discount.

This meant my blue version was unique, with black being the only colour available in the UK at the time of purchase. It’s only recently that this has changed, with Cannondale now offering the blue to UK customers too. In my opinion it’s a much more preferable colour.

Cookie cutter?

Those keeping an eye on XC bikes in recent years may have noticed a steady trend towards single pivot flex stay suspension arrangements, mainly to save weight. There are now so many similar looking bikes that it has been dubbed the ‘cookie cutter’ design.

At first glance the Scalpel is yet another. But wait!

Because the flex occurs on the chainstay rather than seatstay, and at a specific location where the stays are visibly flat, it actually functions as a Horst Link 4 bar layout.

This arrangement offers improved tunability of instant center position, axle path, and separation of braking and pedaling from suspension. Only Cannondale and more recently Rocky Mountain currently utilise this approach.

One drawback to flexing stays is they usually accelerate shock rebound while springing back to their natural shape, sometimes quite aggressively. I once had a Kona Hei Hei, which needed rebound set to almost full slow to avoid the rider being ejected over the bars. Fortunately the Scalpel’s design has no effect on rebound.

Cannondale Lefty – half your fork is missing, mate!

There are two models of the Scalpel. One comes with a Lefty ‘fork’ (prong? tine?) and one with a Rock Shox SID.

A Lefty is nothing new to me; the basic concept has been around since the 90s, and I’ve ridden a few before. Since that was a long time ago I chose the Lefty model to find out if it still had something going for it.

Interestingly Lefty equipped Scalpels are available in Europe but not the US. I’m not sure if this says something about the Lefty being less popular in the US, or about Cannondale as a brand seemingly being stronger in Europe.

Cannondale Lefty for the curious

Either way, this is a good opportunity to answer a few common questions.

Is a Lefty strong? Very, they don’t break, not structurally anyway.

Is it stiff enough? Significantly stiffer than the 32mm stanchion DT Swiss F232 on my Fairlight and comparable to a 35mm SID, maybe stiffer.

How does it not rotate? It might look round on the outside but its triangular inside.

Does it pull to the left? Only if you walk along holding the saddle. While riding this is almost imperceptible.

The version on my Cannondale Scalpel is an aluminium Lefty Ocho, with 120mm travel.

Unfortunately at over 1700g it’s not competitive on weight with conventional twin legged 120mm forks. If you feel flush, there is a carbon version which is significantly lighter and gives a SID or 34 SL a run for their money.

Advantages of the Cannondale Lefty design

Advantages of the design include constant seal lubrication as it’s upside-down. Its stiffer than conventional forks, and remains active under steering or braking. Mostly it runs on needle bearings rather than bushings (which can bind). You can also change your tyre and/or tube without removing the wheel. Apparently some riders still use tubes!

One notable improvement on past iterations is the brake mount. As the wheel unbolts sideways it needs the brake caliper removed. Previously this meant undoing the caliper bolts but now the brake mount has its own quick release.

Does this work? Yes. Is it more fiddly than taking a normal fork axle out? Also yes.

Observations on the Cannondale Scalpel 2 build kit

My bike is still the stock Scalpel 2 build kit, apart from Shimano XT cranks.

Fox Transfer SL dropper

The dropper post is a Fox Transfer SL and while perfectly functional, the two position post takes some getting used to. It has no air pressure or cartridge inside, just a very lightweight spring. Dropping down, there’s no resistance or need to push. It’s like falling through a trapdoor!

SRAM GX T-type AXS gears

This is also my first bike with SRAM wireless gears.

There is some play in the mech mount but Googling reveals this isn’t uncommon with GX T-type (Transmission) mounts. I don’t think it’s great for a £430 RRP mech, and obviously it wouldn’t happen with a good ol’ derailleur hanger.

The shifting itself is also somewhat slow, but not obnoxiously so. SRAM did send out a firmware update related to shifting speed but this only sped up multiple shifts, with the side effect of making accidental double shifts more frequent.

Having had the bike almost a year now I’m still pressing the wrong shifter button and it seems I’m not the only rider that’s not keen on this shifter. SRAM even sell a conversion from two buttons to their other rocker design and there’s a company making brackets to turn the pod on its side to try and make it more intuitive.

On the upside no adjustments have been required, shifting under load is impressively smooth, and range is over 300 miles between charges. But… ultimately I’d have been perfectly happy with cable gears.

