Cannondale Slate. Road bike with suspension
Discussion
Having quickly spotted this on another thread, could this type of bike be a stroke of genius? No idea on weight, and it'll be interesting to see what it rides like but to have a quick road bike which could tackle off road in comfort could be a perfect all rounder.
http://theradavist.com/2015/06/a-quick-ride-on-can...
http://theradavist.com/2015/06/a-quick-ride-on-can...
More versatile than a CX bike? The limitation off-road will be the tyres. If you fit big knobblies then it'll dent its on-road performance. Sorry but I just don't see what use this bike would have, other than racing cobbles maybe like Roubaix.
Oh and the lefty fork makes me gag every time. Disgusting!
Oh and the lefty fork makes me gag every time. Disgusting!
Is that an April Fool's joke?
I just don't see what they think their audience is going to be for it?? On any sort of surface I'd feel comfortable riding on narrow dropped bars, I'd be riding my Hardtail with the forks locked out anyway, as the higher volume tyres would provide enough bounce to ensure comfort.
To make the bike harsh enough to need a 30mm travel suspension fork, I think you'd have to reduce the tyre size to the point where you'd need to set the fork practically to mush just to prevent snakebite punctures, which is going to give a pretty unpleasant Zebedee ride experience. Make the tyres big enough to ride small bumps without worries, and you're not going to need the 30mm suspension in the first place.
It just strikes me as an overly complicated, overweight solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist, just to try and get people to add to n+1.
I just don't see what they think their audience is going to be for it?? On any sort of surface I'd feel comfortable riding on narrow dropped bars, I'd be riding my Hardtail with the forks locked out anyway, as the higher volume tyres would provide enough bounce to ensure comfort.
To make the bike harsh enough to need a 30mm travel suspension fork, I think you'd have to reduce the tyre size to the point where you'd need to set the fork practically to mush just to prevent snakebite punctures, which is going to give a pretty unpleasant Zebedee ride experience. Make the tyres big enough to ride small bumps without worries, and you're not going to need the 30mm suspension in the first place.
It just strikes me as an overly complicated, overweight solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist, just to try and get people to add to n+1.
Also just seen from this article that it will also have 42mm tyres.
I've got 38mm tyres on my CX bike, and that already lets me ride terrain up to the point where bar width becomes the limiting factor that moves me onto the mountain bikes, not ride comfort. Adding a little bit of front suspension wouldn't do anything to change that.
I've got 38mm tyres on my CX bike, and that already lets me ride terrain up to the point where bar width becomes the limiting factor that moves me onto the mountain bikes, not ride comfort. Adding a little bit of front suspension wouldn't do anything to change that.
nammynake said:
More versatile than a CX bike? The limitation off-road will be the tyres. If you fit big knobblies then it'll dent its on-road performance. Sorry but I just don't see what use this bike would have, other than racing cobbles maybe like Roubaix.
Oh and the lefty fork makes me gag every time. Disgusting!
Agree with the first part - it'll be good to replace cross bikes, but it's never going to rival a road bike.Oh and the lefty fork makes me gag every time. Disgusting!
I love the lefty fork though
Kermit power said:
Also just seen from this article that it will also have 42mm tyres.
I've got 38mm tyres on my CX bike, and that already lets me ride terrain up to the point where bar width becomes the limiting factor that moves me onto the mountain bikes, not ride comfort. Adding a little bit of front suspension wouldn't do anything to change that.
At what point would you have wider bars? Not a dig, just genuinely interested in opinion. I've got 38mm tyres on my CX bike, and that already lets me ride terrain up to the point where bar width becomes the limiting factor that moves me onto the mountain bikes, not ride comfort. Adding a little bit of front suspension wouldn't do anything to change that.
the interesting thing is its Alu and has no rear suspension thus its going to be quite harsh even with a carbon seat post. As I said on another thread, I just dont see the we have the terrain here in the UK for something like this. We have trails and forest paths that a regular CX bike is more than capable of surviving (I'm thinking the "roads" through places like Grizedale etc, loose surface but rtelatively hard packed), it just doesnt need suspension. I cant see how the Slate wouldnt work on technical trails like Cwmcarn or Llandegla though, at least not in most peoples hands...
Making it carbon would add the opportunity to provide some comfort at the rear end too.
