Submitted by
Robert
a Cross Country Rider
from Kirkland, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2002
Strengths: Holds up very well, Great control on single track trails, Lefty rocks!, Love this bike.
Weaknesses: replaced saddle, tires, grips, handle bar, and pedals. Now there is no weakness.
Bottom Line:
I've had to personalize the bike a bit, but so what! This bike is like a dream and thought my old bike was a nice ride, what a difference. The reason I bought a new bike was I wanted a nine speed, but I got a lot more than that. I've heard how bad the brakes can be on this bike, but frankly I have no idea what they're talking about. These brakes are great. Week after week I expect something to happen. They're easy to adjust and I clean them with dawn dishwashing fluid as recommended but not very often. I ride in the mud and rain a lot and expected more problems, but so far so good. The boot on the seat post needs sealing up so the water can't get in. I used "stretch" electrical to seal it off, otherwise goodbye bearings. I ride hard and work the hell out of this bike and can't say enough.
Bike Setup: Easton CT2 Carbon handle Bar, Yeti Soft Grips, Specialized Body Geometry saddle, Shimano pedals, Tires with meat.
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Submitted by
Fluffy
a Cross Country Rider
from Belgium
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2001
Strengths: Very light, very fast, handles great!
Weaknesses: Coda crap!!!
Bottom Line:
Get it as a frameset and do not spec it with coda. I am very disappointed with this purchase. The frame and fork are great, but the coda parts are CRAP!!! I've already destroyed the crancks, rearhub and the brakes. Those brakes are dangerous, they have to be bled after every single ride and simply cannot stop the bike! I've replaced them with cheap clara's and the difference is unbelievable. I cannot believe cannondale put such lousy components on a $2000+ bike! What a rip-off!
Submitted by
C H
a Cross Country Rider
from Aberdeen, MD
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2001
Strengths: Light, Fast, Smooth, Lefty ELO fork is superb.
Weaknesses: The Coda Hydraulic Disks supplied are noisier and lack the stopping power of Magura or Hope and the like.
Bottom Line:
A great bike to ride XC though not my favourite on the road. The hydraulic disks let this bike down; lack a little in stopping power and rattle at certain speeds, use slicks on road!
Similar Products Used: Orange Evo2 Limited edition (2000). Kona Explosif (1994)
Bike Setup: Stock, with Cane creek thudbuster seatpost.
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Submitted by
Lori
a Weekend Warrior
from Hudson, IL
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2001
Strengths: The light frame and lefty shock combo are great!
Weaknesses: The coda brakes can be hard to maintain. Got rid of the suspension seat post.
Bottom Line:
I bought this bike used on ebay therefore no service warranty. I was worried that I might not like it, but my husband has a '99 F2000 that he likes a lot. The only difference besides frame size (mine is a small, his is a large)is the lefty shock.
I switched out the flat after market bar that came with it with the original riser bar and I like it better. I was having some back and neck pain from the riding position of the flat bar. I also put a women's specific gel seat on it and have not been saddle sore since and I ride single track trails 4 - 5 times a week on a 10 mile loop near my home.
I really like this bike because it is so light and the lefty absorbs everything in its' path. I have had no complaints about the lefty - and it draws a lot of attention on the trails. This bike is quick handling and very responsive. I would recommend it to anyone.
The only trouble I've had is getting the brakes dialed in. I had a bad lever on the rear brake and after trying to bleed it and get it adjusted I still had a sloppy lever. I ended up replacing the whole rear set up with extra coda parts I also bought online. The first time we bled the brakes was a pain, but not so bad after you've done it a couple of times. The brakes are very prone to contamination and you have to be very careful with anything that can contaminate them (chain lube did me in). They say you must replace the pads once they are contaminated, (at about $35 a pair), but I managed to get mine clean and working well again. It took several road rides and a couple of easy off road rides to grind the bad layer off the pads, but after about a week of very careful riding and braking the pads bedded in again. I finally have them working the way I like. I have not ridden any other disc brakes but these have enough stopping power for me.
A couple of things to consider when buying a lefty - transportation - the front wheel is not quick release and the down tube is oversized the way Cannondale makes them. Therefore a roof rack with fork mounts or lockjaw type mount will not work on this bike. I bought an anklebiter set up for my rack. Also, computers are not easily attached to the front fork. I'm still in the process of figuring out how to mount mine. Right now it is mounted on the seat stay and seatpost.
Overall, I love this bike. It's light, handles great, stops fast, and the lefty is a great ride! I would buy this bike or another one like it again.
