I was intrigued to see the review of the Cannoindale Rush 3 in DIRT this month, they swapped the stem for a shorter one, fitted tougher tyres, then declared it one of the best handling bikes they’d ever ridden and ideal for typical UK trail centre fun. Has anyone got one or spent any time on one? What did you make of it?

I looked into them very nice – but I think the Rize is worth a punt – same geometry, meant to be stiffer, .5″ more travel and meant to be lighter…

I have a 2006 Rush 1000 (aluminium frame, RP23 shock, lefty fork) and can completely agree with the DIRT review. It’s a fantastic bike, a little heavy (I think mines around 27/28 lbs) but you really don’t notice it when your riding. They climb extremely well to boot.

I have a 2007 alu Rush 3, fitted with lightweight kit for XC.

It’s very very good.

I’ve got a 2006 alloy Rush 4000. Builds up nice and light, climbs well, very stable descender and great for long rides and endurance events. Very capable bike – have a Prophet as well and ended up putting 160mm forks on it to open up a worthwhile gap between the two.

The only downsides are arguably the low BB, which takes a little getting used to but isn’t as much of an issue as a lot of the magazines make out, and the back end is a little bit flexy (relative to the Lefty up front, anyway). It’s also not the most exciting, involving bike in tight and twisty singletrack but still pretty competent.

I’m very, very happy with mine.

I have one – would say it’s a superb bike for taking out into the hills on classic UK XC rides. Only downside is weight, as mentioned above, but there is always the carbon version. Wouldn’t class it as being a ‘trail centre fun’ bike really, the handling is not particularly sharp. The geometry is more suited to eating up miles on the trail.

The article also mentioned fitting a bigger fork to slacken up the angles and stiffen the front end.

I should be noted that a rush with a dlr2 (110mm) lefty is somewhat more racy then the versions with 120mm fox forks (which I think the 3 is?), since the lefty is 20mm shorter.

Personally, I have a 130mm lefty max on mine, which gives the same angles as the Fox 120mm but with the lovely lefty stiffness (and nice coil fork action).

Got a Carbon Rush 2008 with the fox forks (actually swapped for Rev u-turns). Great XC bike but i’d say it’s not a great trail centre bike. Something like the Rize or prophet would be more suited IMO.

Yeah I was slightly surprised by the review. I think DIRT really like the 4-5″ suspension, single pivot simplicity, firm compression tuning and fox forks. Kind of a slightly shorter travel, more delicate Orange 5.

Mine (with the longer forks as above) feels almost identical to my friend’s Orange 5, just a little lighter feeling.

Any advice on sizing? They seem to come up pretty big, the large has a 19″ seat tube and a 24.6″ top tube, where as the medium is a 17″ st with a 23.6″ tt….

Any advice on sizing?

My advice would be to try some, and consider an inline seatpost if you think the large is about right for standover.

I’d also argue with it not being ideal for trail centres, it’s the perfect bike for riding the Skyline at Afan.

i have issues with the carbon rush, from personal experience Cannondale are not honouring their warrantees. i can not say if this is linked to their current financial problems, but i can say, lovely bike, just hope it doesn’t break!