ChroMo2

what kinda bikers ride cannondales?

gwhunt23

What kinda question is that?

I suppose my answer would be bikers that like Cannondale's unique suspension design.

ChroMo2

oh yeah... the good ol' Cannondale Headshok. Do you think that was an attempt in vain, just to be different?

alcahueteria

I just think everyone's trying to pioneer and get an angle, so a little of both. It both interests and annoys me, because I would be ok with them if it wasn't for all their proprietary stuff.

ChroMo2

I like the K2 with the Noleen shock, u gotta be too cool to race with one of those.

bikejack

No, I think it was an attempt to try something different and get an edge, the level of engineering in the headshock is pretty impressive for a production bike and the concept of getting the unsprung weight out of the forks is valid.

Always keep in mind before criticising different approaches in a market driven technology based sport that if they get it right you'll be the one with the obsolete technology.

That new fangled derailllier thang will never work either, it's as silly as riding without toeclips.

seely

The Lefty/Headshok are really a brilliant design. Substantially stiffer than virtually any other fork out there. I am particularly a fan of the headshock since it uses standard dropouts. The full rigid fork with a very large single stanchion means virtually NO FLEX into any corner. The lockout actually locks the fork out 100%, I don't think any other manufacturer can claim this. The roller bearings are easy to service and give smooth easily maintained action. Good chance my next bike will sport a Headshok.

ChroMo2

actually two stanchions work better because a bicycle only weighs 25 pounds. if you divide that by two and distribute the weight twice you provide a wider distribution area to handle the lateral forces on the load bearing axle, and you get better response and more control. Plus the finer adjustment of two stanchions instead if one moves at less the force and the bottom of the two stanchions intersepts the forces of motion from the ground to the working part of the suspension fastest with more actuation capabilities by transmitting shock through the rim first.

harris

yea, i suppose that that would be true, if the bike were riding itself. you are forgetting that a bike has more than its own 25 pounds on it. there is me and my fat butt sitting on it and pounding it off of jumps. the amount of force that i put on a bike is amazing. most peoples beef with the headshoks (i am assuming that you guys mean the old design, with a short shock and then a rigid fork beneath it.) is that there isn't very much travel. well, unless you are jumping, the only thing that you need suspension for is taking the edge off of bumps so that you can go over them faster. for that you only need an inch or two, so there is no problem with headshoks. for allmountain riding i can understand why most people dont like them. i cant blame them. if i am gunna jump, i need more than 3 inches of travel to support me. that is where the lefty shock comes in. the prophets with left shock have 5.5 inches up front. thats pretty good. plus they dont weigh much, and they are crazy strong. the hub is the only spot that seems like it seems weak, but it is pretty much as strong as a standard axle with dropouts. and, if you think about it, most forks just use one side of it for the spring, and the actual suspending of the bike. the other side just sorta chills there.

harris

ChroMo2

Dude, man! if your gonna be jumping your bike on a trail, you should be using a triple crown fork, not a cross country style fork, 4real. suspension puts the wheel back where it's supposed to be after it does it's job, if your in the air or even less than the weight of gravity. the weight of your body doesn't totally rest on the suspension and when your body hits ground it can exert more than 100% your body weight. and there's also the force on the suspension that doesn't hit at a 90 degree angle to the ground, where dividing those forces by two equal forces (the stanchions) will double it's working efficiency. The weight to performace is not a gain, because any slight difference in weight is not worth lowering your performance for a design that was made just to be different, and not based to actually be a higher perfoming working part of a bicycle.

TacoMunch

Interesting.

You guys can argue physics theory and schemantics all day long. Regardless, the seat of my pants tells me that the Headshok on my modded F400 is one of the best XC forks in existence - sufficient travel (80 mm), light weight, super stiff, ultra responsive and super-smooth, and with an on-the-fly total lockout. There is some additional maintanence required, but it is worth every extra minute.

You gotta love the 'oh, that's different - it's stupid and I hate it' crowd who arrive at conclusive opinions within 10 seconds and without ever even trying the product. Innovation and unconventional thinking should be suppressed!

See you on the trail.

ChroMo2

it's cool to be different but if you wanna be the best, you gotta do it right!

LowCel 

A lot of people win races on Cannondales. They must be doing something right.

ChroMo2

Cannondale has some cool mountain bikes. I wouldn't mind owning one if it had a normal fork on it. I dont understand how it would be possible for suspension torque not to affect proper steering, especially by a wheel supported by one stanchion (fork blade)

Ds900Rider

go-ped's have the one sided fork thing going too, ive never heard of one breaking or having any problems...if you see one in person the lefty fork is really beefy and mounted on a 1.5 headtube...even stronger

apclassic9

Lefties RULE - especailly in winter when regular forks get mucked up with frozen mud & slush

mcoine

Then why don't bikes and motorcycles use two in the back like my old honda. The reason: two is sloppy, and heavy. Full suspension bikes have one shock in the back and should have one in the front for the same reason. i love my f2000 with fatty sl

Brian

ChroMo2, how many Headshok-equipped bikes have you ridden?

sngltrackdufus

sniff,sniff,sniff........... I think i smell something smoldering.

Girlscout13

Thats amazing. There are lots of single crown forks you can beat the crap out of.Jumping a SC fork should not be a problem.