Bike Setup: Stock except seatpost, saddle and tires - Thompson Elite seatpost, Bontrager gel saddle (women's) and Velociraptor tires. The Panaracers clogged up with mud too bad and the Raptors shed mud real well.
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Submitted by
Tino
a Weekend Warrior
from Bolton, MA
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2001
Strengths: Lefty fork tracks no other fork, stiff, light and fast frame, decends just as well as it climbs, lock out mechanism on Lefty, tall front end gives better riding position.
Weaknesses: everything on this bike breaks if you ride it regularly....read on and I'll explain.
Bottom Line:
This is great bike, don't get me wrong but it would be even better if everything on it didn't break! First of all the Coda Expert disc breaks on this bike are absolutely horrible. Plain and simple they just don't stop you. I destroyed these brakes and was sick of getting them serviced every month so I switched them with a Hayes hydraulic in the front and an Avid mechinacal in the rear. Second, I've broken all the Coda crap components on this bike. This inculdes the cranks, rear hub, front hub, suspension seatpost. I still am trying to get the money together to fix these parts Next, the Sun Ringle DS1-XC wheels are crap, I've destroyed these too. They constantly need trueing and won't last more than year. And like the rest of the bike, I can't afford to get this fixed. I ride this bike fairly often and don't beat on it anymore than the next rider. I weigh about 175 therefore this bike should hold up to what I put it through. only but this bike if you can afford to fix it.
This bike rocks! Anyone who wants to ride fast and hard, not wanting to worry about whether or not the bike can take the beating, should buy this bike. I have one year of off-road racing experience with this bike, and I have not had to repair anything (the bike has only required regular bike maintenance).
I've ridden some very challenging trails and the bike has performed better than I ever could have imagined. This is a light, great steering, smooth shifting, comfortable riding bike. The ability to lockout (I don't have the E.L.O.) the lefty when traveling on average terrain trails allows for riders to ride faster and longer with less effort (very valuable on long rides and in races).
The original tires were O.K., but these Panaracers are better in most conditions (and their red sidewalls look great). No need to upgrade the other components, shifts and brakes great.
"Cannondale Lefty - Ride (or race) with one fork tied behind your back!"
Similar Products Used: Schwinn Homegrown Pro, Specialized Stumpjumper
Bike Setup: Original setup (mine came with the Thompson Elite seatpost) & aftermarket Specialized seat and Panaracer Fire XC Kevlar tires.
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Submitted by
Jeff Scanlan
a Cross Country Rider
from Mechanicsville, VA. USA
Date Reviewed: June 19, 2001
Strengths: Awesome fork, the lefty can take anything. I can climb with anyone on it and then leave them on the downhills. Mine came with top-o-the-line tarantula cranks, excellent. Finally dialed my brakes in with new pads, work great...
Weaknesses: I had some problems with the rear hub two weeks before a big race but my dealer got me hooked up just in time. One more ride after the race and it went out again. C'dale fixed it both times and haven't had problems since. Puny IRC Notos tires were the only thing I've changed. I live in Virginia near some great mountains which border West Virgina and skinny little tires won't work here.
Bottom Line:
A fast hardtail machine with a downhill caliber front suspension. Very hard to beat.
Strengths: THE LEFTY FORK IS INCREDABLY STIFF. NO SIDE TO SIDE AT ALL. THE TRAVEL IS NICE. THE CODA EXPERT BRAKES WORK LIKE A CHAMP. THE BIKE IS AS LIGHT AS I LIKE IT. BEST BIKE I EVER HAD.
Weaknesses: NOT TO MANY COMPLANTS OTHER THAN I WANTED TO UPGRADE MY CRANKS.
Bottom Line:
HEADSHOCK IS THE BEST SHOCK. BEST BIKE I EVER RODE.
Submitted by
D KY
a Cross Country Rider
from Coquitlam, BC
Date Reviewed: April 5, 2001
Strengths: asuper light, djustable travel, lock-out, light rims, smooth shifting XTR, god deal 2300 canadian dollar tax included
Weaknesses: rear hub too noisy, lefty too tall for climbing, pedals n grips suck, worry about coda disc, cables scratch headset area of the frame
Bottom Line:
before i got this bike, i had a dilemma of whether SL or SX, once i knew SX only weight one pound more, then i gave up SL. if u look for moderate speed climbing, SX never disappoints u, sun rims are strong n light, i seldom had a chance to use the smallest climbing ring(mayb i havent met the steep uphill yet!), for this bike, u can bravely buy a 44/29 tooth! disc work fine in downhill n muddy trails, 4inches absorb all the small n little BUMS, just stay backward n relax, when u meet the baby-head rocks, let the lefty hits to it, you would feel the no cheating-4inches travel, lets say if you plan to have a xc riding day, dial the red button to a fast-response mode, on the other hand, if you plan to do big drops n soem crazy stuff, dial it as a slow-response mode, thats the function you cannot get from ELO,,, altho its caad4, its still light, i compared with the similar price giant xtc, it weight 25lbs, my f2000 kicks its ass totally, 23.5lbs!!
