Our favourite four Cannondale’s for 2016

We’re suckers for a nice Cannondale here at Factory Jackson and love the way they’ve always done things a little differently. Check out our piece on the Trigger 2 here which details a fair bit on Cannondale’s history that you might not know. Did you know that originally they were a bag manufacturer?

Anyhow, it’s that time of year where next years bikes and kit are out on show. Cannondale have an enormous range as always, and we loved the look of the Trigger in the new colours, and the Jeykll too – but there were four particular 2016 Cannondale mountain bikes that took our fancy…

Habit Carbon SE | £2999

The Habit frame layout reminds us of the old Rize model, which was awesome fun. For 2016, Cannondale are not the only people pushing light weight, tough bikes with short travel – it’s a winning formula when the geometry is good…

Brand new for 2016 is the Habit – a 120mm travel trail frame aimed at the rider that really wants to put the hammer down. You could say it’s an XC bike for trail riders, or vice versa.

Either way, the ten bike range sees five carbon bikes; three aluminium models and two burly looking 27plus models. We love the simple looking frame, which reminds us of the super popular 130mm Rize platform from a few years back – but promises to offer a stiffer chassis for getting the power down and generally abusing out on the trails.

The Habit Carbon SE is the model that really stands out to us as it has the slightly longer 130mm travel Lefty OPI fork on for a little more attitude – whereas other models in the range use a 120mm travel fork.

Here’s what you need to know about the Habit Carbon SE:

• Ballistec Carbon main frame and linkage
• Smart-formed Alloy swing arm
• Lefty 2.0 Alloy OPI 130mm fork with PBR damper
• Rockshox Monarch DebonAir RT shock, delivering 120mm travel
• WTB Frequency Race wheels, with Schwalbe Nobby Nic tyres
• SRAM X1 1×11 drive train
• Cannondale Si BB30 crank with 30t SpideRing
• SRAM Guide R brakes
• KS LEV Integra dropper post with internal routing
• Fabric Scoop saddle, colour matched

As with all Cannondale bikes, the paint finish on the Habit SE was immaculate – and turned heads constantly. Colour matching through out really gives the bike a custom feel – there’s not much you;d want to change off the shelf. Which is as it should be.

Beast of the East 2 | £1599

The Beast of the East may look more of a bruiser than a nimble trail attacker, but it’s deceptively light and looks like one hell of a bike to tear up the trails on. We’ll definitely be getting one in for review as soon as we can!

Back in the day, the Beast of East was Cannondale’s alternative early 90’s trail bike. It had a higher bottom bracket than other models – targeting riders of rockier and more technical trails that had ground clearance issues – this instantly made it popular with Trials riders, who largely adopted the bike for hip-hop-off-the-rocks antics. For 2016, it makes a come back, but in a different guise.

Now built around the new 27plus wheel size, the Beast of the East is aimed at the hard tail rider who wants to have a bit more fun.

There are three models in the range – and the one that took our fancy was the mid-range Beast of the East 2, in a mean looking Wolf Blood Red.

Here are the main points:

• Beast of the East 27plus frame, Smart-formed Alloy, BB30, Flat mount brake mount
• Rockshox Reba RL Boost fork, 120mm travel
• Cannondale Beast rims, 27.5 x 50mm
• WTB Bridger 3.0 tyres
• Cannondale Si BB30 crank and 30t SpideRing
• SRAm GX 1 x 11 drive train
• Shimano Deore brakes

The Wolf Blood Red finish is subtle, but classy – and we love the Beast of the East detailing.

F-Si Alloy 1 | £1699

Big light wheels – check. Clean lines and classic double diamond design – check. Lefty – check. Cannondale’s timeless XC frame appeal definitely catches the eye – and this model for under £1700

Ok, so this is essentially an XC race bike – but simple Cannondale hard tails with a Lefty just do it for us. They look so classic – and a fast hard tail is always nice in the collection.

The F-Si range has nine bikes, with just 3 of them being Alloy. We did love the murdered out all black Black Inc model – but you need to be pretty serious about your hard tails to wang £7k on one. The F-Si alloy 1 is a great price, at under £1700 and has a well thought out spec. The F-Si range come in 27.5in wheels in size small, whereas the other sizes all come in 29in wheel sizes.

• F-Si Smart formed frame, BB30, flat mount brake mount, 1.5 head tube.
• Lefty 2.0, 100mm travel, PBR isolated damper with XC+ compression tune
• Stans ZTR rims, colour matched
• Schwalbe Racing Ralph tyres
• Cannondale Si BB30 chain set with 26/36t rings

Although it’s just a hard tail frame, there is plenty of tech on the FSi frame sets to keep them stiff, yet resilient and comfortable.

Bad Habit 1 | £2499 

Yep – the Bad Habit looks bad-ass. This thing looks like a blast!

There are two 27plus models in the Habit range – and this is the higher specced Bad Habit 1 – going for £2.5K.

This beast of a bike is based around the 120mm travel Habit frame, but with adjustment to allow the 27plus wheels in without affecting all-important geometry.

Here are the finer points:

• Bad Habit 27plus Smart Formed Alloy frame, 120mm travel, BB30, flat mount brake mount
• Lefty 2.0 Alloy OPi fork, 120mm travel.  Isolated Damper Technology and updated controls.
• Rockshox Monarch RL with high volume inlet offering 120mm travel
• WTB Scraper 27.5 x 45mm rims
• WTB Bridger 3.0 tyre
• Cannondale Si crank, BB30, SpideRing 30t
• SRAM GX 1×11 drive train
• Shimano Deore brakes

Nice detailing and colour-matched parts mean the Bad Habit looks great. The wide WTB Scraper rims give the 27plus tyres good support, and there is plenty of clearance for inevitable mud-plugging.

Comments

comments

TAGS