The Scalpel races as well or better than the competition because it has tech nobody else has. A broken part almost always means waiting for a shipment from Cannondale rather than picking it up locally. The same goes for fixing broken parts or upgrading the bike it’s not easy. It should be noted that rear wheels can be “re-dished” for the Scalpel by any bike shop. Similarly, its rear wheel is offset to the right by 6mm, meaning it will rub the frame and brake caliper on any other frame. The simple task of taking off the front wheel to put it in your car is a considerable hassle because of the bike’s design (you have to remove the brake caliper). The Scalpel will not work with fork-mount bike racks (although adapters are available some). The Scalpel does things no other bike can do in terms of stiffness, weight, and features.īut the Scalpel comes with some negative compromises in terms of compatibility and inconvenience when it comes to finding parts. The amount of engineering investment in this bike is big. The company is very far down the rabbit hole. This is Cannondale’s fifth iteration of the Scalpel. It also allows for increased tire clearance. The Ai not only makes the wheels stronger, but also allows the rear end to be shortened which is good for traction. This makes the bracing angle of the spokes even, which is so damn logical it makes you shake your head when you see what everybody else is doing. The brand accomplished this by moving the rear triangle 6 mm toward the drive side, pushing the chainring out to match, and re-dishing the rear wheel to keep the rim in proper relation to the frame’s centerline. This is the gold standard.Īnother quirky engineering feat I like is Cannondale’s “Asymmetric Integration” concept that boosts wheel stiffness without increasing weight. To top it off, you don’t have to take your wheel off to change a flat!Ĭomplementing the front end is a more “slack” head tube. This means the fork puts the front wheel further in front of the rider so you’re less likely to go over the bars. But because it’s a custom fork, Cannondale increased the rake, reducing “floppiness” in the steering.Īll this translates to the best front end of any cross-country race bike so far. It has the best lockout, and needle bearings that don’t bind like other telescoping forks, so it works predictably, regardless of how hard it’s being flexed. The “Lefty” is awesome, tracking straighter than anything else, while also being lighter (unless you count undamped forks). The front fork is Cannondale’s best example of what it does differently. Cannondale’s “lefty” fork is very stiff laterally, putting the front tire where the rider needs it. It’s also lighter, stiffer, faster, and better. Cannondale’s marketing doesn’t lie when with claims it’s different. Generally, it’s a bunch of marketing speak that disingenuously sets them apart. Some buyers are understandably frustrated when I say most bikes are basically the same. Today, there are hundreds of bike companies offering thousands of bikes. The single-arm fork is just one example of Cannondale spending money to design and patent its own parts instead of ordering from the catalogue used by other bike companies. Home » Biking » Review: Cannondale Scalpel-Si, Fastest Cross-Country Race BikeĪ bike that proves all high-end rides are not the same, the Scalpel-Si might be the fastest XC bike on the planet.Ĭannondale’s Scalpel-Si race bike is like a supercar-so exotic it’s incompatible with standard parts and hard to work on. It is a short-travel carbon fiber frame with 29er wheels, but that’s where its similarities to the competition stops.