I spotted some very interesting products tucked away in the shady corner of Cannondale’s booth at Outdoor Demo this year. Technically the info is already available on Cannondale’s website, but these new bikes include some interesting tech!
Number one on this list is the Fat CAAD fat bike.
Available in two build kits ($3,730 and $2,130), the most interesting tidbit is the fat bike-specific Lefty found on the top-tier build. Consumers have been doing Lefty fat suspension conversions for years, but they’ve required custom machined crowns and a jury-rigged hub. Until this point, if you wanted stock front suspension for your fat bike, you had to buy a RockShox Bluto. Now, the Lefty Olaf is providing another stock option!
The Olaf was constructed using the Lefty Supermax chassis (read more about the Supermax, here and here), and internally limits the travel to 100mm. Cannondale has created a pair of crowns to work perfectly with fat bike tires, providing a unique 60mm offset that lines up the tire perfectly and “offers the largest tire clearance of any fork.” They’ve also created an all-new fat bike-specific hub to work with their fatty Lefty.
On the rest of the Olaf, Cannondale claims to have created the lowest Q-Factor fat bike on the market (198mm for 1x, 204mm for 2x), which they claim “is up to 2.5cm narrower than other 4.8″ tire compatible bikes!”
The top-tier CAAD comes spec’ed with a SRAM X01 1×11 drivetrain, SunRingle MuleFüt 80 SL rims, Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 4.8″ Snakeskin tubeless tires, SRAM Guide brakes, and a Cannondale cockpit.
New Plus-Sized Bikes
In addition to the CAAD, Cannondale also had the Best of the East 27.5+ hardtail on display. With a 68-degree head tube angle, wide bar, short stem, and stock dropper post, this is an aggressive trail hardtail that will allow you to shred gnarly trails with zero concern. The various complete build kits are priced at $2,770, $2,130, and $1,620
The Bad Habit unfortunately wasn’t on display at their booth, but is also new for this year. This is a 120mm-travel full suspension 27.5+ bike–one of just a little more than a handful on the market. With build kits priced at $3,200 and $2,660, the base-level Bad Habit is currently the most affordable way to get into an FS 27.5+ bike.
0 Comments