Here at Urban Pedaler we have aligned closely with the Cannondale brand since they are one of the few top brands that have a complete offering across all disciplines, each with it’s unique attributes and technologies that make them unique among their peers. Cannondale is a USA brand, steeped in history and well known for several major products and innovative technologies.
Click here to check out Cannondale’s historical timeline: Cannondale Timeline
Cannondale Road Bikes
Since 1983 with the introduction of the ST-500 touring road bike, they have been catching attention for lightest-in-class alloy road frames. The Saeco-Cannondale team in 1997 was the first ever European cycling team sponsored by a USA manufacturer and not since Mario Cippolini, their captain, has a personality captivated the cycling public in the same way.
- Mario Cippollini takes a win aboard a Cannondale
In 2003 Cannondale introduced it’s advanced carbon/alloy hybrid frame with the Six13 and quickly captured a Tour deFrance stage win. At well under the 6.8kg minimum weight limit as declared by the UCI, the race mechanics were forced to tape lead weights to the frame to reach minimum weight which led to the “Legalize my Cannondale” campaign. Today Cannondale leads in carbon technology with their Evo and Synapse models, but excels in the entry-level road market as well with CAAD8 and CAAD10 frames that carry the full history of innovation and finely-tuned ride qualities that made their early bikes so great. The BB30 bottom bracket standard was pioneered by Cannondale in 2001 to help increase torsional stiffness in the bottom bracket area of the frame and crank, and is now the global standard for performance road bikes.
The aerodynamic Slice triathlon and time trial bike has been a fixture among the world’s most prestigious multisport venues and has won Ironman world championships in 2005 under Farris Al-Sultan and again in 2009 with Chrissie Wellington.
- Evo and Synapse models lined up for the Tour deFrance under Team Cannondale – 2014
Over the years, they have built on their great alloy and carbon platforms and now offer a full line of CAADX and SuperX Cyclocross bikes. With their rugged frames, build and disc brakes, they are quickly becoming the bike of choice for those wishing to punish themselves in the winter ‘cross series as well as the riders who want a go-anywhere road bike or rugged, all season commuter.
- Cannondale rugged cyclocross bikes
Lately, we are most encouraged by the introduction of disc brakes for road bikes and look forward to seeing it take hold as more and more models each year are appearing with discs.
Cannondale road bikes represent the pinnacle of experience-driven development and their road machines are packed with features that a keen cyclist can appreciate in their given discipline.
In 2019 they introduced their fastest and most aero bike to date, the System Six. This bike has exceeded all of it’s competitors when it comes to aerodynamics and drag reduction, currently the “fastest bike in the world” - even on climbs up to a 6% grade. Cannondale road bikes represent the pinnacle of experience-driven development and their road machines are packed with features that a keen cyclist can appreciate in their given discipline.
Cannondale Mountain Bikes
- The SM-500, early aluminum trendsetter
1984 saw Cannondale task it’s famous aluminum tubing to a new discipline; mountain biking. Their first intro into mountain bikes, the SM-500, stood apart with it’s oversize tubing and extraordinary low weights compared with the steel bikes of the time.
As the mountain bike experienced it’s meteoric rise in popularity, Volvo joined the brand in one of the most recognized corporate partnerships in history with Team Volvo Cannondale.
- The Super V under a Volvo Cannondale team rider
The team launched in 1994 and is now regarded as the winningest team in history with countless world championships, world cup titles, national titles, and olympic wins.
In 1991 they began dabbling in suspension and by ’93 launched the Super V which many of us view as an iconic bike of the time. The Super V Downhill quickly followed and took the new downhill racing circuit by storm. In 2001 they launched the single-sided fork called the “Lefty” which not only looked different, but still sets new standards for stiffness, reliability and performance, a true stand-alone product that is featured on the top models in their lines today. The Scalpel that launched in ’02 was and still is the lightest full suspension in it’s racing class.
- A 2015 Trigger with Lefty fork
Today, the Cannondale mountain bike line has the breadth and depth to satisfy any mountain biker’s need, whether it be racing or riding competitively (the Scalpel), cross country trail riding with it’s balance of climbing and technical demands (the Habit), the slightly more technical rider looking for the bike that can increase their confidence in rugged terrain (Trigger) or taking the mostly-downhill trails at speed (Jekyll).
The recent introduction of a few new jaw-droppers has put Cannondale back in the hotseat with it’s competitors. The 8th version of the Lefty fork dubbed the “Lefty Ocho” with a single crown is definitely an attention-grabber but also the currently the lightest and best-performing fork in the XC Race category.
The single crown Lefty Ocho on the F-si hardtail. Ocho means eight in Spanish, the eighth version of the Lefty design.