#Lefty Suspension Fork Install The Damper#

Lefty Suspension Fork Install The Damper

Flywheel, clutch fork, shifter assembly, front and rear axles, starter. Not for use with 2015 and earlier Lefty 1.0 forks.The suspension has been updated to improve stability and control geometry. Use with Cannondale tool KH127 to unthread the damper cartridge. This tool is used to remove or reinstall the damper from the structure in Lefty 2.0, Lefty Supermax, and Lefty Olaf forks. Cannondale Lefty 2.0 Supermax Castle Slider Tool 40mm - KH198/.

Along with its unique Lefty Ocho fork this is one smooth operator, albeit not without its quirks. Frame features: Carbon fiber construction, Kingpin pseudo-suspension, Asymmetric Integration rear end, BB30a asymmetrical press-fit bottom bracket shell, fully guided internal cable routing.At Trek Bikes were driven by adventure, guided by our history, inspired by community, enchanted by the freedom of the open road and committed, always.The new Cannondale Scalpel has received a ground-up redesign to incorporate a brand new suspension design, dual bottle capability, and the clever STASH tool system. This fork has 100mm of travel and has a Rock Shox lock-out designed to help on those uphill climbs. Designed for a 29 inch wheel. 2012 model that came off of a carbon fiber Scalpel bike. Up for auction is a Cannondale Carbon Fiber 29 inch Lefty Front Suspension Fork.

Kit includes a variety of air seals, schrader air valve, and c-clips. Original Cannondale 100 hour service kit for all Lefty 2.0 forks with 2Spring air piston kits. Weight: 1,305 g (claimed, painted medium frame only) 480 g (claimed, painted fork only) 10.41 kg (22.95 lb), Topstone Carbon Lefty 3, as tested, small size, without pedals.Cannondale 2Spring Universal 100 Hour Service Seal Kit CK5407U00OS.

Lows: Lots of Cannondale quirkiness, heavy.The Topstone Carbon Lefty’s defining feature is that ultra-distinctive Lefty Oliver fork. Highs: Exceptional ride quality front and rear, well-tuned front suspension fork, nimble handling. Price: US$3,750 / AU$5,500 / £3,400 / €3,800

In comparison, the regular Topstone Carbon fork is less than 500 g, so you’re looking at a penalty of more than 800 g, at minimum. In either case, the lower half of the fork is made of forged aluminum, including the tapered stub-axle onto which the proprietary front hub attaches.Claimed weight for the alloy Lefty Oliver is 1,610 grams, while the carbon one is substantially lighter at 1,340 g. If you can’t get past the Lefty Oliver’s unusual appearance, just don’t look at it while you’re enjoying how well it works.Suspension benefits aside, all of this hardware adds up to a lot of weight relative to the rigid carbon fork of the standard Topstone Carbon.Cannondale makes the Lefty Oliver in two different versions: one with a forged aluminum crown and upper section (such as what’s included stock on the Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 model that I’m reviewing here), and another with a carbon fiber assembly. Helping matters along in that area (along with that careful damping and spring tuning) are three rows of needle bearings that separate the inner and outer legs of the fork, instead of the solid bushings used in every other brand of telescoping fork on the market that are more apt to bind up when encountering a bump in the (off-)road. But yet Cannondale obviously claims otherwise, saying the breakaway threshold for when the fork is designed to start moving is carefully engineered so that it’s still active when you actually want it to be, but without the excess movement that riders in this category would invariably dislike.Despite the lack of sag, Cannondale says the Lefty Oliver is very sensitive on smaller bumps, too — or, at least, as sensitive as it needs to be.

Smaller wheels for bigger funCannondale has always touted the Topstone Carbon’s ability to run either 700c or 650b gravel wheel-and-tire setups. In the past, this was a cumbersome process that required loosening the caliper mounting bolts, but the Lefty Oliver has a nifty quick-release bracket that turns it into a rather painless operation — and since it’s self-locating, you don’t need to readjust the caliper after you put everything back together. Retail price is US$1,500, and that doesn’t include the proprietary wheel that goes with it.Also, since Lefty front wheels slide axially off of the stub axle during removal, the disc brake caliper has to be removed as well. Clearly, some longer-term foresight was in play here.Cannondale is only offering the Lefty Oliver in aftermarket form in the carbon version, though, so those current Topstone owners will have to feel pretty flush with discretionary income. As a result, there’s not only no real change in steering geometry, but current Topstone owners can also add the Lefty Oliver to their existing bikes.

Photo: Cannondale.At the upper end is the Topstone Carbon Lefty 1, fitted with the lighter-weight Lefty Oliver Carbon fork, a SRAM Force 1 AXS “mullet” drivetrain with a SRAM Eagle 10-50T 12-speed rear cassette, Cannondale Hollowgram 650b carbon wheels, a cushier-riding one-piece Cannondale SAVE carbon fiber seatpost, and a semi-integrated Cannondale SAVE SystemBar integrated bar and stem. The top-end Cannondale Topstone Carbon Lefty 1 uses the same frame as the Topstone Carbon Lefty 3, but with parts upgrades throughout, including on the Lefty Oliver fork. There’s the mid-range Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 that I’m reviewing in detail here, equipped with the aluminum Lefty Oliver fork, a 1×11 Shimano GRX 800 mechanical groupset, Cannondale One crankset, and WTB aluminum rims and 47 mm-wide tires laced to generic aluminum hubs.Retail price is US$3,750 / AU$5,500 / £3,400 / €3,800, and actual weight for my small-sized sample is 10.41 kg (22.95 lb), without pedals or accessories — hardly light, but still nearly a kilogram lighter than the Niner MCR 9 RDO we recently reviewed at our Gravel Bike Field Test. Models and availability — and yes, there are e-versions, tooCannondale is offering the new Topstone Carbon Lefty in just two versions, at least for now. Cannondale says that both of those are essential to the Topstone Carbon being what it is, but they’re also more than a little controversial given their proprietary nature.Take it or leave it.

As in, so much fun that I legitimately don’t want to give it back. A transformative rideCasting aside for a moment the arguments about all of the dedicated equipment on the Topstone Carbon Lefty, the simple fact of the matter is that this bike is an outrageous amount of fun to ride. We’ll cover those in more detail in the near future.

The chainstays are flat, but they’re also very broad to keep the rear end from wagging about under hard pedaling.I wrote at length in my review of the standard Topstone Carbon about how well the back end works. So much fun that I think I could even live with all of that proprietary stuff if it means you get a gravel bike that is this entertaining to ride.I’ll elaborate.