2013 Cannondale Scalpel 29'er Carbon 1 review - My long Journey towards the perfect ride

November 2, 2012... Do you remember where you were that day? I sure do. I was having one of the best rides on my 2013 Cannondale Scalpel 29'er ALLOY 3 - as reviewed here:
 http://bonzaicyclewerx.blogspot.com/2012/09/2013-cannondale-scalpel-29er-3-alloy.html

Riding my benchmark trail - Marion Sansom Park in Lake Worth, TX. when all of a sudden:

It was 9am, The sun was coming through the trees at just the right angle to light my path on a beautiful day of riding and the best kind of terrain - Hero Dirt. An hour and 2 minutes into my ride, the sun came came through the trees, past my visor less helmet and blinded me for a split second. In that split second a shadow appeared, I saw stars and let out a guttural sound I've never made...

My ride was cut short. My riding career and ability to function could have been cut short indefinitely as well. A couple days after it happened a couple of my customers told me, "Yeah, that tree brushed my camel bak, I had to duck down way more than normal." My first thought... 'Don't leave a tree like that, especially on a section of trail like this...'... I never lost my grip on the handlebars until I fell to my side about 5-10 feet (see photo) from the fallen tree (8-10" in diameter). 

I was lucky. Very lucky. I hit it head first on the front left side of my helmet @ 10.5 mph (could have been slightly faster (Strava was off of my phone GPS). I felt my spine compress, tweaked my neck and a concussion set in. I was lucky the tree was resting on smaller, flexible trees. When I hit I didn't get knocked backwards, I went through the tree - tree moved up and forwards with the smaller limbs holding it. This was my last ride on my Scalpel Alloy 3 that I reviewed... By early December I sold it, not knowing when I would be back on a bicycle.

Between November 2, 2012 and Feb 2013 I may have put in 40 miles on my cross bike, just to try and rehab my neck and get my legs spinning. I luckily only sustained a compressed spine, whiplash and a mild concussion. I still, however, feel my neck occasionally as I do right now as I type this - January 16, 2014.

February 2013 came along and I was able to snag a complete SRAM X.O 2x10 drive train. I was able to ride a little bit and since I got this drive train I went ahead and bought ANOTHER 2013 Cannondale Scalpel Alloy 3 (No carbon available at this time) I built this one up with SRAM X.O, Stan's Arch EX Wheel set (From Stan's), my tried and true Kenda Slant Six tires. Truvativ Carbon Bar, Thomson laid back Seat post and the OPI Stem from Cannondale. I built this one the way I should have built the first one.

I loved this bike more than my first one, however the whole year of 2013 was spent just trying to build base miles from my accident. I did a couple Gravel rides on it and lots of rides at Marion Sansom Park - but no where near the speed I was able to do previously - not the bike, me. This bike was 1.5 pounds lighter @ 26.5 lbs. I had some good times on this bike.

But all good things come to an end. It was time. Time to get the last bike I would ever want to ride. Come October 2013 I sold this bicycle as well. It truly was a sad day, but not as sad as when I sold my first one.

Pre Sale photo. It sold in under 23 hours. I immediately replaced it with this:

2013 Cannondale Scalpel 29'er Carbon 1. B-E-A-UUUUtiful.

I left it completely stock except for my 20mm rise Truvativ carbon bar (Came with Truvativ flat carbon bar). my 6+ degree rise OPI Cannondale Stem (came with negative rise OPI stem) and my Slant Six Tires (Came with those iffy Schwalbe Racing Ralphs - read previous review linked at the top).

Note: Cannondale has a LIFETIME Warranty on all of their frames, INCLUDING the Swing arm and Seat stays on a full suspension bike (unlike many other big name manufacturers). Also a Lifetime Warranty on the Structure of the Lefty.  Original Owner only and you must have your receipt

This bike with my Slant 6 tires weighed in @ 25 lbs w my Time ATAC pedals and tubeless. I then took it to the nearest mountain bike trail - Marion Sansom Park. The suspension setup was simple, with little to no knobs to keep fiddling with. I would rather air mine up and go, some people like all the adjustments, to each their own. This bike is equipped with Front and rear shock Remote lock out. I rarely messed with the lockout or platform on my Alloy scalpel. But since its there and easily accessible, I have found myself using the rear lockout (platform) a lot. This bike climbs well no matter what, the Lockout however makes it climb even better allowing you to stand up and push hard if you want. sometimes I forget its locked out and haul ass on the downhill section thinking, little rougher than last time. Oh yeah, click. You really could leave the rear shock locked out all the time and never think about it. Cannondale suspension design is fantastic. With the 15mm through axle pivot, 12mm through axle rear hub, double bearing rear pivot.. it is extremely stiff side to side when you put the power down but compliant on any bumps. Some suspension designs think they are "Brainy". If your a hard tail rider and want your full suspension bike to ride like a hard tail, have at it. My opinion.. a good suspension design is like a good steak. If you have to put something on it to make it edible, it's a bad steak. I never notice the suspension under me under power, I just notice the forest in front of me blurring like I'm sitting shotgun during the Kessel Run (if you must, google it, if you have to.. FOR SHAME!).

