Cannondale unveils lightest Scapel ever for Olympic riders

Cannondale sponsored riders Roel Paulissen, Jakob Fuglsang and Kashi Leuchs will be racing a superlight, super-secret 8.8Kg version of the Scapel in the Olympic mountain bike event later this month. Whether the new Scapel will do for mountain bikers what the Speedo LZR has done for swimmers like Michael Phelps is yet to be seen. The specs from Cannondale:

“¢ the Scalpel’s Zero Pivot optimized chainstay
“¢ high modulous carbon layers
“¢ raw carbon finish (no paint) and lightweight personalized national decal kits
“¢ HeadShok Lefty, ride tuned and race optimized by 88+
“¢ Cannondale’s Si SL 2×9 mountain crankset with ceramic bearings
“¢ Vredestein prototype Black Panther tubular tires
“¢ Mavic’s prototype tubular wheelset

Ironically the American company isn’t providing the bikes to any US riders this time around due to ongoing sponsorship agreements. It’s also interesting to note that no one is riding 29ers in the Olympics this year (that we know of). This could be due to Olympic rules designating wheel diameters or athlete choice – does anyone know the official line?

More pics from Cannondale.com:

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