Making it carbon would add the opportunity to provide some comfort at the rear end too.
So if I wanted a bike for bridleways across the moors (with potholes, rough gravel in places and XC singletrack) as well as riding on the roads, what would I need in a CX bike aside from bigger tyres? Surely geometry plays a big part in how compliant a road orientated bike performs off road? I know that my short and rather slack Genesis doesnt do roads particularly well.
Chicken Chaser said:
Kermit power said:
Also just seen from this article that it will also have 42mm tyres.
I've got 38mm tyres on my CX bike, and that already lets me ride terrain up to the point where bar width becomes the limiting factor that moves me onto the mountain bikes, not ride comfort. Adding a little bit of front suspension wouldn't do anything to change that.
At what point would you have wider bars? Not a dig, just genuinely interested in opinion. I've got 38mm tyres on my CX bike, and that already lets me ride terrain up to the point where bar width becomes the limiting factor that moves me onto the mountain bikes, not ride comfort. Adding a little bit of front suspension wouldn't do anything to change that.
Moving from CX to MTB comes in when the trail conditions mean that I'm going beyond the need to just soak up a bit of bumpiness and getting into things which start trying to knock the front wheel off centre (roots, rocks, potholes etc). At that point, going from the 420mm bars on my CX bike to 750mm on my MTBs makes a huge difference.
I could possibly see a small window for Cannondale's front suspension stretching the window for my current CX bike a little further into mountain bike territory by allowing me to ride over slightly bumpier things before reaching for the wider bars, but comparing my carbon road bike with my aluminium CX bike even without the added weight of suspension tells me that that little bit of an extra window would be massively outweighed by the loss at the other end which would come from the extra weight and added mushiness impacting on road performance.
Chicken Chaser said:
So if I wanted a bike for bridleways across the moors (with potholes, rough gravel in places and XC singletrack) as well as riding on the roads, what would I need in a CX bike aside from bigger tyres? Surely geometry plays a big part in how compliant a road orientated bike performs off road? I know that my short and rather slack Genesis doesnt do roads particularly well.
For me I would want wider bars, on that sort of terrain you will be on the hoods a lot as thats the widest part of the bars but its not easy to get the necessary leverage for most XC singletrack trials from that position. It would also be pretty sketchy descending on the hoods and even more so when the wheels are off the ground... You are also limited as to how far you can pitch your body weight backwards over the rear wheel on a bike like the slate, on an mtb I can get my backside over the rear hub but thats not going to be as easy or controllable on a cx bike thus ruling out descending steep sections quickly. You are right about geo too, if you stand up on a road bike you are generally sprinting or climbing and pitching your body forwards.I like the idea of the Slate, I like the idea of a day spent riding on forest/gravel paths amongst the trees and the flowers and maybe try some green or even blue grade xc routes if they were close by but it would be considerably slower than a hardtail and a cx bike with discs could do that too.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 19th June 11:28
Kermit power said:
Is that an April Fool's joke?
I just don't see what they think their audience is going to be for it?? On any sort of surface I'd feel comfortable riding on narrow dropped bars, I'd be riding my Hardtail with the forks locked out anyway, as the higher volume tyres would provide enough bounce to ensure comfort.
To make the bike harsh enough to need a 30mm travel suspension fork, I think you'd have to reduce the tyre size to the point where you'd need to set the fork practically to mush just to prevent snakebite punctures, which is going to give a pretty unpleasant Zebedee ride experience. Make the tyres big enough to ride small bumps without worries, and you're not going to need the 30mm suspension in the first place.
It just strikes me as an overly complicated, overweight solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist, just to try and get people to add to n+1.
+1I just don't see what they think their audience is going to be for it?? On any sort of surface I'd feel comfortable riding on narrow dropped bars, I'd be riding my Hardtail with the forks locked out anyway, as the higher volume tyres would provide enough bounce to ensure comfort.
To make the bike harsh enough to need a 30mm travel suspension fork, I think you'd have to reduce the tyre size to the point where you'd need to set the fork practically to mush just to prevent snakebite punctures, which is going to give a pretty unpleasant Zebedee ride experience. Make the tyres big enough to ride small bumps without worries, and you're not going to need the 30mm suspension in the first place.
It just strikes me as an overly complicated, overweight solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist, just to try and get people to add to n+1.
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