Maxxis tyres

The Scalpel is shod with Maxxis Aspen and Rekon Race tyres, a popular XC spec choice.

In the basic compound EXO variants though, these are not what the pros use. In fact with weights of 760g and 818g these aren’t particularly light, don’t roll amazingly well for XC tyres, and – perhaps less surprising – don’t like mud.

The 2.4 size does deliver a smooth ride, but something faster will be in order when these wear out.

Headset cable routing… Grrr!

Well, I’m not a fan.

There is zero benefit on a mountain bike in my opinion and it makes working on the bike a pain. Reinstalling the fork after servicing is now a two person job.

The associated plastic spacers, plastic stem/headset parts and plastic steerer shield to prevent cable rub also just comes across as a cheap and low quality solution.

Cannondale Lefty Ocho performance

From the first ride this was not the best feeling Lefty, due mainly to poor bump sensitivity.

With seals and other moving parts to wear-in I hoped it would improve over time. Instead it got worse. Then started intermittently clicking over bumps. I’ve literally had smoother rigid forks.

Eventually I sent it to Saddleback to service and check for warranty, along with a note listing issues. Although nothing majorly wrong was found, various parts were replaced, damper bled, and a “much better oil” used.

Saddleback kindly did this free of charge, despite saying there was no warranty issue… then went into administration three days later. Whether this acknowledges it was indeed performing like rubbish, or they had given up making money by that stage is anyone’s guess.

Either way what came back was completely transformed. Readily absorbing bumps, with faster rebound, and no clicking. It is fairly linear with the standard three volume spacers and my 72kg.

Saddleback suggested staying with that number of volume spacers but increasing the pressure. I haven’t noticed any bottom outs since receiving it back, but it’s perfectly possible to achieve full travel with a bonk, unlike some forks that are impossible to bottom out even with no volume spacers (my last SID).

Ride impressions of the Cannondale Scalpel

With all those issues out of the way the Scalpel rides very nicely.

Longer, lower, and slacker might have reached a plateau on trail and enduro bikes, but XC has yet to settle down.

A 510mm reach and 446mm chainstay has this XL size at the spacious and stable end of things, and is perhaps what stands out most coming from similar alternatives. I can also confirm the BB is deceptively low, following a few pedal strikes.

Thoughts about the Cannondale Scalpel geometry

In some ways it feels more like a trail bike from a few years ago than XC. I guess this is a sign of the more technical direction World Cup courses have been heading in.

Ordinarily these geometry numbers wouldn’t lead to the most agile handling, but Cannondale have gone with a 50mm offset for the Lefty, which livens up the steering.

On paper a 75.5° effective seat tube angle is average. In real life the key thing is this is reasonably accurate at saddle height (some aren’t), creating a decent centered riding position for climbing without feeling perched on flatter ground.

Pedal efficiency

As far as pedal efficiency goes there is appreciably less shock movement than an Epic 7, 8, or on DW Link bikes, but more than others like a Supercaliber or older VPP bikes.

The level of anti squat is reasonably effective, firming up under harder pedaling, but without being so excessive as to create chain growth pulling back on the cranks over every bump, which tends to get tiring.

Cannondale are one of the only brands not only doing proportional geometry like longer chainstays for larger sizes but also tweaking the suspension kinematic so different height riders get the same performance. For example a taller rider has a higher center of gravity so benefits from increased anti squat.

Final thoughts on the Cannondale Scalpel

Ideally I would prefer a three position shock rather than two.

That being said I can happily pedal a whole ride with the shock open, unlike an Epic which needs some level of platform damping. Standing, there’s no obvious flex in the back end while locked out yet it’s not completely rock solid.

As the frame feels sturdy I imagine this is either bouncy high volume tyres at work or a little give in the SID Luxe shock.

The Scalpel achieves a good balance that would be difficult to replicate with a single pivot. Looking at Strava times it has demolished some long standing PRs, which I put down to its ability to pedal over rough ground without either undue bobbing or interrupting cadence.

General front and rear suspension feel is firm but active, and planted rather than poppy. Lefties don’t do pop, and in this case the flexing stays don’t offer much either. Rear progressivity is just about perfect for me. According to the rubber o-ring the rear shock has reached full travel, but hasn’t been felt.

On the whole I’m fairly happy with the Scalpel, and looking forward to trying it with different rubber.