Interbike 2008 - Cannondale Moto Carbon 2
by Tyler Maine
Sep 29, 2008
Cannondale's Moto Carbon 2 is their answer to the the aggressive All Mountain rider's needs. With 6 inches of front and rear wheel travel, the Moto is ready to take on any trail you take it too. Have a look at the all new Hatchet Drive suspension and listen to what Doug Dalton has to say about the bike inside.
Video, pictures and specs are all inside:
Video, pictures and specs are all inside:
Hatchet Drive:
While the hatchet drive link may look like a small axe, it is doing a lot to give the moto it's distinct ride feel. The hatchet drive link aids in removing stress from the front triangle by creating a rotation that doesn't put direct stress on any one area of the front triangle. By having the rear shock mounted in a floating manner, you'll also get a feeling of bottomless travel out back.
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Hot Box:
The bottom bracket of the Moto Carbon frames has been torsionally re-enforced with 2 thin carbon fiber plates to create a sandwich around the BB. They call this the hot box.
Diablo Headtube:
With an outer diameter of 66.6 mm, the carbon head tube on the Moto Carbon frames is over sized to say the least. There is a lot of extra strength and steering precision that comes with this new steerer tube.
| Frame | Cannondale Moto Carbon 2(Charcoal Grey) •160mm of travel •Sizes S, M, L and XL |
| Rear Shock | Fox DHX 4.0 Air |
| Fork | Fox 36 TALAS R •20 mm axle •100-130-160mm Travel adjust •Rebound adjustment |
| Headset | Moto 1.5" Integrated |
| Crankarms | Shimano XT |
| Chainrings | Shimano 22/32/44T |
| Bottom Bracket | Shimano Hollowtech II, 68/73mm |
| Pedals | Crank Brothers Smarty Clipless |
| Chain | Shimano 9 speed |
| Cassette | •Shimano XT 11-34 T, 9 Speed |
| Front Derailleur | Shimano LX |
| Rear Derailleur | SRAM X.9 |
| Shifter Cable/Housing | Stock |
| Shifter Pods | SRAM X.9, 9 speed |
| Handlebar | FSA XC-190AOS, 25 mm rise(31.8mm) |
| Stem | Cannondale XC3 1.5"(31.8mm) |
| Grips | Cannondale GRIND Lock On |
| Brakes | Avid Elixir CR with 7" rotors |
| Front Wheel | DT Swiss E2200 20mm |
| Rear Wheel | DT Swiss E2200 135x12mm - MAXLE option |
| Tires | Continental Mountain King Supersonic, 26 x 2.4" |
| Tubes | Stock |
| Saddle | Fi'zi:k Gobi XM w/MG rails |
| Seatpost | Thomson Elite |
The Cannondale Moto Carbon 2 is one step down from the flag ship model, but it is so well spec'd for the average rider that I can see this being their highest demand model. Every piece is chosen to last and hold up to all the abuse a true All Mountain machine could face.
To learn more about the Cannondale Moto Carbon 2 and the rest of the Cannondale bike line up, please visit:
www.cannondale.com
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54 Comments
- + 11
candymuffin
(Sep 29, 2008 at 0:50)
that looks like a super fun bike.
soooo ugly. it might be an alright ride, but it looks like they didn't know what to do with the shock...
it might give a good ride...but aesthetics does play some part, and that really looks terrible
it might give a good ride...but aesthetics does play some part, and that really looks terrible
The placement of a shock doesn't get put where they think it would look good. The whole bike is based around the engineering design.
i realize that and thats why i saw it may give a good ride...but the look of it doesn't apeal to me
i know cannondale has made some great performing bikes, but the look never did it for me(might be wise as they might acutally still concentrate on function over form)
i know cannondale has made some great performing bikes, but the look never did it for me(might be wise as they might acutally still concentrate on function over form)
Look at a pic of a Commencal Meta 6, all I was saying is the shock linkage looks similar to the Meta 6 but upside down. Don't really like the look of either to be honest. And WTF is knuckle box?
