So… add me to the list of new gravel grinder owners. I took delivery this week of a 2019 Cannondale SuperX Force 1 SE:














My background: I’m not a competitive cyclocross racer or a Dirty Kansa hopeful. I’m not even much of a roadie if I’m being honest; if I put down 300-500 miles in a year I’m doing good. I’m a reasonably fit middle aged man (a soldier once, and young…) and I rode bikes extensively as a kid on the mean streets of NYC in the 1970s. About a decade ago I began road bike riding with friends on a borrowed bike before buying a used, good quality, modern road bike and I’ve continued to ride recreationally since then.

My riding profile: I don't race 'cross. I don't race at all. But I do ride on poorly maintained rural county roads and I have plenty of rail trails and some back woods dirt roads available to me. I want a bike that can handle it all without worry. I ride with friends--not in a club, not in any paceline—who are not in such great shape. Mostly, I ride on my own enjoying the perspective that 15 mph affords: fast enough to cover plenty of distance but slow enough to see all the detail. I try to do one or two charity rides a year in the 30-40-50-mile range. I’ll do a metric later this year and I plan to do centuries in future years. I also have ambitions to do some light bike-pack touring along the East Coast Greenway: Philly to NYC; the full New York State and Connecticut sections (NYC to the Rhode Island border). There is a great NJ Route from the top of the state (literally, High Point Monument) to the bottom at Cape May, 240 miles away. So, I’m looking for “The One Bike to Rule them All.”

My selection: I have access to a deep discount on Cannondale, so my brand was pre-filtered. My original plan was to get a newly redesigned 2018 Synapse Carbon but the factory was all sold out with no good estimate for the next production delivery. Rather than shift my focus roadward toward the SuperSix, I decided to go even more “all road” than the Synapse. This may be the last new bike I ever buy so I want it to represent today's era of cycling: all-road geometry (i.e gravel grinder) in carbon fiber, wide tubeless wheels with cyclocross tires, hydraulic disc brakes, 1x11 drivetrain. (I don’t ride nearly enough to warrant electronic shifting or the hi-mod carbon layup offered in the SuperX’s top-of-the-line builds…) Cannondale markets the SuperX as the next step in cyclocross racing, designed for longer courses with more challenging descents. The fact that Cannondale has baked in more stability and endurance comfort into the frame plays very well with the sort of riding I do and plan to do in the coming years.

I’m looking forward to the miles…