Bike Setup: Cateyes Cordless2, CT2 5degree bent flat bar, CT2 seatpost, Time ATAC blk aluminum, panaracer xc pro red 1.8 rear blue 2.1 front, Oury grips, stem switched upside down
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Submitted by
Jake Weber
a Weekend Warrior
from Provo, Ut
Date Reviewed: February 25, 2001
Strengths: Handbuilt in the U.S.A., Great fork, Strong Frame.
Weaknesses: Chain stays are too wide and hit my heels, VERY finicky brakes.
Bottom Line:
This is an awesome bike! Four inches of front travel and a 3 inch travel seatpost and the bike still only weighs 24.5 pounds. Had to put a flat bar and flip the stem or the bike would get skittish climbing hills, I also love my bar-ends and that requires a flat bar. The Lefty is the best suspension fork I have ever used, it absorbs everything I throw at it and keeps begging for more. Cannondale builds the best aluminum bikes but they are super stiff in the rear (a good thing), so I would definitely invest in a suspension seat post, The Thudbuster is the best one out there, just read the MTBR reviews. The only problem I have with this bike is the brakes, they are a pain in the butt. Keep them super clean (impossible on a long ride) and they are wonderful. Cannondale really needs to work on the reliability of their top hydraulic discs to promote consumer happiness. It is disconcerting to see new high end Cannondales with other companies discs on them, does this mean that Cannondale realizes the problem and so has gone to using more reliable brakes. Where does that leave the rest of us who already own them? Overall, this bike is a dream to ride and slightly less than that to stop. I would recommend this bike to anyone who loves a strong hardtail with loads of travel and who has the cash to spring for new brakes. Also, If anyone has problems attaching a cyclocomputer to a Lefty equiped bicycle and would like to know how I did it, please write and ask!
Similar Products Used: C-dale F900, GT XCR2000, Mongoose Amp
Bike Setup: Yeti grips, Speedplay frogs, Cane Creek Thudbuster, New compound brake pads, Flat handlebar w/bar ends, Cateye cyclocomputer, Selle Italia Flite saddle, IRC Mythos XC tires.
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Submitted by
Brian
a Weekend Warrior
from Bay Area CA
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2001
Strengths: The excellent front suspension- The CAAD4 frame- The drivetrain- and it looks good too
Weaknesses: Rims-Hubs-The coda disk brakes-Huchinson Mosquito Tires
Bottom Line:
I waited until I had some real time with this bike to review it. I've had it for 1 year now and I LIKE it alot. I wish I could say I love it, but I have had some costly problems.
Not wanting to be negative I'll give the good stuff first. The Lefty front suspension has been the highlight of this bike. It is very adjustable, has very smooth needle bearing action, it's very stable at speed and makes me seem better than I really am by absorbing the bowling ball sized rock I should have been able to steer around! The Frame is another positive on this bike. It climbs extremely well and with the suspension seatpost I cannot detect any of the harshness that seem to be a condition of riding one these lightweight frames. This bike handles fast fireroads as well as tight singletrack extremly well. Now I will talk about the problems I have had. First of all I weigh 165lbs. and I do NOT jump this bike. About one month and about a half dozen rides the rear hubs bearing were done. At the same time the rear rim bent beyond repair. Recently I had to replace the bearing in the front hub and the front rim bent as well. The Coda Expert Hubs are very light but they have terrible quality bearings. The same goes for the Sun DS1 rims, they seem to bend too easily. I seem to be having better luck with the Mavic 317's. The Coda Expert Disk brakes haven't been all bad. They just seem to be very easily contaminated. I am on my third set of brake pads for the front. I think the pad material on this last set is different, we'll see how they hold up. When the Expert Disks are clean they really work good, have no drag,and have a nice progressive feel. Compared to the Hayes I put on the rear about six months ago, the Coda's seem a little fussy. The stock Huchinson Mosquito tires are very light but not very durable. They did hook up well when they had tread on them. Save them for race day. This is a very fun bike that would be perfect if it didn't have a few glaring durability problems that I think should not be on a bike that retails for over 2G's 2 chilis value because you'll spend a few dollars fixing it 4 chilis overall because I've had way too much fun on this bike to give it a bad rating.