I found myself saying "Wow" at almost every turn, loose rocky uphill, fast rocky downhill. Holy crap. The Aluminum is one thing... But the Carbon.. Wow. I did 2 laps at Sansom that day. My employee told me to stand up and sprint, see what happens... I said no, I'm scared. This bike accelerates like a road bike its amazing. It carries speed and increases it's speed by itself. The wheels were amazingly nimble, as they should be for Carbon. I hit them on rocks and roots when I was playing with my tubeless pressure, some of them would have bent or dented many aluminum rims. Not these Carbon. The Lefty... there isn't much I can say.. its just an amazing piece of engineering. You won't get a better handling fork than a Lefty.  When you think of your perfect bike, what it would do, how it would handle, how it would make you feel... This was my perfect bike. It does everything and then some... Then the rain came..

Rained so much that every trail in the area was closed for about 2-3 weeks. So I decided to put some smoother tires on for some road/gravel riding on the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. One of our customers bought the Black Inc Scalpel and did not want the tires. I decided to try them out - Schwalbe Thunder Burt.

First off. These tires are WAY lighter than my Kenda Slant Six. 2 pounds lighter for the pair to be exact. My Fast new Scalpel Carbon 1 went from being just Fast to Insane! First ride on these I did a 13 mile road ride before work. averaged 15.5 MPH on my Scalpel with these tires. Max speed of 33 MPH. With these tires on here the Scalpel Seriously hauls ass. Next, I rode the gravel Trinity Trail in Fort Worth, TX.

By this time I also added an Adjustable Height Seat post made by Origin-8 I picked up at a swap meet - Cheap, but functional (later replaced with a KS LEV Seat post - NICE POST!). I also installed the original Cannondale OPI Stem on it - the negative rise stem vs my 6+ degree OPI stem, my neck was feeling better. This bike is fast. A more finely tuned athlete could make this bike do incredible things. For me, I've finally gotten back on a bike that puts a smile on my face every time I ride it. Even on the street and gravel it amazed me enough to say "Wow" on multiple occasions. I even made it into 5th place, 6th as of now, on a sprint section of the gravel Trinity Trail - 23 MPH, Fastest was 26 MPH - he was on a road bike. Neener neener.

The trails finally dried up and I got to hit the trails again.

I didn't change my tires back from the Schwalbes. I decided, screw it, I'll give it a try at Sansom. I am SO glad I did. Even though Sansom is full of loose rock, steep loose climbs and fast downhill sections, these tires hooked up BETTER than my Kenda Slant Six tires ever did. Which is very surprising given the shallow tread on the Thunder Burt tires. I found I might slip a tad with the Kendas on steep climbs, never slipped on the Thunder Burts. Is it the tread? the compound? the weight? the fact it is 2 pounds lighter and I can climb at a little faster pace and not have to put out as much torque in the climbs to keep it going? Probably all of the above.

In the past year I had only ridden 2 trails. Marion Sansom Park in Lake Worth, TX and Solavaca Ranch in Glen Rose, TX. During my vacation this year - First in 5 years - I decided to branch out to a couple trails I hadn't been to in a long, long time. Between 4-10 years to be exact. New Years Eve 2013 I hit up Northshore Trail on Grapevine Lake. Wow, this trail has changed a lot since my days working at the Grapevine Bike Center on and off 1998-2003 when it was a 2 way trail the whole way. DORBA and the ACOE have done a great job. It started out as a gorgeous winter day in Texas - 45-55 degrees, sunny and calm winds. I start at the MADD Shelter in Flower Mound, TX and rode towards Rockledge Park Entrance - Grapevine, TX. The ride started out awesome, as it always should. Within the first mile I hear a little jingle from my front wheel. As I slow down I notice my front wheel has now become a $1000 Maraca. One of the spokes un threaded itself on the Reynolds Carbon Wheel. I removed the spoke and proceeded to ride the rest of the trail, no way was I going to drive an hour to ride a mile and turn back around, hell no. Amazingly, the 23 other spokes kept the wheel very straight and strong. Notice the missing spoke:

The trail was amazing, the bike was amazing, other than the wheel rattle at slow speeds from the nipple in the rim. Made me keep my speed up.