Knucklebox is the name of diamondback's new suspension seen here:
http://all.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007_diamondback_mission_3.jpg
http://all.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007_diamondback_mission_3.jpg
Complicated is interesting to an interesting person. I think it looks sick and to a blank mind you would think it's good because it looks complex. I say props to to cannondale team i love it.
It's too cluttered around the rear shock, if they used a simpler design they could of saved weight and made a much nice looking bike.
i agree, that is the most complicated looking 4-link suspension i've ever seen. its like a cross between down pressure style suspension(kona) and a horst link.....really f*cked up
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I rode the Moto 1 at a demo and its not as ugly as it looks in the pictures. It rides really nice though. Soaks up everything.
Looks like a knock off of the 'Knucklebox' suspension design Diamond Back uses. You'll see it for 2-3 years and then they'll move on to something else just as odd.
I tried it on a local trail at a demo day, and all I can say is "fun".
it's super light, and the suspension feels like a cloud. I loved it
it's super light, and the suspension feels like a cloud. I loved it
i think it looks pretty dam tight. if i ever need an all mountain bike ill definatley look this one up
Looks like an inverted the Commencal system
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2106098/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2106098/
[Reply]
It looks much like the Diamondback and Commencal (as well as the transition siron as) mentionned - pretty much all single pivot bikes (even though some may have that extra pivot avove the rear wheel acle) with extra linkage to control leverage ratios and drive the shock. In no way is it a mix of horst or anything else, nor looks like it.
However, Cannondale seems to have gone a step above and created a floating shock design, and I would imagine this gives them the opportunity to do different things with the leverage ratios of this bike that you cannot do with the other bikes mentionned above.
So, it's a little more sophisticated...but still ugly as hell.
However, Cannondale seems to have gone a step above and created a floating shock design, and I would imagine this gives them the opportunity to do different things with the leverage ratios of this bike that you cannot do with the other bikes mentionned above.
So, it's a little more sophisticated...but still ugly as hell.
Yuck. Triple chain ring??? Really??? Carbon is cool, but not cool enough to make up for the terrible spec. Cannondale is better than this!
I already cracked a moto 1 about a month ago, the design won't hold up to a 185lb plus rider, the lower main pivot cracked down to the BB. check my profile page and I have a few pics of it, but the cracks are hard to see due to my sh*tty camera. The Trek Remedy 9 is a pound lighter and it's made of aluminum instead of carbon, Cannondale dropped the ball on this hairbrained idea. Buy a remedy instead.
Hey Wintermatty, we had a issue with a few early released frames where the carbon plates were not properly cleaned before bonding. So what you observed is the carbon plate pulling away from the monocoque structure. This issue has been resolve for quite some time and should not be a problem for riders of any weight. I hope you will reconsider Cannodale in the future. -The Kid
I'm pretty sure cannondale is a little reluctant in letting me test another moto for a little while. I would test one again, but i'm not sold on the use of Carbon on any bike more than 4 inches of travel. I'm mean in this case if i paid 6,500 for a Moto 1 Carbon I would expect cannondale had conducted enough R&D to make sure it wouldn't fail. I didn't even ride it as hard as I do my trail bike and it sounded like I was breaking celery stalks everytime i hopped a log. I only speaking in respect to the experiance I had, not an opinion. I would give cannondale another chance. But let hope they bring their "A" game this time. I will.
Like I said the problem should be resolved now. Also I can assure you that a sh@t-ton of R&D goes into every bike we make and we stand behind our products. Maybe you can talk to the Rep in your area about riding another one?
i want to see sumone sit on that to see how the suspension system works! may be complicated but looks amazing.
Guys, has nothing to do with the meta, look closely at the shock and you will realize that it is not fixed to the front triangle at any point, the lower end is bolted to the swu¡ing arm and the top is bolted to the hachet linkage, the idea is to make it supper sensible at the begining of the travel and hard at the end to avoid bottom out.
fugly. AMB reviewed a lime green one in their mag, even uglier in a bright colour. Single pivot bikes often look clean and simple, this looks cluttered and overcooked.
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I'll stick to my Prophet till they get the bugs out.It looks good and probably rides real well but will accumulate lots of dirt and crap during a good AM ride.
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