Submitted by
Joel
a Weekend Warrior
from Upstate South Carolina, USA
Date Reviewed: December 31, 2011
Strengths: Aggressive, burly CAAD frame. Newly simplified, more elegantly engineered, longer travel (100mm) 29er Lefty OPI fork. Excellent, understated white paint with orange trim, nicely integrated Avid brake colors and rim trim. Nice new seatpost clamp design (one-way, baby). Superior stability in chattery terrain. Reasonable climbing. Surefooted descending. Schwalbe Rapid Rob tires are rather good for OEM.
Weaknesses: Small-diameter Cannondale lock-on grips designed by the Marquis de Sade. As on all 29ers, handlebar is absurdly wide for anything other than riding in the desert. Bike feels rather oafish in tight terrain compared to my Cannondale Carbon Rush 26er. Front end of bike is high (only a weakness half the time). Another centimeter of seat tube, please sir.
Bottom Line:
An excellent trail bike and a validation of the 29er concept. This bike feels right for a tall guy (6' 2"). Cannondale needs to reintroduce their Rush as a full-suspension 29er.
Similar Products Used: Cannondale Caffeine 29er (fiancee's bike, purchased by me, neglected by her).
Bike Setup: Upgrades: Fizik Aliante Gamma saddle, vintage Coda suspension seatpost, Crank Bros. Candy pedals.
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Submitted by
Bill H
a Weekend Warrior
from San Francisco, CA
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2011
Strengths: Overall? Quick, effortless, stiff, real fast. Turns lots of heads.
Weaknesses: Lefty knee clearance. The lefty fork tube runs parallel and just behind the head tube. If your'e a taller rider verify knee clearance.
Bottom Line:
Just what's this bikes best feature? Where to begin? Great quality 29" wheels. Stiff yet compliant frame, ultra plush fork that locks out, ultra stiff fork, saddle, group, looks. Want more? How about 25lbs as weighed in the shop XL frame! My personal favorite is the fork lock out. Paired with the 29" wheels you hardly need it for cross country, but on the rooted out, rutted out downhills a quick stab of the well executed and trusty lock out button and you have 100mm of travel. This bike eat terrain. The lefty fork is just amazing.
Bike Setup: XL frame. As spec'd. Deore cranks, SLX XTR, derailers and shifters. Sun/Ringle rims, Kendo tires.
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Submitted by
edj
a Cross Country Rider
from Evergreen, CO
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2011
Strengths: Bike is agile, quick, and strong. Responsive. Components are of good quality and reliable.
Weaknesses: My brakes tend to get out of alignment, but that might just be me. Kenda SmBlock 8 are not the greatest for traction, but they are okay if you can reduce tire pressure quite a bit.
Bottom Line:
I'm very happy with this bike. The first year I owned the bike I rode 50% on paths and the road and it was great for that and 50% on trails in the Boulder area. I just started mountain riding last year and I'm over 60 and I don't think I could have made a better choice for a versatile bike that will keep getting better as I improve.
As I'm riding mostly singletrack now I'm thinking it is time to replace the Kenda's with a grippier tire.
Bike has held up very well through a number of crashes.
Similar Products Used: I rode many similar hardtails from Specialized and Giant before deciding on this ride.
Bike Setup: Stock except I put on riser handlebars for fit and Shimano multi directional clipless - I'm a noob and this is my first bike with clipless.
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Submitted by
Focimus
a Weekend Warrior
from Minneapolis
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2011
Strengths: All around great bike, lightweight, comfortable. Love the Cannondale tool kit. Lefty.
Weaknesses: Chain. Wide handlebars.
Bottom Line:
I had been riding the same Giant for 13+ years and it was time to buy a new bike instead of add to the old one. I ride mostly single-track but only what the upper-midwest can offer. My first 29er so I was nervous about the handling. I was amazed at how well it handles and takes the switchbacks with ease. I am most impressed with how light this bike is though I'm coming from a bike about 7-8 pounds heavier. I chose this over the Stumpy due to the overall ride; the C'dale feels better on the lower back. Love the way it wants to fly! The Lefty is very cool, very easy to adjust and soaks up the rough stuff well. The stock chain wasn't so great; seemed to want to suck up any and all dirt and grit and hold it even after washing and was rather noisy.
Similar Products Used: None. Test rode the Spec Stumpjumper Comp 29er.
Bike Setup: Stock + Shimano clipless pedals and Enduro BB bearings. Sram chain. Cut 3/4" off either side of bars (maybe more later).
