NormanF

Cannondale Slate - a gravel road bike with a suspension fork? What do they think of at C'dale these days? Its striking

LUW

I was very excited when I first read about the Slate. At the time I was thinking of getting a CX bike and the Slate would be THE bike to have. But then I read about the wheels: 650B. That killed the bike for me. I was looking for a bike that was fast on asphalt and could ride on gravel, so it had to be 700C. I can't understand why C'dale went for 650B instead of 700C. Shave some weight because of the Lefty? The Lefty is to die for (best suspension I ever rode on a 29er, bar none) and I honestly think it's about time we see good suspension on road frames, but as always, there's the weight factor. So maybe that's why the 650B wheels. Whatever the reason, it was a shame; if that bike had 700C wheels, heavy or not, I would be all over it.

NormanF

You should be all over it! Those 650B 42 tires offer a ride like on the clouds of heaven. There is nothing like a wide tire bike. Maybe I've been spoiled by Panaracer Col De La Vie 38 on my old Peugeot porteur bike. The ride was out of this world! People who rode French randonneur bikes like the old Rene Herse or Alex Singer had a similar sensation. You owe it to yourself to give it a try! Once you ride it, odds are you will fall in love with it.

LUW

Nothing against a wide tire (on the contrary!). My problem is the small(ish) wheel - don't like and really can't understand the 27,5ers.
A pity, because it would have been one sick ride if it had 700C wheels .

NormanF

650B is ideal particularly suitable for smaller riders and is a bike that can be designed that has no toe overlap. In France, randonneur bikes used to be ridden on chipseal, crushed gravel and cobblestoned roads long before any one head of a gravel road bike. Cannondale is just following in that tradition. As a proportionately sized bike, it will win over a lot of people. The Surly Straggler 650B is comparable.

ColinL

Nailed it. I have toe overlap on my Quick CX conversion which has 700c wheels. When availability improves, I would run a road/cx tubeless 650B disc wheel. For people with a large collection of 700c wheels - do you have tubeless disc wheels? No? How about 15mm front axle and 12x142 rear? No?

So you have to buy new wheels, if not a complete bike. The question then becomes availability of such wheels, and of tires. I know there are plenty of 650Bx2.0 MTB tires. There are starting to be some 'monstercross' tires too.


The one issue I do see with this new bike is a lack of a lockout.

My bike also has 80mm travel and a lockout. I'm not so sure about 30 with no lockout. I assume you can at least change air pressure in the Lefty 30mm... kind of a must-have. I have my fork set for minimal sag, maybe 10%. It dives about like the Lefty when climbing standing, and must be locked out to sprint.

Without a lockout, what will happen is that it'll bob when standing. Yes, it can only bob 30mm... but that's enough to be annoying and inefficient.

Cynikal 

More importantly, the 650B allows wide tires and a short chainstay for a more road bike like ride. I hope they offer a version without a lefty as I think it adds too much weight.

ColinL

Really??

There are many such bikes available now. The Cannondale Slate would be nothing special without the 30mm Lefty.

However... they do have a rigid Lefty used on some fitness bikes. If they wanted to keep the theme going, a rigid Lefty fork on a base-model Slate would probably be what you're looking for.

NormanF

Yup, the Surly Straggler 650B with a base price of $1700.

NormanF

I'm sure production models will come with a lockout.

Of course if you don't like or want a front suspension fork, its easy enough to replace it with a rigid Lefty or a conventional carbon fork.

Its a new bike and we're waiting for details about it to appear on the Cannondale website.

ColinL

I didn't realize 650b was now desirable in and of itself.

No, I meant there are 700c disc bikes with short chainstays and rigid forks.

Cynikal 

Remove the lefty and where the Cannondale stands out is that it's light and quick. Most bike in this category (like the straggler) are heavy. Don't get me wrong, some folks will want the lefty, I just don't. For my travels, wide tires are perfect. I would love a 17lb gravel rocket, which is what it would be with a rigid carbon fork.

bikebreak

I would assume a 700c front wheel would raise the front end up too much for a fast racy geometry.

I hope the production version has rack mounts, this would be perfect for mixed surface touring

ColinL

Short chainstays can easily be done by using a curved seat tube and no front derailleur. I suspect we will see that soon on gravel / CX bikes if there isn't an example already, since some MTBs have done that.

1X provides massive range when using SRAM's 10-42 cassette. I'm using a humble 11-36 and it's quite adequate for me.

650B for road & gravel is a nakedly obvious attempt by the cycling industry to cash in on the 650B/27.5 bonanza as it has successfully supplanted 26" MTBs for all of a 4% larger diameter tire.

LUW

I have the same impression. Let's see if it catches on.

Henry III

650b has been around as long as the 700c wheel size. It's just that it's mainstream now and everywhere now. The Jan Heine Kool Aid sure taste good to me and what's not to love about fast and more supple then tubular tires that you can ride anywhere? If companies only took to this sooner then it wouldn't seem uncommon. The french knew what was up over half a century ago but the US is just catching up.

It's a new size for mountain bikes but road bikes it's always been here. It's nice to see 650c being used more also as 700c on small road bikes no matter how you church up the geometry. It 650c just feels and looks right. Once you slap some nice 42mm 650b tires on a road bike it doesn't looks out of proportion.

LUW

For crying out loud, did it had to be green?
And starting at £2499.99 (green 105 version) it's definitively not for everyone - and a bit expensive in my eyes, since it's Al.

NormanF

At $3900, its way too expensive. I'm assuming this would be the top of the line carbon model.

Alloy models should be more affordable.

justin1138

that price is entry level aluminum...

Cannondale Slate gravel bike prices and specs revealed (video) - Cycling Weekly

NormanF

Wow... with that pricing, I don't see it rolling out of the store any time soon.

For that amount of money, people can pick up a very nice high end carbon bike.

Cannondale screwed it on the pricing.

ColinL

There is not a currently produced lefty sold for less than $1000. So, figure that cost in with what you usually expect to pay for a CX frame & fork.

ColinL

Also: if /when this model is successful, I expect to see a cheaper variant with a headshok. (cue the complaints about weight in 3...2...)

NormanF

My new hybrid is around 30 lbs. I knew that going in but I wanted a bike that would last instead of a light bike.

That's one of the trade-offs with a mass production bike.

NormanF

A current 105 alloy bike goes for around $1400 and add in the cost of a low end lefty fork, we're looking at $2700. More with the ultimate upgraded fork.

People can slash the cost substantially if they opt for a conventional carbon fork as most of them are likely to do.

DirtRoadRunner

I personally see this as a mis-mash between various "new" cycling things that are "in" right now - the gravel bike, 650B tires, and suspension. What is left as somewhat of a mutt - and really not much different than a lightweight version of a $800 hybrid with a low-travel suspension fork. And it is much uglier than the Headshok cyclocross bike Cannondale sold about 15 years ago.

A suspension fork is really unnecessary for gravel road riding (or racing). Instead, just run fatter tires to cushion out the ride. It could be nice on a Ultra CX course where sections of singletrack are intermingled with gravel and paved roads - but honestly the tires on the bike look too skinny to do much good on singletrack.

I've professed my love for Cannondales may time - and had a great ride on my CAAD9 last night - but I find this bike just a bit silly.