I'm a big fan of Cannondale's Lefty. I'll admit that part of the draw for me is that it stands out in a crowd, but there's also a case to be made for its chassis being the best on the market. That said, the truth is that RockShox's Charger damper (and Fox's FIT damper) are far superior to what's employed in the Lefty, and it'd be hard to convince me that a Pike, Lyrik, 34, or 36 doesn't make more sense on the front of a 160mm travel bike that's going to be ridden hard and fast. Considering the issues that you've had with your Lefty in the past, I'd probably recommend moving on to something else if you have the money to spend on a new fork. If you end up sticking with the Lefty and find that its air-holding issues are solved, you might want to look at the Andreani fork piston upgrade. I haven't tried it yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the kit, which was conceived with the help of Ohlins, offers a step up in performance. So, 160mm Pike or 170mm Lyrik? If it were me, I'd go with a 160mm Pike to keep the Jekyll's handling stock (the Lefty and Pike are within 2mm of being the same length). The Pike and Lyrik share the same Charger damper, but the Lyrik sports a beefier chassis that is said to be torsionally stiffer. I've never found the Pike to come up short when talking about stiffness, however, and I'd bet that's the case for most riders who are under the 200lb mark or who don't hold a pro class racing license. - Mike Levy |
The only real con of riding clipless in the bike park is the potential for remaining attached to your bike longer than you want to in the event of a crash. That, and the fact that throwing a no foot can-can is much, much harder. Bike parks tend to be where riders push their limits a little further, whether it's by learning a new trick, or venturing into more difficult terrain. Not everyone is comfortable being clipped in when there's an increase chance of bailing, which is why you'll usually see more riders running flat pedals in the bike park than you would on your local trails. It really comes down to what feels most comfortable to you - there's no reason you can't ride clipped in without any issues if that's what you're used to. - Mike Kazimer |
I'm not sure why offset figures are so difficult to find on most suspension companies' websites, but they are. So I spoke to SRAM today, and the official numbers for a Pike and Revelation are 26": 40mm / 27.5": 42mm / 29": 46mm. But it's not a simple as that. The Pike is available as OE (original equipment found on complete bikes) and the CSU (crown steerer upper) is available to buy as a spare part with 46mm offset for 27.5" wheels and 51mm for 29" wheels. For the Revelation there is also a 51mm offset version which is available for OE or as a spare part. The easiest way to check which offset a fork has is to locate the sticker on the right-hand leg where the offset, wheel size and travel are displayed. But again, not so simple; the sticker may have gone walkies or the CSU may have been replaced. The difference in offset is in the CSU, not the lowers, and you should be able to find the correct value stamped on the underside of the crown. Finally, if you are considering swapping to a different offset CSU, it must be from the same fork model. For example, the Pike, Lyrik and Boxxer all use 35mm stanchions but the widths between the legs differ slightly. - Paul Aston |
About Us
Contacts FAQ Terms of Use Privacy Policy Sign Up! SitemapAdvertise
AdvertisingCool Features
Submit a Story Product Photos Videos Privacy RequestRSS
Pinkbike RSS Pinkbike Twitter Pinkbike Facebook Pinkbike Youtube
No, my point is, the lefty, and that rather ingenious bit of rear suspension on the Jekyll, are proprietary. I was told that the rear suspension would require service every few months - and would require being sent in to Cannondale for said service. And that the Lefty, if it in fact proved itself reliable (big if, apparently) would also require a fair amount of away time for routine maintenance stuff.
So here's the thing - the Lefty may in fact be a better fork than a Pike or Fox 34 or 36 on some level. But even if that's true - unless you have other bikes, or a spare fork, or don't mind being off the bike for a while whenever you need it worked on, why would you buy yourself that kind of trouble? And that's while it's relatively new. Do you really think, three or four years down the line, you'll be able to get parts for that rebuild anymore? SRAM are making metric crap tons of Pikes; same with Fox and their 34s and 36s. Same with their shocks. If you need to rebuild one of those in a few years, hey, there'll be parts. Lefty?