Bike Setup: Panaracer Tires- Easton CT2 Flat Bar- Hayes Rear Disk- King Rear Hub- Time ATAC pedals
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Submitted by
MIKE DOOLEY
a Cross Country Rider
from KIPPAX,LEEDS,ENGLAND
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2001
Strengths: SUPER PLUSH LEFTY FORK CAN HANDLE ANYTHING. XT/XTR GEAR SPEC IS WORKING BEAUTIFULLY AND HAS'NT BEEN A PROBLEM. THE BIKE HAS A LAYED BACK FREERIDE FEELING UNLIKE MY CROSS COUNTRY MATES(NICE WIDE BARS) PERFORMS VERY WELL ON TECH STUFF DUE TO RIDER AND BIKE. HUTCHINSON TYRES PERFORM WELL
Weaknesses: I HAVE HAD TO PLAY AROUND WITH THE CODA DISCS A BIT BUT SEEM TO HAVE THEM SORTED NOW CAN BE HARD WORK ON THE ROAD DUE TO UPRIGHT FREERIDE POSITION.
Bottom Line:
THIS BIKE IS A CROSS COUNTRY BIKE WITH A LAID BACK FEEL THAT DOES'NT NEED UPGRADING WHEN BOUGHT.THIS IS A +COUNTRY BIKE THAT YOU CAN THROW AROUND AND THE FORK AND FRAME WILL TAKE IT.
Update : Sally now has in excess of 5000 miles in her and she has yet to have a major breakdown. She creaks everywhere and all but I ride this bike so much, chasing every squeak and funny noise would be prohibitively expensive and laborious! I just write off her "regular" creaks to the fact that she is a beater bike (a very fancy one).
Lefty: Not a leak, not a clunk out of this fork. Had a strange top out problem when it was abt 6 months old but an email to Dale (which was responded to on the SAME day) and my LBS and I were able to fix it right away!
Coda brakes: Could be a bit more grabbier but I can panic stop if I wanted to. The new pads hold up much, much better!
Coda components: Wheels have not been overhauled at all, my cranks... well I have a 2X9 drivetrain so you know how I feel abt big gear mashing!
If Lefties have some sort of structural weakness, then it must be in the eyes of the beholder, coz I've been riding mine almost everyday to and from work and going MTBing on weekends too.
The secret to being a Happy Cannondale owner is to have a good dealer. Mine is South Bay Bikes of San Diego, their number is listed on the http://www.cannondale.com dealers list. Ask for Steve.
Purchased At: South Bay Bikes! Best Dale dealer in the world!
Similar Products Used: Stumpjumper (great bike too!)
Bike Setup: F2000SX with 2X9 conversion and mostly cosmetic upgrades.
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Submitted by
iceman
a Cross Country Rider
from blue marsh
Date Reviewed: December 13, 2000
Strengths: I admire the craftsmanship put into the frame also dig the geometry and responsiveness
Weaknesses: blew the fork on a gnarly dig, called the local cannondale man one year warranty at dealers discretion, yeah right! asked me where I bought it, told him Delaware. His reply maybe you ought to take it there I dont want to use all my favors with my rep,,favors my a** a year is a year! Not that I'm a rich man but I would rather ride than argue with a dollar minded shop owner so i ate it 130bannas. Called cannondale corpoorate just to say hello. The brakes initially had poor modulation after bleeding air with their kit, pain in the balls and really dosent work that well, bought an automotive style vacuum pump which made the job easier.after the brakes are set up to your riding style they kinda grow on ya. even if its WFO!! OHHH before I forget watch them skewers they will try to kill you,my advice get rid of them replace with xtr or salsa bars and seats suit indivual body mechanics no quality problems so I wont bit*h.
Bottom Line:
all in all I am pleased with the product, dissapointed with the service backing the product. would not pay 2200 . this is a high maintenance bike. ps keep your spokes tight and hang on. HAPPY HOLIDAYS FELLOW MOUNTAIN DIGGERS
Bike Setup: basically stock less a few mods to personalize custom paint scars and dirt all over
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Submitted by
Greg Bae
a Cross Country Rider
from Eugene, OR
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2000
Strengths: The F2000 SX climbs beautifully and it allows me to corner with confidence. Cannondale did a great job with the Lefty.
Weaknesses: The bike is a bit heavy and the stock suspension seat post is an ineffective and heavy accessory. I don't recommend keeping the wide riser bars, it keeps your center of gravity too high.
Bottom Line:
I got is real cheap on an end-of-the-year closeout for $1300. It rides nice and turns heads, but the high-sitting setup and the weight leaves a bit to be desired.