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Submitted by
rwp02
a Cross Country Rider
from St. Catharines, ON
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2011
Strengths: Lefty fork is awesome and laterally stiff, 29" wheels glide over bumps and have a big footprint for starting a climb halfway up a hill, beautiful colour scheme (I have the 2011 white one with the blue stripe), the saddle is comfortable, shifting is crisp, nimble handling, Kenda small blocks are perfect for the bike, push button lockout feature is great for hammering on the flats.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
WOW! This bike is AWESOME! It just wants to go fast on singletrack. The big wheels roll over bumps effortlessly, and it accelerates like a 26" bike. It corners like it's on rails, and one corner it stuck like glue to the trail where I knew my dually would have skidded out a bit. It is grippy on the steep uphills and smooth on the downhills. I highly recommend this bike for cross county riding and racing. I don't know how it is on really rocky stuff yet. I wouldn't be surprised if the 29" wheels will roll nicely over rocks, too. I see what the 29" craze it about. It just makes sense.
Similar Products Used: Trek Fuel 90 dually, Ironhorse Warrior Comp hard tail (both 26" bikes)
Bike Setup: Stock with XT pedals. No upgrades necessary.
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Submitted by
Shomas_23
a Weekend Warrior
from Chapmanville,wv,usa
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2010
Strengths: I like everything about this bike, the lefty fork, the components, the hydraulic brakes are very nice.
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
the only problem i had with this bike is that when i bought it i was told i would have a bb30 crank when i got the bike it did not have this crank.. after some headache of making phone calls and talking to different people my new cranks are now being shipped to the bike shop and will be installed as soon as they come in. i have a medium frame and with the crank i have on it, it weighs 26.2 lbs.. i also love that with the lefty you can buy an awesome tool kit that fits down inside you fork, this kit has everything you would need and even has wedge bars to help chage your tires. I ride single track and it feels very solid i like it much better than the fisher and the cannondale 4, the cobia doesnt have hydraulic brakes which are an extreme luxury when going down fast hills with thight turns this bike feels like it will stop as fast as my dirtbike. All the bike i will ever need.. great!
Similar Products Used: 2008 gary fisher cobia
2009 cannondale caffine 29er 4
2009 cannondale caffine 29er 2
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Submitted by
coffeecuplid
a Cross Country Rider
from Michigan
Date Reviewed: April 16, 2010
Strengths: Almost the entire package- but especially the lefty
Weaknesses: Tires: comes with small block 8s, but haven't been a huge fan
Bottom Line:
I've done a couple rides and this bike feels excellent. I ride in Michigan in areas with mostly single track, small roots and sand - so this bike should work well here. The large frame fits well, I feel very comfortable and riding the big wheeled bike is pretty fun. The bike is light (enough) for me and the entire package does not break into the "budget buster" category for what I was looking for. (Note: accurate weight readings still out because the bike was shipped with the incorrect bottom bracket and will be swapped out)
Some immediate things I noticed:
- Feel like I could increase speed over flats and slight inclines
- The lefty fork is awesome on the trails
- Frame is solid and really feel a good transfer of power
- Can really get out of the saddle and climb when needed
- Candy pedals - I had used Speedplay Frogs on my previous bike, but these are much, much better
The ride is much more active on this bike which I really like. I used to plop my butt on the seat and let the FS take over, now I'm up and out of the saddle moving around etc which feels good. The only drawback is the tires at the moment. I'm not a big fan of the small block 8s but they are good enough to run most of the time, when these wear out, I'll upgrade. The bike feels good and I'm glad I dropped the cash on it, now I need to spend time working on the 40 year old engine.
Got it on Friday! Rode twice over the weekend with long climbs and some fast decent single track and fire roads. All I can say is WOW. Im 5' 7" on a long day. Im coming from a T Read More »
I'm looking for a 29er hardtail as something different to my 29er FS (Spec Epic) and was looking at these three bikes:
Scott Scale 29er Elite
Giant XTC 29er 1
Cannondale Flas Read More »
Okay, I know these posts are a dime a dozen.... but I would like some opinions. I've been mulling over this for a while and I am going different ways different days. I would like t Read More »
Hey Guys,
I'm in the market for a 2012 Flash Carbon 29er 2 and was wondering what current owners in the forum paid. Also what were the first things that you upgraded - just curi Read More »
My LBS has this on closeout for $1499. Thinking of getting my first 29er and this seems like a decent deal. Any experience or thoughts on this bike? Read More »