This is not the first proprietary suspension product from Cannondale. And then of course there's all the proprietary stuff that Specialized brought out over the years. And frankly, I refuse to buy any bike that requires that amount of trust in that one supplier to stay viable over the years. And I have to seriously question the judgment of the product planners who believe that their limited resources are better spent on proprietary suspension bits and bobs to "differentiate" their bikes, rather than optimizing their platforms. Hell, if your bike is that special, how about you just get a special tune from Fox or SRAM? Unless the bike it allows you to build is a serious, real step up (to the point where anybody who rides one instantly puts down a deposit), you're just screwing over your customers.
And hey, consumers - don't fall for this crap.
OK, I feel better now...
Proprietary? Long wait times? Have you ever asked a shop to look at your Lefty? They take under 30 minutes to fully rebuild and are dead simple to work on with no proprietary tools...
When the CCDB came out i was warned that i wouldn't be able to service it myself, performance and cost was worth it for me though.
When offered an Evil uprising frame at a good price, with proprietary bearing sets that cost 150 a pop, the performance didn't outweigh the negatives in my mind.
It all comes down to how much you value the benefits of these types of products compared to the added costs of dealing with proprietary systems, because some companies do see it as a license to print money.
PS. my canyon shape shifter shock has "broken" and currently the wait is 9 weeks for the new one.
The moral is- don't buy all the custom one off crap, unless you are willing to deal with the down time.
Mind you, performance gains are a personal thing, as are the tradeoffs. If I had more than one MTB, then I probably wouldn't care so much about a few weeks wait time that might occur once a year for a major service. And I would be less averse to solutions like the Shapeshifter, where you can get parts only from one source, and if they're backordered, you're screwed. I made a decision to invest a bit more into my main bike rather than have a spare, though - so I need to make arrangements around that to ensure I'm not stuck without if stuff goes wrong. That means I ended up buying something that has about nothing proprietary, and can be fixed within days if needed.
I don't mind manufacturers doing proprietary solutions where there's a real performance benefit. In that case, they, it's innovation, and eventually others will license the technology, or it will trigger some great innovation elsewhere as others try to catch up. It's the unnecessary stuff that drives me mad. And yes, I admit, what's necessary/unnecessary is not a universal thing with a clear set of criteria that are the same for everyone.
I think we can all agree that Specialized doesn't gain much performance by spec'ing their shocks with mount points 90 degrees offset from everyone else. That's just asinine. Canyon's Shapeshifter - well, they're trying something different, and it's a worthy concept. So some people will say that's worth it, others (like me) will be more conservative and shy away from that. Lefty? Hard to argue that the thing is soooo much better than a Pike - I have a hard time seeing how the money they spend on that wouldn't have been more productively used to optimize some other aspect of the bike.
SaidNoOneEver
www.pinkbike.com/news/five-questions-enduro-racer-marco-osborne-on-winning-the-mammoth-mountain-pro-grt.html
1) see how the axle is almost solid part of lower leg so it doesnt bend or fall of? and wheel ataches from one side just like your cars?
2) see how the lower leg has sgare profile on the upper half, fitting into square profile of upper leg? In order to resist the twisting forces between steerer and wheel often better than traditional fork? And for needle bearing stripes to roll on providing sensitivity?
thats all that is into lefty fork really
and 3) not a very good spring/damper maybe due to overcrowded space one leg provides.. who knows..
Surely zero offset is preferable albeit impossible unless you own an Stratos S8.
And please Cannondale fix the lefty and make a 8" version.
Computer says flaming imminent
Or, if we want to get really radical...two stanchions, but one on each side of the wheel!
Possibly because is doesn't make too much difference? I mean 2mm? I'm running a pair of boxxer 27.5 forks on my 26" dh bike, seems to still go downhill and go around corners ok...
patents.google.com/patent/US5320374A/en
A "U-fork" variation of the Lefty also appears to be expired:
patents.google.com/patent/US5924714A/en
So why aren't Lefty knock-offs being made? Cost? Groupthink?
I'm a fan of both the Lefty (10+ years on Raven 900SX), and Pike (1 year on Specialized Enduro).
Also, shameless plug, today that Raven Y-frame went on sale here @ PinkBike.
Feel free to delete as appropriate to your beliefs.
A propos lefty cannondale
Nsmb.com promised dissecting lefty as well!