Now, before you go thinking "Reynolds Wheels are crap, I'll never ride those"... Reynolds has a good warranty and great customer service. Also when buying the Cannondale Scalpel 29'er Carbon 1 with the wheels as OEM - Cannondale pays the $250 2 year no questions asked warranty for the Reynolds Wheels - main reason I pulled the trigger on this model, I was iffy at first about the Carbon wheels... don't be. They are super strong, super light. According to Reynolds they are made for every kind of riding except Downhill and Free Ride. They also say there is no weight limit on these wheels, however a heavier rider will feel more flex in the wheels. I'm 215lbs geared up, I feel no flex, I've hit many a rock with them, pinched my tubeless tires hard - no flat - that would have dented an aluminum rim. Reynolds Carbon? keeps on going. I'll get to the rest of the Reynolds story in a bit.

I kept riding - 28.1 miles in fact in about 3 hours 25 minutes. It was an amazing ride on a trail I will definitely ride more often. This bike was made for this trail. Around mile 20 I heard the rear tire rubbing rhythmically. I stopped and looked... Case of the disappearing spoke. Reynolds uses straight pull spokes on this wheel. So if the nipple threads come loose, the spoke can take flight.. somewhere. I am not sure where I lost the spoke, but my rear wheel was off about an inch to the left side where the spoke is missing. Screw it, I thought to myself. I'm not walking 8 miles back to the car. So, I rode. Missing one spoke on each wheel. Rode faster and harder on the way back than I was before. The wheels never missed a line. Although at slow speed I had a sweet $2000 maraca now. The ride ended as it should... Perfect - well, given the spoke thing.

That night I fixed the wheels. Took them completely apart, cleaned all the spoke threads and added spoke prep. Re-assembled properly to Reynolds specs. My next ride I went back to Sansom. 5 miles in, 2 of my spokes were already backed out so much only 1 or 2 threads were still holding the spokes on. I finished my ride early.

Fixed the wheel again - Just tensioned this time. My next ride i made sure I had my spoke wrench on me and all my gear. I went to Cedar Hill State Park (CHSP). Again.. Wow, what an amazing trail. Just like Northshore, except faster in my opinion. Just a Fast fun trail to pound out the miles. I did all the mileage loops - 3,8,12,8,3 - 31.1 miles according to Strava @ 3 Hours and 34 minutes. i did have to tension my wheels about 4 times on the trail, but it was so worth it.

It was nice to branch out away from Marion Sansom Park. I will say however that if you can ride Sansom.. you can ride anything in Texas and most other areas. Where most of Northshore and 98% of CHSP is easy and fast, great trails to take new riders or just have a great day on the trail... Sansom is a brutal beating of your skills. Its so difficult many of the racers complain its too hard and remove the best parts. I am glad I can ride and clear everything at Sansom and at one time (pre accident), I was in the top 20 on Strava on the whole trail, however, I am happy trails like North Shore and CHSP exist to enjoy what nature has to offer.

Reynolds, so to sum up the wheels, I called Reynolds, mailbox full, emailed them. 3 minutes later I received a phone call. For 2013 SOME, not all, hubs were mis-manufactured. So I sent my wheels back to them and they are going to relace with NEW spokes and 2014 model hubs which are from a new manufacturer for Reynolds. I have not gotten them back yet, they just arrived at Reynolds. Probably looking at 2-3 weeks. Easy to deal with, great customer service and a great product. If a product has a flaw, OK, but if said product has a company that stands behind flawed product and makes it right, that is who I prefer to support on my own bike and in my shop. Only 2 companies I have dealt with go above and beyond in my book - no matter how much or how little I or my customer has spent with them. SRAM and now Reynolds.

 I love getting to ride for over 3 hours, The Cannondale Scalpel 29'er Carbon 1 allows just that. Its not just light, it's not just that its fast, it's that it reminds me why I love to ride and why I do what I do. I could fill this blog with technical mumbo jumbo and gabble on about specs and how this 1 mm of geometry made it handle this way... There is no reason to with this bike. This bike is top notch. . I have been professionally in the Bicycle Biz since 1998. I have gotten to ride many high end bikes. Many of those bikes rely too heavily on their name for what you pay for them, like a Ford Pinto with Ferrari badges. Cannondale has been guilty of that in the past as well as all manufacturers have been. You can't have a home run every time. But this bike, for the price you pay - $7600... I can confidently say it is worth EVERY penny. Having personally owned this and 2 Aluminum Scalpels, Yes, there is a big advantage to the Carbon Scalpels, but you can't go wrong with the aluminum either. Get whatever your budget allows. So go to your nearest Cannondale Dealer and ask for a Scalpel.. ANY Scalpel, you won't be disappointed.

And one more thing...